Road Geometry
 

Ok since noone posted in my Klein fg/ss thread I assume it is a lost cause...

I am looking for a road geometry fixed gear. I don't want a tight twitchy track frame.

I plan to use it for commuting, about 15 miles each way, flat terrain, country roads.

Cage bosses, drop bars, road geometry. That is all I am worried about.

I can't seem to find any mainstream fixed gears like the Feather, Steamroller, etc that have a road geometry.

I don't want to convert, too much guess work/parts matching. I am just looking for a complete bike read to go. <$1000

Specialized Langster has pretty close to road geometry, comes with drop bars, full brakes, and two sets of water bottle bosses

The Surly Steamroller does have road geometry...its a bit on the steepish side of road, but similar to many road frames. There are tons of other FG/SS frames with road geometry.

Check out the Soma Van Ness...http://somafab.com/vanness.html

Many of the bikes direct offerings are road oriented...http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/trackbikes.htm

oh.

let me take a step back then, looks like I need to refine my google searches and learn some measurements.

thank you for the flame ******ant replies though :)

I'll let you in on a big secret: most fixed gear frames out there right now are road geometry. Sure, there are track specific frames, but that vast majority are just road bikes with track ends. Pretty much anything with the word "urban" in the description, you'll be fine.

The real key to finding what you want lies not by asking questions here, but by actually looking at some geometry charts and figuring out what actually constitutes road v. track geometry.

Giant Bowery?

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/...72/3927/36628/

I'm looking for the same thing as the OP. I was really excited about the Soma Rush until I finally found the price tag. $700 for just the frame is pretty far out of my price range. Damn those pretty polished headtube lugs! On the other hand, I'm seriously considering the IRO Phoenix. The complete bike is currently $480 if I recall correctly, and the geometry is similar to the Rush. Seatstay length and toe overlap are priorities for me, so a little more BB drop on the IRO is not a problem.

http://www.wabicycles.com/

wabi cycles literally has exactly what you want. They were designed as fixed gears with road geometry and high quality in mind. You won't need to replace any of it, and from the person I know who has one I can tell you that he absolutely loves his Wabi classic.

I was looking at the Wabi Lightning until I found out it had integrated headsets. From what I hear those can cause reliability issues later on.

Has anyone ever had problems with the bearings tearing up their frames?

If this wouldn't cause an issue then I am all for the lightning! :love:

I think you mean the Van Ness. The Soma Rush is much cheaper, has track geometry, and doesn't have lugs. The IRO Phoenix geometry isn't anywhere near the Rush either. The Phoenix doesn't really have "road" geometry either....its more like cyclocross or touring. Do you even know what road geometry is?

Another option is to buy any frame you like, regardless of vertical dropouts, and use an eccentric hub. I've heard nothing bad about them (apart from being a bit fiddly) and if the frame's perfect, why not.

BTW, I'm not sure I like this idea of putting a fixed price on your new bike. The danger of making a compromise you later regret is too high. That doesn't mean I think you should ignore the money and just go stupid, but as I've discovered with my Hillbrick project, doing the job properly is more important than doing it to a rigid budget. Set the equiptment level at which you want to build your bike (eg, on a Shimano geared build you'd talk Tiagra, Ultegra or Dura Ace), then do your best to do it for the best value - the pain of compromised parts will last a lot longer than the pain of paying for something better.

Richard

Check out the Leader lugged frameset:
http://www.leaderbikestore.com/prod_...xie_lores1.jpg
http://www.leaderbikestore.com/pd-ld...rack-frame.cfm

500 bucks for that frame & fork is a great deal, IMO.

I have a Cannondale Caad8 with an integrated headset.. and it's been perfectly fine. Keep it well tensioned just like any other headset should be, and you should not have any problems.

I bet that if it's still a problem you could contact Wabi cycles and they can clear up their decision to use integrated headsets!

sputnik.