bfloyd6969

Hello all. I'm looking at a couple budget friendly single speeds for general road use and am looking at the Windsor TimeLine, and the Gravity Track. Both are the same price, the TimeLine with chromo frame and fork, and the Gravity with aluminum/carbon frame and fork. I've heard of Windsor bikes and own a Windsor Dover that has served me well for the past few years as a single speed convert, but I've never heard of Gravity bikes. I like the idea of the aluminum frame and carbon fork, but would like to hear if any of you have any experience with Gravity bikes in general... Thanks!

bike in topic - https://gravitybikes.com/specialty/attack.html

puppypilgrim

My opinion only...

Get the Windsor TimeLine. You can fit wider tires which adds comfort. The Timeline being made of steel with a steel fork and wide tires will feel more comfortable than aluminum and carbon fork. I have one tri-bike make of alu. & a carbon fork and a Kilo TT. The Kilo TT is smoother overall. Alum + carbon fork seem "buzzy" to me. Hard to describe perfectly but I feel it.

bfloyd6969

Thanks for your opinion puppypilgrim, much appreciated! I however like the ride of my aluminum frame Dover convert which has sparked my interest in the Gravity. I ride in a quite hilly area and the lower weight seems might be a bonus. I agree with you that steel is a more pliable and comfortable ride, but I seem to do ok on the aluminum Dover.

bfloyd6969

Ok, I have it narrowed down to four bikes and would appreciate your comments on these:

Gravity Attack Track
Windsor TimeLine
Windsor Hour
Motobecane Track

From the four listed, which would you go with and why? Keep in mind this is for road use and also not fixed gear - freewheel use. I appreciate any and all comments on this. Thanks.

LupinIII

none of those, i'd go for the sst al.

if you really need to get something from that list, the moto track and windsor hour need to be off now because they only have rear brakes. just between the gravity and windsor, i'd go for the gravity for the carbon fork and slightly nicer hood shape (though they're all like tektro knockoffs, which in its own right is strange, and not the best shape for feel). i'd also consider the fantom cross uno

Grivooga

I really like my SST AL. Excellent bike. I'm a big guy and the BD steel frames felt too wiggly to me. Took a chance on the SST AL and do not regret it. It might be too stiff to be comfortable for a lighter rider though. Sizing ran smaller than advertised but that was ok because it gave me an extra inch of seatpost to help dull the road buzz down once I switched to a carbon seatpost and longer stem. Stock seatpost is terrible unless your local roads are super smooth.

bfloyd6969

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. I understand about the two of the bunch only having rear brakes. Isn't the SST and Gravity essentially the same bike, both being aluminum frame and carbon fork? Or are you talking component wise as well? I notice the SST has quite a bit better components on it, hence the slightly higher price tag.

I'm 6' and 185 lbs, so I fall leaning toward the heavier side. Perhaps steel would be too slinky for me as I do alot of climbing and most of it is out of the saddle. Perhaps the more rigid aluminum frame would be better...

LupinIII

no they're completely different. loose ball formulas should be reason enough to stay away from 70% of BD fixie bikes, those are a pain to keep smooth

bfloyd6969

Thanks for the help, Lupin. I admit that I don't know much about bearings - those Formula hubs wouldn't last too long? And, I also assume that the SST AL has better hubs?

bfloyd6969

It looks like the SST and ClockWork have the same hubs. Actually, all the ones I've been looking at seem to have similar hubs other than the Gravity. What should I look for and not look for regarding this? I am really not much of a tech, especially when it comes to wheels, so the less hastle the better for me. I know it was mentioned the Hour and Moto Track are only back brake stock but I have several front brakes/levers in my parts bin that I can put on... If it is only because of the brake issue I would still like to consider them. My max budget was really capped at $300 sadly.

Grivooga

My 09 SST AL has cartridge bearing Formula hubs. Rolling smooth still after thousands of miles with zero maintainence. Still have the stock wheels on mine. They're are a bit on the heavy side but reasonably aero, roll really smooth, and very strong. I keep thinking about getting some Mavic Ellipses since I really like Mavic wheels (Have 2x Aksium sets, one for road tires, the other for 38mm CX tires for trail riding, and a set of Ksyrium SSC tubulars with 32mm CX tires for cross races) but then I remember that the stock wheels are fine and it would be silly to put $500 wheels on a $400 bike.

bfloyd6969

Thanks for the info Grivooga. Do you use your SST AL for the trail riding you mentioned, or did you mean using the Aksiums on a different, cross bike?

