Anyone have experience with the Kilo S3x?
 

Hi guys,

So I just got back from college with my Kilo s3x waiting for me at home from BD.

Sadly, I have no tools at home. I cannot even finish assembling.

I am currently debating just going to home depot and buying an allen wrench set, and sports authority and picking up a cheap stand-up pump. Did not have room to bring my serfas from school back home.

Or just bring it to a bike shop and paying to get it assembled.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with the kilo s3x? anything I should look out for in case I decide to finish assembling myself.

thanks

buy the tools yourself, figure out how your bike operates. Taking your bike to the shop gets expensive. Most things you can do on your own, although, you will probably have to take your bike to the shop to install the headset and the bottom bracket / cranks. good luck

I'd be interested in hearing how the s3x performs when you get it up and running. I'd also agree with getting the tools and doing it yourself, you will need the tools eventually.

Yeah, I decided to buy the tools and assemble myself. The reason I was hesitant to go out and buy tools was because I have everything i need at school. I go to school in Illinois but live in NYC. And just was not sure if i wanted to have doubles of everything. But I ended up buying a spoke wrench, park allen key set, and another stand up pump.

Everything cost a little over $50. And tomorrow I will most likely pick up new clips, pedals, and helmet.

As of now, for about a little over an hour on the bike, I can say it is very responsive and rides comfortably for the time i was on it.

I will have more insight after tomorrow, planning on spending many hours on my bike touring Manhattan.

Somethings i can say now is that either get new clips for the pedals which may be difficult, or just get new clips/pedals all together. It is very difficult to get into the plastic clips due to its weight.

the plastic clips are not front heavy enough to cause the pedal to tilt down, making it difficult to get in. For now, i taped an AA battery to the front of my left clip which instantly solved the problem for now.

Furthermore, the straps are horrible.

As for the seat, for now its fine. But ill know for sure after a longer ride.

PS: Pics will be up after tomorrow.

Well saddle/pedals/clips are usually switched immediately anyways. When you put backwards force on the crank, is there a noticeable delay before it starts creating a backwards force on the rear wheel? If I were you I'd see if I could find some STI shifters/brake levers/hoods used for cheap and replace the bar end shifter with those.

All you need is an allen wrench set (2 sizes to be exact) and a 15mm box wrench should handle everything aside form the toe clips which requires a screwdriver....

When i built my bike all i needed was a 15 open end. 15 socket. 5, 4 mm allen some knowledge. And i triple checked every bolt.

can you convert this bike to a 3 speed with a BMX freewheel?

you can true wheels, right?

Yep, the rear cog was spline drive but the hub has the standard threading. My buddy put a 16t freewheel on.

Yes, feel like a chain with tons of loose slack. Also in one direction (I forget if it was up or down) there is a delay in shifting, the other direction it was instant.

The only STi style shifter I've found for a IGH only works with the shimano nexus 8-speed, the sussex VRS-8. Also it was priced highly, since there is only one company making it.

waiting on pics, this bike looked interesting .

Craptacular shifter offerings are the only obstacle preventing me from buying an internally geared hub. SA at least offers a decent selection of shifters for some hub models, but many of these seem not to be available state-side.

Me too.

I Almost ordered the dynamic synergy ( http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/buy/Bikes.php?prodid=75 )
but I'm hoping in a few years the manufactures will start to produce what the market seems to be calling for.

interesting, i might want to try putting a freewheel on it.

and i think the delay occurs when your shifting from a lower gear ratio to your highest. it takes a second become it sets in.

and yeah there is a lot back and forward play. and it feels exactly like if your chain was loose, but it is not really noticeable when your moving, most noticeable upon start up

how disassembled is it? the bb and cranksets are not even on it?

i might either get this or a gold kilo tt stripper edition soon, still debating on it though.

how is it?

You basically need to install the stem, bar, brakes, and wheels.

allen keys and 15mm wrench is about all the tools youll need plus a flat head.

and the s3x hub and wiring is alrdy installed, but needs minor adjustment, at least that was my experience.

things that i could absolutely not live with were the pedals and clips

had to replace along with bars.

and I actually traded my s3x hub for my friends regular fixed hub.

the s3x hub was def nice esp if you live in a hilly area. but it wasnt fo me

So i ordered it, got it and got my friend whose job is to assemble bikes to take care of mine.
Once we did, we noticed that the tip of the pedals touch the front wheel when you turn. If you have a clip on it, forget about it, you can't even take a slight turn.
I wonder if it is common for fixed gear bikes to come across that issue. The crankset is the small you can find on the market 165.
I feel so bummed cause the 3 speed is definitely great and the bike is fast, but if i can't turn without risking death, then i don't know about riding it anymore.

This is called toe/tire overlap, and yes it is extremely common on bikes with tight track geometry such as the Kilo S3X, which is based on the Kilo TT frame. It's something you need to get used to when riding track bikes, and it's not going to kill you. Overlap only occurs when you are turning at very slow speeds, because at normal speeds the wheel/fork only turns very slightly. If you have never ridden fixed before, there are several things you need to be mindful of, such as pedal strike on the pavement when cornerning since you can't stop pedalling, and getting your feet in and out out the toe clips/straps because you can't coast.

+1. I'd go even further and say that, while you do need to get used to it, it's also not a problem for bikes ridden under normal riding conditions. Toe overlap occurs when you make very sharp turns at very low speeds. Unless you're doing figure eights on a playground (in which case you'd hardly be risking death anyway), it's basically a non-issue.

Thanks a lot for all the good tips Kyselad and Tejano Trackie, I haven't been bothered by it yet and figured it was a common thing, but i wanted to ask people who knew about fixed gear. It helped a lot. I'm pumped to ride my bike and i haven't been riding plenty, adapting quickly. I love it! I feel more in control than with a freewheel.