They've been referred to you many times before because it's a darn good bike for the price you'll be paying. Keep in mind, you'll probably need new clips unless the large stock ones fit you already. And if you haven't ridden fixed before, I, along with many others on these forums, highly recommend a front brake, WHICH the kilo tt comes with as of now.

As for the windsor, I think the bike is a good deal, $279 + a free brake set, especially if you're just doing short commutes. The kilo's lugged fork is much stronger, but you decide if it's worth the 70 dollar difference. Also, I prefer the windsor's geometry, but that's just me (I ride a kilo btw). And the windsor has a flipflop hub for fixed AND freewhile riding.

oh right. Completely forgot about that. My bad.
I still 2nd the kilo

yes, of course, i didn't mean to be misleading. Fully customizable in terms of color coordination... I probably wrote this to illustrate my rationalization for why i picked the scrambler at that moment. Have my priorities changed? YES.

Quality-wise, I wouldn't know how to compare with others since it's my first brand new bike. Other bikes I had before it were all vintage, battered up, slightly rusty road bikes, so of course it felt like a HUGE step up. Felt quite good.

However, now that I'm slightly wiser, sometimes I sort of wish I'd done a bit more homework before I made my purchase. As a noob, I was seduced by the color customization thing, instead of thinking more practically.

If I had a chance to redo it all, I probably would have gone with a Kilo myself. Would've been good bang for the buck, and even after customizing it, I would've paid less than what I paid for the scrambler... I THINK.

Iro iro iro

As stated earlier, in terms of price a conversion will give you the cheapest entry level fixie out of all the options. A step up (depending on how you look at it) would be a kilo tt or mercier or something along those lines. Above that you are getting into more dedicated and serious fixies like IRO or sulry. I have a motobecane messenger, which was 300 new, but will probably end up upgrading the components eventually. Go to your LBS to see what they have to offer and scour craigslist for older roadbikes that have horizontal dropouts.

Agreed.

Thank you all for your responses!

I suppose I'll be going with the Kilo, seems to fit what I want the best. And, as has been stated before, I can use the rest of the money to upgrade [I'll be doing my research for this, but just for kicks, any suggestions on what would be a wise first upgrade? I do believe one of you said Wheelset, any suggestions for those?] Seems like an all around very soild purchase.

A bit unfortunate that the logos are under the clearcoat [supposedly], I would prefer a logoless bike, but I can hack it for $350.

Thank you once again!

The "Stripper" (no decals) Kilo is only like $30 more expensive than the "regular" Kilo

Some people may object to this, but I say wheels. You can get a set from iro (classic silver set) for 200, laced to formula hubs). If you're getting a black kilo tt, you should go with the classic silver set, but that's just my opinion, I think black and silver go real real nice together.

or you can get a set of deep v wheels from wheelandsprocket who sell on ebay. 200 dollars for the wheelset + free shipping. Make sure to order a new EAI/Eighth-Inch lockring as well (usually run for about 12 bucks on ebay), because the cheap stock one may ruin your rear hub. Be sure to line your inner rims with rim strip before installing tires and tube.

could anybody tell me the difference between the winsor clock work and the kilo tt?

I'd push for Kilo TT, which you're already getting. Conversions are expensive, at least that was my experience.

Road Bikes are the new Fixed Gears.

That's right. I said it.


You don't have to get a $10,000 mammer-jammer. A nice bike can be had for not much more than comparable FG bikes. Plus, there are TONS more road bikes on the used market.

If you've been riding FG bikes exclusively for a long while, give a road bike a try. You'll feel like you can ride forever.


That being said, to answer the question:
The upgrades that will deliver the most bang for the buck are usually dealing with comfort. Such as:

- Bike Fitting: The majority of casual riders NEVER get a bike fitting. A proper bike fitting will help eliminate minor discomforts as well as improve efficiency, power output while lowering the risk of injury. Some people are good at setting their bikes up based on feel. Others are not. If you don't know how moving your saddle forward/backwards 1", saddle up/down 1", handlebars up/down 1", or stem forward/back 1cm will affect your riding, then you probably could use a bike fitting and let someone explain it to you.