Jaytron

I'd do one of the steel frames tbh. Just for the comfort factor.

screamtone

Gravity Attacks are sold out until August, unless you ride a 49cm. I tried to order one last week. I ordered a polished SST AL instead, since they had one in my size (52cm). All of the painted SST AL's were out of stock, as well.

stryper

loose ball hubs are just like changing a tire. It'll take you 20 minutes the first time, but after a few go arounds you can do it in 3 minutes

bfloyd6969

Thanks for the replies guys. Regarding the Gravity stock - I just put one in my cart last night (58cm) and it showed it going through. I thought I read on the BD site that if it shows up in your shopping cart that it is in stock, no?

Reagrding the steel frame - I have been reading that steel frames are not recommended for the larger rider. I'm 6' @ 185 lbs which I consider to be on the larger side. I do alot of out of the saddle climbing which is why I wonder if steel would be too flexy for me... no?

Thanks for the tip on the hubs, stryper. Good to know if I go with the loose bearing route. I also figure I could just ride the wheels until they go and then upgrade to a slightly better set.

bfloyd6969

Well... I just found through online adds that I can get an IRO Phoenix SS frame and fork on sale for $199 at Jensen USA. If I end up going the 4130 route, is the IRO that much better a frame/fork than the Windsor ClockWork / TimeLine frame/fork? I mean, I believe I could get a wheelset with the remaining $100 (price difference between the IRO and Clockwork), and I believe I have enough parts to complete the build. Is the IRO that much better a frame over the WIndsor, or is it just a bit better? Thanks for all the help everyone.

LupinIII

formula loose balls are super low quality. takes 10 minutes to clean and get them back together, but takes forever to try and adjust them smooth. and even at their smoothest they feel like dura ace that's been running through sand for a few thousand miles. they work, but hell if i was buying a new bike i'd spend the extra for some cartridge bearings to not have to worry about fussing with my hubs once a week to try and keep it from feeling like the hub shell is filled with pebbles

soyboy

no offense but i don't think you've given loose ball much of a try(which you should if you like DA) even the cheap formula hubs aren't bad to repack and once you've done it a few times(with any hub) it's really quick and easy, definitely a satisfying and useful skill to have

TejanoTrackie 

I think you misunderstood LupinIII's post. He didn't say that loose ball hubs are hard to service, but that el cheapo loose ball hubs such as the Formulas are difficult to adjust and cannot be made to run very smoothly. Having worked on numerous loose ball hubs of various degrees of quality I can attest to the veracity of this assertiion. The Formula loose ball hubs must be adjusted to be a compromise between tight and rough or excessive side play. They can be improved somewhat by replacing the balls with higher quality ones, but the races (cups and cones) themselves are still poorly made, such that they will never work very well.

screamtone

It will go in your cart, but if you try to check out, it will come up unavailable.

bfloyd6969

^^ Thanks for the tip screamtone, I understand.

Someone please help me to understand about the hubs - so they are not loose ball bearings if it reads sealed hubs? Or does it need to read sealed cartridge hubs? Thanks. (yeah, I'm a hub noob)

TejanoTrackie 

Sometimes the description is incorrect. If a hub has loose bearings it should be referred to as open bearings, which may have a dust cover or shield and that shield may have a lip seal. If it is a cartridge bearing, then it will have a seal on the outside, but usually not on the inside. In the case of all the $300 and under bd bikes, none of them have sealed cartridge bearings anymore.

bfloyd6969

Thanks, TT!

So, in the examples that follow - the BD Gravity Attack, it reads "Formula Aluminum Track, bolt-on". The Windsor Clockwork, reads " Formula High Flange Alloy, sealed ball bearing". The Windsor Hour reads "Formula TrackSpec High Flange, sealed cage ball bearing". So this all means that the Gravity has no dust cover, while The Hour and Clockwork do have the covers? I assume that the Gravity has the lesser quality hubs, but are the Hour and Clockwork basically the same hubs? Thanks again.

hairnet

The Clockwork has cartridge bearings and the other two have the same loose ball hubs. Bikesdirect really sucks at describing their stuff, sometimes you just have to look at the photo and figure out what the bike has.