Thinking about a fixie...

So yeah, I decided that after the holidays, I will finally pull the trigger on another bike. I hear great things about fixed/fw bikes, and I have rode my friend's a couple of times, and I think I will get one. I have been casually looking and I am nowhere near deciding. I love the looks of the Specialized Tokyo langster, but I can just as easily go for a steel ride of something like the much more "economical" Schwinn Cutter.

Any guidance, or ideas? I'm not a fixie expert so top of the line components aren't a dealbreaker. Also, not being a hipster, street cred isn't a dealbreaker either. Thanks for any help or input.

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Permalink Reply by Vilda on December 16, 2008 at 6:28pm
The Specialized Langsters (Tokyo and New York) give me a special kind of twinge. ;-) But seeing as I'm no money man and my friends all chipped in and got me a bike I now am the proud owner of a Scattante Americano - Single Speed. I can't say anything about how it rides since i still can't ride it due to injury (soon baby, soon...:-) but it's a damn fine bike from all accounts online and all the guys/gals at the shop thought it sweet as well as affordable. Steel frame but not to heavy. And I didn't go fixie cause i like pedaling backwards. Whatever you get just make sure it's a good fit and not just beautiful ;-)
Permalink Reply by 329Cycles Adam Kishanov on December 16, 2008 at 6:39pm
Vando,
Just make sure u buy one with a FlipFlop wheelset with a Single Speed thead on one side, incase u totally hate the Fixed gear u can switch to a freewheel. Also from your photo u look like a big dude so go with steel, maybe a vintage Japenese frame. It'll b more comfortable for you. You can go with a conversion which is usually cheaper. If price is not an option order an NJS/ Keirin Frame from Japan. They are SWEEET. I build and sell conversions and also sell parts (cheaper than a store) so if you find a frame and want it built I can help or build u a conversion.
Either way good luck and Ride On!!!!
Adam
329Cycles
Bartlett IL
630-742-7000
Permalink Reply by Rusty Piton on December 17, 2008 at 4:12am
Don't get a langster, they make me sad with their patheticly gimicky themes. The new langesters depress me because they make Specialized(a company I dearly love who really know their shit especially in regards to mountain bikes) look like the idiot child at the wedding reception.
So ugly. So stupid
The KHS Flite100 is a great entry level track bike, sells for cheap and is readily avalable localy same goes for the Fuji Track. Check out Cycle Smithy on Clark and Arlington for this.
You don't need to pay 600bux for some dinged up Kerin frame.

If you are even remotly mecanically inclined, the cheapest option would be to get an old road bike with horizontal drops at a thift store and throw a fixed wheel on there, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't cut off the deraileur hanger!
Permalink Reply by Stacey E on December 17, 2008 at 4:28am
My suggestion: take the time to find an older steel road frame for cheap or free (I found mine in a friend's basement)--just make sure it has horizontal dropouts. Strip that sucker of all but its front brake. Then go to Marcus at Yojimbo's and drop a bundle on a custom-built wheelset.

I was a fixie skeptic until Alex at West Town persuaded me to convert that old frame. I have a flip-flop hub but haven't bothered riding SS--I enjoy fixed too much. All that bs about being one with the bike and having a more intuitive sense of your riding surface...it's all true. Plus, I lost about 25 pounds from the constant pedaling.

I'm eagerly awaiting decent weather so I can ride it again. Not that I don't also love the winter bike I built. But I miss my fixie!
Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on December 17, 2008 at 5:12am
I'm with Rusty Piton here...buying a pre-fabricated off-the-rack fixed gear goes against the spirit of riding a fixed gear. If you put one together yourself, it will be uniquely yours and that much more special to you.

I don't know your budget, but I think you should buy a frame with proper track-style horizontal dropouts. Chain tension is super crucial (you don't want the chain falling off) so you need a frame with horizontal dropouts, or those multi-functional angled droupouts I've seen on the Salsa Casserole and the Surly Cross Check.

I think Performance bikes has a deal on a decent quality steel fixie frame/fork. It's their private label "Scattante" brand. The best part is that the stickers are made to be peeled off, so you have a nice plain black frame to start with. The forks are chrome I believe. My friend is putting a bike together for his girlfriend and I think the frame and fork cost less than $250.

Choosing (and even perhaps installing) the components yourself will put you on a journey of discovery that will test your mental fortitude and will open your eyes to strange world where a 100mm stem mates to a 1-1/8" headset. A world where q factors and Italian cupsets and spindle lengths and fork rake will make you want to pick up a Giga X Pipe and beat the external bearings out of some engineer. But when all is said and done, you will have a bike like no other, you will know it inside and out, and you will love this bike forever.
Permalink Reply by DavID on December 17, 2008 at 5:29am
Gabe has the right idea, the Americano is a great deal...on sale for like $349 I think. Sealed bearings in the hubs, ok parts, not too loud and its basically a Fuji Track on the cheap. (they are the same...)

i like steel and the Flite 100 is great, i picked one up from smithy last year. i love the Raleigh Rush Hour, i really miss mine!!! the Cutter is ok, kinda like a SE Draft but has a better crank setup. for a better experience and for the bike to last a bit longer, go for the Madison if you like Schwinn.