- Handlebars: The RIGHT handlebars for you and your type of riding. Lots of people on this board like to ride proper DEEP track drops because it looks good. Ask their backs how it looks. I race on proper track drops and I can only stand them for 5-10 minutes at a time. Consider this:
* Risers have 1 hand position
* Track drops have 1 hand position
* Bullhorns have 2 hand positions
* Road bars (with hoods) have 3 hand positions

Your back and arms will appreciate more hand position options on longer rides. Get the right width for your shoulders. Too narrow and breathing is restricted, too wide and it's uncomfortable to hold your body up.


- Saddle: This is the #1 most upgraded/swapped part on bicycles. Everyone's butt is different. Finding the right saddle is a long journey. Don't buy for looks. The best advice comes from old salty dog cyclists that have been doing this a while. The worst advice comes from folks new to cycling.

EDIT: When manufacturers are cutting costs on bikes, they usually start with a budget saddle. Also, if you are new to cycling, it will take your bottom 2 weeks to get "broken in" and not be sore on ANY saddle. So, if your butt hurts it may not be the saddle's fault. Also, saddle tilt is VERY important. One or two degrees can be the difference from not noticing the saddle to feeling like someone did the humpty dance on your junk.

Once you find the saddle for you, you will keep (or keep buying) that saddle for years. I ride a Fizik Arione.

- Grip Tape: Nice grip take is nice on your hands. Go ahead and spend the extra $5 on the good stuff. It's worth it. Personal preference.

- Tires: Good tires grip better, feel better. Good tires cost $40-60. If you are going to skid, then I guess it doesn't matter. Just buy the cheapo tires.

- Pedals: This is controversial subject around here. Clipless vs Clips & Straps is an old argument. Here are the Pros and Cons. Decide what's important for you:

Clips and Straps
Pros:
- You can use most casual sneakers (vans, chuck taylors, etc). Walking around is easy.
- No need to buy special shoes
- Double straps look nice
- Inexpensive (unless you go bling)

Cons:
- No one really uses the straps fully tight as they are designed to be used, so you never get the full benefit of the upstroke
- Not as efficient as clipless pedals

Clipless Pedals
Pros:
- Efficient pedaling
- The "once you go clipless, you don't go back" feeling.

Cons
- More expensive
- Must have special shoes.
- Difficult to walk in cycling shoes (unless you get MTB shoes which are a bit easier to walk in)


For me, Clipless is totally worth it.



EDIT: You probably won't notice upgraded wheels or cranks which are very expensive. Use them till they break then buy quality ones. The quality ones won't feel much different, but they will last longer.

Also, some bike manufacturers use the same parts for ALL SIZES of the bikes. For example, a female friend of mine bought a 54cm complete bike. She's 5'4". The bike came with 44cm bars. 38-40cm bars would have been more appropriate. But, it was probably cheaper to put the same bars on all of the bikes in the range.

Without a fitting, she would have not known what bars are right for her. She switched to 39cm bars and was very happy and comfortable.

• The saddle is a very personal thing. I found the stock saddle to be almost unbearable to ride on but some people have no problem with it.

• The stock pedals are pretty janky. I suggest clipless pedals.

• IMHO upgrading the wheelset is wasted money for most people. I'm over 200lbs and and I have well over 1,000 happy miles on mine with nothing but truing and tensioning the wheel. There is a lot of talk here about how terrible the stock wheels must be but very little actual evidence to support that people have broken their wheels. If the complaint is bad bearings, replacement bearings are 1/10th the cost of a new wheelset. I know I'm in the minority here preaching "ride the stock wheels" but many people have put many happy miles on them.

The BD picture is a little less rosy on the general forum:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...95-BikesDirect

These questions come up about once a week around here: "whats the best fixie under $500"

It's a loaded question. The answer is always Kilo TT, that thing is golden around here.

