Thinking about a fixie
 

I ride a crappy mountain bike to the bus for several years now and am thinking on upgrading. I dont have much money, being a college student and all. I was looking at ebay and found http://cgi.ebay.com/55cm-Track-Fixed...d=p3911.c0.m14

Was hoping on a little advice on someone with a little more knowledge and experience.

You should check out Bikes Direct.

I just ordered mine from there, and i'm pretty excited. The Mercier Kilo is really popular.
If you like the all black look, they've got the 2010 Motobecane Track thats got no decals.
Its a little bit more expensive, but they've got free shipping and great customer service.

Any chance you could convert your MTB to fixed? What is it?

jim

I 2nd bikesdirect.com

Its a mongoose D50i, heavy as an elephant. It needs new brakes, wheels need to be trued, sprockets are worn and are causing chain issues, and one of the derailleurs is bad. I could convert, but the money I think would be most of a waste.

Bikesdirect if you can swing a few extra bucks.
Craigslist road bike if you can't. Don't bother to convert it to fixed if you really want to stay cheap, just fix whatever is needed to be safe and reliable.

My budget is $300

The ebay bike has front and back brake, flip flop hub with fixed and freewheel installed for just under 300. Just thought it was a good deal

I agree that its quite inexpensive, but the quality of these ebay bikes is always questionable. If your budget is a very rigid 300, then yes, you will have some trouble with the bikesdirect bikes. If you're willing to sell a textbook or two on half.com, and put that towards the bike, then you've got plenty to get a BD bike & add a brake from benscycle or similar.

I vote this.

I could push to $350, I would rather get the right bike for a little more than get something cheap and regret it.

The Motobecane stripped looks pretty nice. Still have enough to add a brake if need be.

I also like the Kilo TT Special Edt.

Take a look around here, most of the BD bikes have threads dedicated to them. Most of those threads are >10 pages, especially the TT.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...t_stripper.htm

Black magic looks awesome, I would go with that if you like the look. I just got a white stripper and I love it, it's good to go right out of the box. Here's one for 350$ but you need to add a brake

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/kilott.htm

i agree with this guy, with your reccomendation picture, the bike he showed you above is great. that is my bike, and where i got it from, after all. first hand experience.

Defiantly leaning more towards the Kilo TT, will have to get it without a brake for now and upgrade later. I really like the motobecane track, but without ability to put fenders on will be a problem, especially because I live in Colorado.

You could get yourself a Motobecane Team Track from BD for 350, then whip on some old working wheels and parts from craiglist for a little more and upgrade later.

edit: and DON"T get those brandless suspicious eBay bikes, they're cheap and you can probably guess why

I'd strongly suggest learning how to ride fixed WITH a brake.
Even something like: http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1569

Cheap and effective, as long as the brake lever clamp diameter works.

Go with bikesdirect.com

Windsor Clockwork or die.

that would end up so far out of his price range. even if he were able to salvage some of the parts from the trash, he'd end up with crap components on a nice frame for more than he wanted to pay.

OP, if you want to get into riding fixed cheaply, I recommend the BikesDirect route, too. Your best bet for a cheap bike is to get one at Goodwill or at a garage sale or Craigslist. But you'll have to spend money to convert it to fixed and that often means the total bill is higher than the price of a new Kilo from BD.

If you do choose to convert an older bike, be sure to read http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html and Fixed Gear on the Cheap

Any bike being sold on eBay as "PERFECT FOR FIXIE!!!!! TRACK!!!" will be overpriced by the rich hipsters or be some gas pipe junk.

You have a source for 26" fixed wheels? I have been scouring the internet for them and don't have the knowledge to make one myself.

I recommend buying a $25 Craigslist bike and throwing a ~$150 pair of ebay wheels

I am very happy with the pair of DP18s I recently purchased. That and a 12 pack of beer will get a more knowledgeable buddy to help you rebuild your bike. The quality will be higher, and the bike will have character.

when it comes to comparing the Mercier Kilo "stripper edition" and the 2010 Motobecane Track, are there any significant differences between the two builds?

im also in the same boat as the OP lookin to get my first fixie

thanks in advance for any info tips/advice

I just found a mercier corvus on craigslist for $360, I know its not a fixie but for that much I definatly have to take a look. Going to look at it in a couple hours, Ill let you all now how it goes.

I know that this might not be the right place to ask, but do any of you have any thoughts on the corvus for $360.

Its a bit much, I wouldn't buy it.

What size are you?

For your price range I'd either get a BD fixed gear, or a decent vintage road bike.

I haggled him down to $300 so doesn't look like I will be joining the fixie crowd for a bit. Ideally a 56cm, which is what the corvus is so that's a plus.