Help me narrow down my choices.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on March 3, 2009 at 10:10pm

i believe the rush hour is 700

the khs is 650-700

and the iro is base 500 but the one i could build online is like. . 750

so alla bout the same range price-wise.

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Permalink Reply by Leah on March 3, 2009 at 10:18pm

I ride a KHS Flite 100 as my commuter bike. Though I haven't test-ridden the others (and so therefore I'm giving a completely biased view ;) ), I really like the KHS. I'm not a bike-builder and so when I needed a basic, no-frills fixie that's what I chose. Like any bike, I'd swap out the seat. But I think you'd be happy with the Flite 100.

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Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on March 3, 2009 at 10:42pm

I'm currently riding a rebuilt Raleigh Grand Prix, which is good, but it's getting a lot of help from the LBS. . so I've decided awhile ago that I'd rather start fresh and rebuild from there if I feel like it.

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Permalink Reply by Martin Hazard on March 3, 2009 at 10:48pm

I would make every effort to test ride all canidates before making a decision. Within the same price range most bikes have comprable parts specs. The real differences will lye in the geometry snd sizing, and while you can look these up on line, untill you try them out, it is no better than an educated guess.
Unlike Howard I do think one can find happiness on a pre-fab fixie. Then again the only unchanged parts on my pre-fab are the cranks, frame, seatpost, and back wheel.

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Permalink Reply by J on March 3, 2009 at 11:01pm

If you find a local shop you trust, it can be much more economical and less time consuming to do a semi-custom build. This way you don't have to deal with swapping saddle, gearing, tires, etc. in order to get exactly what you want. In the $600+ range, I really would not suggest buying off the peg.

Each of the bikes you've mentioned have their respective weaknesses -- but of course it really depends on your intended use and needs. I work on these bikes all the time and in my experience:

All suffer from mediocre bottom brackets and really crummy headsets. The cog and lockring on the Raleigh tends to be soft and can strip easily. The 32h wheels on the Raleigh are not reliable and come improperly tensioned.

The KHS is not nearly as nice as the same model in previous years, and the frame is a bit flexy -- but many would argue that it has better road handling characteristics than the others and certainly has a more forgiving fork. The seals on some of these hubs are not good.

The IRO is the stiffest of the bunch, something you might want to consider if you are a bigger guy. I don't like that the stock IRO builds come with 3/32" stuff instead of 1/8".

Consider too that the clearances and bb drop are different on all of these bikes, so you should think about what wheels/tire size you intend to ride.

I'd repeat the bit about the local shop though -- these entry level track bikes do tend to run into trouble 6-12 months down the road, so if you're not very mechanically savvy (or even if you are) it's nice to have someone who will assume responsibility for these things and take care of them.

Or better yet, like I said -- build up something semi-custom and you can avoid a lot of these difficulties by specifying a more durable/appropriate kit based on your size, weight, and riding style.

My shop is just one of many that specializes in this stuff, but here are examples of bikes in this price range. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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Permalink Reply by Danielle on March 3, 2009 at 11:17pm

I find that even when they mention the components it doesn't really matter, because most of a particular style of bike you look for within a certain price range has similar levels of components. Cheap cranks, rims, and basic hubs and whatnot. The difference is the metal the frame is made out of. Sometimes the price goes sky-high because of the grade of steel or aluminum (not really sky high...) and the frame geometries are a little different.

I would say, try and test ride them all, and then make a choice. As I only have experience with one of those, I don't think it would be fair for me to compare them.

M.A.R.K. said:

Well the IRO has a price, way more then the Rush Hour if in not mistaken.. Doesnt the RH come in at like 800 or so bones? The problem I have with researching things online like this is lack of mentioning components, They are kind of here and there. No name hubs, or no mention of wheel type, etc..

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Permalink Reply by Danielle on March 3, 2009 at 11:22pm

Agreed. Also, some bike shops properly tension the wheels and do a lot of other things that would make a bike 10 times better than it would ever be if you bought it online, even with upgrades. Keep it in mind if you plan on going through a LBS.

J said:

If you find a local shop you trust, it can be much more economical and less time consuming to do a semi-custom build. This way you don't have to deal with swapping saddle, gearing, tires, etc. in order to get exactly what you want. In the $600+ range, I really would not suggest buying off the peg.

Each of the bikes you've mentioned have their respective weaknesses -- but of course it really depends on your intended use and needs. I work on these bikes all the time and in my experience:

All suffer from mediocre bottom brackets and really crummy headsets. The cog and lockring on the Raleigh tends to be soft and can strip easily. The 32h wheels on the Raleigh are not reliable and come improperly tensioned.

The KHS is not nearly as nice as the same model in previous years, and the frame is a bit flexy -- but many would argue that it has better road handling characteristics than the others and certainly has a more forgiving fork. The seals on some of these hubs are not good.

The IRO is the stiffest of the bunch, something you might want to consider if you are a bigger guy. I don't like that the stock IRO builds come with 3/32" stuff instead of 1/8".

Consider too that the clearances and bb drop are different on all of these bikes, so you should think about what wheels/tire size you intend to ride.

I'd repeat the bit about the local shop though -- these entry level track bikes do tend to run into trouble 6-12 months down the road, so if you're not very mechanically savvy (or even if you are) it's nice to have someone who will assume responsibility for these things and take care of them.

Or better yet, like I said -- build up something semi-custom and you can avoid a lot of these difficulties by specifying a more durable/appropriate kit based on your size, weight, and riding style.

My shop is just one of many that specializes in this stuff, but here are examples of bikes in this price range. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on March 3, 2009 at 11:41pm

I'm most certainly going through a LBS, I'd probably end up there anyway even if I did put it together myself, to make sure i put it together safely.

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on March 4, 2009 at 10:59am

Rodimus, like I mentioned to you before, I went to look at the Masi yesterday, and I decided to get it. Of all the bikes I looked at and tested the last few weeks, it is the one I liked the best. Should be here in a week or two, its gonna be sweet.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on March 4, 2009 at 11:02am

Plus you can probably get some sweet '08 deals right now. I know Cycle Smithy had some going on when I was there a few weeks ago.

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Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on March 29, 2009 at 7:18pm

*UPDATE*

so thanks to everyone who had some sort of input, I decided to get the Raleigh Rush Hour. Its pretty sexy.

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Permalink Reply by Ali on March 29, 2009 at 9:06pm

Congrats...She is a sweet looking bike. You might want to swap that saddle out sooner than later, and if those tires are Vittoria Zaffiro's you might want to look into replacing those as well. I had a set of Zaffiro's that lasted me a grand total of 150 miles before they were too shredded to use...But those are all expected changes in any pre-fabricated bike...Just my 2 cents...

-Ali

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