People considering BD have to consider these things:
-Are you gonna put it together yourself? Gonna have it looked over by a mechanic at all? $
-Are you ready to pay for some wheel truings if needed? $
-Are you aware the pedals and saddle are junk? $
-Is the gear ratio to your liking? They run a little high if you ever meet hills. New cog, lockring while you're at it. Wheel that new BD bike right into the LBS for them to change it out. $
-Are you cool with not supporting a LBS for the purchase? Those LBS need to stay in business or you'll have no place to take your bike when it breaks. Have you been to them all and really seen nothing you'd throw your paper at?
-Are you cool with not having much of a warranty past any initial issues?
-Are you cool with not being to actually speak to anyone from BD, it's email only?
-Are you cool with sizing yourself to a bike pre-purchase? I'm sure you know that bike fitting is more about reach than standover?
-Are you cool with fitting the bike to yourself post-purchase?
-Are you cool with not being able to test ride to see if you even like it? Bikes are like women they're all a little different
-Are you cool with the fake vintage brand name cheese factor (half the time people are asking how to remove its decals or lamenting their presence)

If you're cool with all this and need to save a little paper, go for the BD bike. I went the LBS route, Surly Steamroller baby. All the above said, I might try a BD bike down the road just for kicks or a workhorse/beater, who knows, I do like a few of their offerings. But for a first bike recommendation, meh. the little costs above add up and you don't save as much as you think you do.

I've seen very few valid complaints about BD bikes. Most are caused by errors on the part of the end user.

Probably because most buyers either:
a) don't know what they're getting, and have nothing to compare it to
b) know exactly what they're getting

I'm all for the OP going to a local bike shop.

Yeah, he'd probably spend a bit more than if he ordered online. But, he'd gain a whole lot:
- He'd get to "try before you buy"
- A free basic fitting with the new bike
- Over-the-counter service. Enough cannot be said for this. If he has any issue, big or small, the shop can handle it on the spot 99% of the time. He won't have to mail the bike/part off for warranty or repair
- Support the local economy
- Make new friends.
- Talk with folks he can ask questions to and get good answers from. Most bike shop techs are knowledgeable. But there *are* some idiots, don't get me wrong. You can usually spot the guys that know more than most.
- Confidence in his purchase.

Anyway, on the swapping parts from the Kilo. I asked about this in the Kilo TT thread before I got my kilo before.

My personal experience on my kilo was, right off the bat, I changed the saddle, pedals, and toe clips. The saddles were just down right uncomfortable and the pedals.. if I had to describe them, it would be.. When I first installed the stock pedals onto the cranks, the pedal won't even flip over leaving the toe clips facing downwards (coz it's heavier) and that's how stiff they were. Toe clips came plastic and I didn't like it so I swapped that as well. If u're planning on using clips I'ld suggest u to get some steel cages. Or u might want to go clipless, that's up to you.

And since a lot of people have issues with the lockring, I would suggest you to take it to your LBS and have them inspect the lockring and make sure it's tight enuf. That's pretty much the necessary stuff. The rest is up to you.

IMO, none of the bikes mentioned. New, anyway. I see quite a bit of FG on craigslist. Some decent ones going for $150-$200. I'd try that out for a few months. It'll give you an idea of what you'll want on a proper bike or if this is even for you. I know plenty who tried it out, but have since sold their bikes for a geared one.

Also, buying used means you won't lose as much when you go to resell it.

i was looking at the stripper kilo, and was wondering is the raw just the metal no paint at all... like a frame ready to be painted?

it's clearcoated

wait are you kidding me?? I thought Kilo TT (and everything from BikeDirect) would be a COMPLETE PIECE OF CRAP
so these 400$ bikes are actually GOOD?

sry for sounding obnoxious, if I knew they were descent I would've got one. It looked like a too good to be true type of thing. A 350$ bike in a typically 600$+ range

Bikesdirect is cheap because you get the bike partially assembled, in the state a normal shop gets their bikes. The bike is good if all the necessary work is done in assembly, it will be crap if you don't know what to do.

Thats stupid, you are stupid, get the kilo tt pro as it has better cranks and a better wheelset than the "upgrade" you bought. And it'll come out to 500 monopoly notes.