Best of the budget bikes?!?
 

About to make my first fg/ss bike purchase and was wanting to know the best of the budget bikes. The kilo, Madison, moto track, Dawes, Windsor, etc.

Thanks for any help.

will this be your first experience with ss/fg bikes?

if so, i'd just go with the motobecane track or windsor hour

both have decent parts, are only $279, and the geometry should be fine for the street (negligible toe overlap).

then again, what's your budget like?

The Kilo is probably the best bang for your buck, but the Track, Hour, and Madison are all well-regarded bikes on this forum.

The Track and the Hour are the same frame, but I think the forks are different materials.

300 is about what I want to spend and then upgrade slowly. I've spent weeks looking on this forum, and just can't decide. I currently have an 81 nishiki that I thought about converting, but those budget bikes seem like a better way to go.

For $280 shipped, both the Motobecane Track and Windsor The Hour are solid bikes. Pick whichever one you think looks the best. You'll have a hard time finding a better bang for your buck under $300.

If you have the extra money, consider the Kilo TT. I rode my Motobecane Track for about 9 months, and have been riding a Kilo for the past couple of months. I actually really didn't like the Kilo at first because of its more aggressive geometry, but once I got it dialed in I realized I liked it more. It's hard to quantify, but the frame feels more "solid."

At the same time, geometry is a personal preference. What kind of riding do you do?

Coming from someone who has owned a Kilo, Madison and an Hour, my vote is for the Hour. Practically the same bike as a Kilo, but a lot less $$$... As far as the Madison goes, It looks great, but its definitely a porker... Unless your a big guy, or your wanting to jump curbs and what not, I'd say you will be very happy with the Windsor.

I definitely want something on the lighter side, my nishiki weighs a ton. As far as riding, moslty around town here in San Diego, no commuting as my job is 60 miles roundtrip. Bike is more for fun and getting in shape. I may get handed down a nice fuji road bike so i will use that for serious riding and long rides.

Is the kilo the "nicest" as far as quality and ff goes?

There are a lot of variations of the kilo, including the one with the double top tube, one with more tire clearance, special edition, etc with all varying prices
I would ignore that and pull the trigger on the basic kilo if anything.

What I would do personally is buy (edit: build) a rear track wheel for cheap, and try out fixed on your nishiki. The hour has pretty relaxed geometry, and the conversion will get you a feel for bike parts, repair, and the overall feel. If you decide you like it, i'd invest in a decent track bike rather than a kilo with all upgraded parts - the frame is really important in my opinion.

Quality? Uh...they are all on par with each other... well, maybe the Madison has a little better quality, but in all honesty...a bike is a bike...Different materials make the biggest difference. I wouldn't say any of those three have bad quality, nor are they the best quality.... But you do also get what you pay for.

If your taking about component wise, it all depends on what you do, how you ride, how much you clean and take care of your bike...if you care about components then you'll upgrade...if you don't then anything will work just fine for a good amount of time/enough to justify its cost... Until you realize that there is a problem to a component or you want something lighter weight or easier to maintain or whatnot then you'll be fine.

I think I'm going to go with the Moto Track. I actually really liked the '08 Fuji Tracks, but cant seem to find many of them.