Hey all, after much thought, I'm going to go with a green Kilo STT from bikesdirect. First off, this will be my first SS... never owned one before, but I'm looking forward to trying a new bike. I almost did pull the trigger on some other fixie, but luckily held off and found the Kilo TT to be highly regarded.

I do have a few questions:

I guess my first question is on fit -- I've read in multiple places that Mercier uses a different measurement system (CT vs CC), so I'm pretty confused. I'm currently 180 lbs, stocky build, and 5'11". My inseam is 32" from my crotch to the middle of my ankle and 34" from my crotch to the floor. Which size would be optimal?

I've also never done any mods on a bike before... at most, I've changed a tire tube. I'm still learning about the different parts of a bike, so apologies in advance if these are very basic questions. I would like to do some upgrades and change the design of the bike to look something similar to the below. My second question is regarding parts -- what are the different parts that need to be changed, aside from the obvious handlebar tapes, saddle, and pedals. Do I need to get a brand new wheel? If so, is that called the wheelset? Or is it just the wheel rim and yellow tires? ... still confused with terminology here! ... And does anyone have any recommendations on tire sizes or tires?



And in order to make these changes, do you all recommend some inexpensive tools that I can purchase online? I have next to nothing when it comes to bike tools, so open to your suggestions

Thank you ALL for your help. I'm sure I'll ask more as I go, but I appreciate it

For your height 53cm in C-C would be your fit, but you should use this: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO and compare it to this: https://www.cyclesmercier.com/geometry_tt.html

if its your first ss/fg then I am not sure what needs to be upgraded from the get go. pretty much all the stuff you mentioned is based off of your own personal tastes and feels in regards to comfort. Inspect it once you get it out of the box, make sure the lockring is tight if you plan on riding fixed and the wheels are true, and most importantly spend some time on it and put some miles on it. Then you'll begin to find out what YOU want on YOUR bike. have fun you rascal

The Kilo TT is a very nice bike ...
Based on your measurements and the frame size chart I would go with a 53 or 55 cm:

Sizing: (c-c = center to center seat tube, c-t = center to top, TT = top tube c-c)

• 44cm (c-c) is 47cm(c-t) with TT of 503mm* and standover of 28.5 inches
• 47cm (c-c) is 50cm(c-t) with TT of 513mm and standover of 29 inches
• 50cm (c-c) is 53cm(c-t) with TT of 523mm and standover of 30.4 inches
• 53cm (c-c) is 56cm(c-t) with TT of 548mm and standover of 31.5 inches
• 55cm (c-c) is 58cm(c-t) with TT of 560mm and standover of 32 inches
• 57cm (c-c) is 60cm(c-t) with TT of 575mm and standover of 33 inches
• 60cm (c-c) is 63cm(c-t) with TT of 606mm and standover of 34 inches
• 63cm (c-c) is 66cm(c-t) with TT of 630mm and standover of 35.5 inches

The kilo tt is a great first bike, its durable, and the parts are fairly good. Its a great feeling to constantly mod a bike, but, it's a waste of money to upgrade it all when the parts are all brand new. I'd run them down till the parts need replacing.

But if you wanted to know what parts the person probably changed I'll list them here

1inch threadless fork to 1inch threaded, since you need a threaded fork to use a quill stem
Those rims look like deep v styles with machined side walls for brakes
most likely a different crank (the arms connected to the pedals) and a new chain ring
pedals look the same, just different toe clip/straps
it looks like he also has a spoke count <36 (36 being the stock spoke count)
and colored tires!

I do recommend that rather than what it looks like in the picture where the person just put some oury style grips on the drops, you should properly use grip tape and tape it up, it looks 100000000x better in my opinion.

And dont worry about catching up on the words and terms, you'll learn what they are in time. Though if you want to learn it faster, go to a bike part site (retro-gression or benscycle) and click on the categories and in a while you'll know parts and terms.

Congrats on getting a bike, and I hope you love the kilo

You will need this for your top tube protector upgrade: https://www.etsy.com/listing/12436358...Fc5_Qgod7X0AlQ

this.

You have the same body-build as me, I have the 55cm frame- which I think is the perfect size. But do use the fit calculator.

Enjoy!