As for the Langster...don't really like em. to loud and annoying, love Japan but its ugly. For aluminum i like the Cannondale Capo, and the GT Gutterball (relaxed version of the pulse)

Do whatever you like and buy the bike that YOU like. Test ride! f the whole hipster drama, we all like bikes so hurry over to the darkside. Use A Brake Please...until you get it down, then do what you want.
Permalink Reply by yellow jello on December 17, 2008 at 5:40am
the langster has good value imho, with reinforced track ends and a carbon fork etc. the reason i passed on it and got a cannondale capo instead is the welding. ugly welding makes it difficult for me to sleep at night.

before going off topic here tho, another thing to consider when getting a frame to build up a fixie with is the BB clearance, since you wont be able to coast around corners. this obviously depends on your riding style, but i thought i'd throw it out there. i've stepped into the asphalt cornering on my non-fixed ride and it is no fun.
Permalink Reply by Meghan on December 17, 2008 at 8:39am
I switched to fixie about 8 months ago from SS. I had the flip-flop wheel but honestly, I don't think I'll ever go back. Safer in the winter because you can manually slow down your wheels instead of braking and potentially sliding on the slick road. You have so much control! I'm fairly new to biking, maybe 2.5 years total?, and I had zero knowledge on building or customizing a bike and zero money to buy a new one. The guys at Upgrade walked me through it. They told me what to search for online, how much things should cost, which brand was good, etc, and I built my own fixie/SS. I spent maybe $450 dollars but splurged on Velocity Fusions and a Sugino crank. I have an old steel frame and old seat and I cut my own handle bars. My bike is a Beauty and Beast in one and is totally strong enough for the long haul.

If I were you, I'd consider building your own fixie. It's so satisfying.
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 17, 2008 at 9:21am
the fixie philosophers are drooling over this post......here's my 2 cents:

I've had my share of half baked ideas and projects sitting around at various stages of incompletion. But my fixed conversion was NOT one of them. It's a lot easier than you think, and (as said already) so satisfying.

I bought a nashbar flip flop hub really cheap, and the bmx freewheel, but decided that I should just go fixed from the start or I would never try it. I did, and haven't used the free yet, nor do I want to. The rim came from the swap meet in Madison that's coming up next month. Total cost for the rear wheel with labor was under $100. RRB in Kenelworth (just off the metra) did a great job - Ron and Walter are great mechanics and couldn't be friendlier.

I've seen a few langsters around, and the cannondale. They look like uncomfortable road bikes, not around town cruisers(not that that's bad - I have a specialized allez aka the ball buster). But what I like about the fixed is it's no nonsense, just get on and ride me whenever/wherever quality. A lot of that comes from the cushy steel and vintage look.

If you're not gonna build, I like the shwinn Madison out of all the prefab for the street singlespeeds out there.
Permalink Reply by Vondo on December 17, 2008 at 2:46pm
Wow, there is obviously a lot to think about here. A couple things that I've decided from reading your replies are: 1) I think the Langsters are out; pricey and for a bike I am going to beat up on the streets, too flamboyant. 2) Price is very much an object. Frames ordered from Japan and custom jobs, (although would be EXTREMELY SWEET) are most likely not feasible on my budget.

I also probably won't build. I am too much of a procrastinator and not especially experienced in bike mechanics. Thanks for turning me on to the Scattante and the Flite 100, they look pretty good (except for the Scattante's blue color, don't know if they come in others).

I'm still keeping the Schwinn Cutter on the short list. Steel frame and slick murdered-out paintjob are plusses, although those bars would have to be chopped or replaced altogether. The Cutter's low price leaves room for hotter wheels or fenders or whatever later on. Basically I am looking for fg/ss hub, room for possibly adding fenders, and maybe even room for some of those slightly fatter tires I've seen out there, for the winter.

Thanks for all of your help, I know there are many schools of thought on this subject and you guys have really narrowed down the field for me on potential bikes. I feel much more informed now!
Permalink Reply by root on December 17, 2008 at 8:21pm
i say go for the khs or a kilo tt. check out my profile if you want to see what a powder coat and some better components can do for the khs..
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 18, 2008 at 4:09am
Performance sells their singlespeed in theme's just like the langster....tokyo, chicago, seatle, NY..etc...
each is it's own color and handlebar style. But a warning about Performance: They don't know how to build a bike. I'd get it unassembled and take it to a real mechanic.

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