Another thought if you are planning all the mods you listed ...
Start with a bike that has the threaded stem, wheels, etc

SE Racing Premium Brew $399.95
Lugged CrMo Frame and Fork, Sugino Crank
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/se/premium_brew.htm

Buy it, ride it, when stuff breaks or annoys you, you'll know what to replace

Thanks for all the great responses!

It looks like the TT is sold out, so I may go for the red Kilo WT today. Would the sizing recommendation of 53 or 55 still work with this bike? Just wanted to double check before pulling the trigger

Oh my stars, the green Kilo TT is to die for, hnggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!

You've likely already settled this, but the WT comes in 53 and 56, not 55. It's also measured differently than the TT and has a different geometry. WT is identical geometry to Steamroller. My guess is you'd be happier on the 56, but people also say it's easier to make a smaller frame fit to your needs. I can tell you that I'm 5'10" with 33" inseam and was told by a bike shop that the 53 Steamroller would be too small for me.

Fitment calculator ffs

Also top tube not stand over

Is it just the graphics that have them selling this so cheap? The parts seem as good or better than anything spec'd on a kilo/tt pro, and lugs!

I have also been doing alot of research for my first fixie and the Kilo tt seems like a very good choice for what im looking for, especially the price. Im still quite confused on what size to get though. I went into our local bike shop, Fat Frogs, and tried out one of their only SS and it was a 54cm origin8 cutler (it didnt say 54cm on the tag but he measured it and thats what he got) which was ok but i was really wanting a fixie. The bike seemed to fit pretty well and rode ok but it seemed a bit cheap.

Could someone suggest a Kilo tt size from these measurements? (these are the ones which were asked for in the fit calculator)-----
Inseam- 31"
Trunk- 24"
Forearm- 13.5"
Arm- 25"
Thigh- 23"
Lower Leg- 23"
Sternal Notch- 56"
Overall Body Height- 5'7"

I would mainly be using this bike for commuting around a bit and then more when i go to college next year.

Any help would be much appreciated

I've figured out that this entire subforum consists of 44% sizing questions, 23% gear ratio questions, 12% pictures and 21% arguing about how much Nagrom's Kilo weighs.

21%? Stop rounding.

19.67%

True. The remaining 1.33% is about Superb sucking.

Did you enter the numbers into the fit calculator?

yep, when i entered them into the fit calculator this is what i got--
[TABLE="width: 618"]
[TR]
[TH="align: center"] [/TH]
[TH="align: center"][h=4]The Competitive Fit[/h][/TH]
[TH="align: center"][h=4]The Eddy Fit[/h][/TH]
[TH="align: center"][h=4]The French Fit[/h][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left"]Seat tube range c-c[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]51.0 - 51.5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]52.2 - 52.7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]53.9 - 54.4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: alt, bgcolor: #F5F5F5"]
[TD="class: left"]Seat tube range c-t[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]52.6 - 53.1[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]53.8 - 54.3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55.5 - 56.0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left"]Top tube length[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55.1 - 55.5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]55.1 - 55.5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]56.3 - 56.7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: alt, bgcolor: #F5F5F5"]
[TD="class: left"]Stem Length[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10.8 - 11.4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9.7 - 10.3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9.9 - 10.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left"]BB-Saddle Position[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]77.0 - 79.0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]76.2 - 78.2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]74.5 - 76.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: alt, bgcolor: #F5F5F5"]
[TD="class: left"]Saddle-Handlebar[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]51.1 - 51.7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]51.9 - 52.5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]53.6 - 54.2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: left"]Saddle Setback[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1.5 - 1.9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.7 - 3.1[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2.2 - 2.6[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Your measurements are junk. Did someone help you with them?

I'd say 53.

edit- looks like Nag is right. I didn't really look too hard.

Do you mean someone from the fit calculator site? Im not relly sure how these measurements apply to the Kilos bc apparently they run big?

Forget about the bike for right now.

Get someone to help you taking your measurements. A roommate, sibling, parent, friend, whatever... It really does take two people to do properly. Do it like the videos outline. Take them 3 times and average the results. Try and be a little more accurate, bodies aren't normally in exact inches. Get your values to the nearest sixteenth of an inch.

Take an hour and do it right, or there is really no use in doing it.
It's a calculator. Just like any calculator, if you put bogus numbers in, it won't magically spit out the correct ones.