archfotos

Hoping someone can give an honest review of this single speed from actual first hand experience with the bike. I know nobody like's bike direct and that I should go to my lbs and purchase one off the shelf. However my budget won't allow that. I've been watching Craigslist all summer to no avail for a decent used SS

This will be my winter bike, a bike I can use no matter how much salt the road crews throw down. And while I don't want to fret over the bike I also don't want to buy something that I need to replace most of the major components (wheels + brakes) within the first year. One question I have is sizing I ride a 54 cm and can ride a 55 cm but I am on the fence if the 53.5 is more of a 54 and the 55.5 is more of a 56? The brake hoods seem so extended in the picture.

Any first hand knowledge(reviews) would be appreciated?

thanks,

Craig

Rollfast

Do you need an Anti-Gravity Vanquish to get up the hill?

PS Can you post your picture?

I ride a 1995 Schwinn Cruiser SS with MTB type treads during the winter. I doubt anything would have worked during out Snowmageddon in '16. Buildings everywhere collapsed.

archfotos

"Do you need an Anti-Gravity Vanquish to get up the hill?" the biggest hill around here is my beer gut. Had a SS last winter didn't like the geometry it was designed as a college campus commuter not a comfy road bike. I have a couple of easy routes one a 40 mile loop with minimal hills, a 70 miler and 100 (daylight is my main concern with that one)


"Snowmageddon in '16" was that the 6" of snow that people abandoned their cars on the parkway creating a 12hour traffic jam? Anywhere else in the USA kids would of gone to school not here in DC our government employees are the best of the best. /s Sorry couldn't resist growing up in snow country I only remember one time getting off school and that was due to the cold


Any direct knowledge on the Gravity Vanquish?


thanks

Rollfast

Nope, but 2 feet of snowfall in under a week was something that for all our onion sheds and older buildings with 1930s building codes was no fun. One small town lost the town grocery, bowling alley and the best bar in town. I got nowhere fast then.

Google and Ye Shall Receive https://www.google.com/search?q=gravity+vanquish+review

rms13

No advise but youryo way off if you say nobody likes BD. I think this particular forum is home to more BD fanatics then anywhere. Endless love for the Kilo TT. I would just consider a Kilo WT for your needs. I'm skeptical of the Gravity mostly because they are so ugly . I have owned a couple of BD bikes and was plenty happy with the quality and value for the price.

veganbikes

If you did a search I believe not that long ago we thoroughly took apart that bike. To say it is junk is an understatement. If you insist on buying a bike you cannot try out and have to build yourself, try that Pound Sign: KIloTT everyone is so excited about. If you are unsure about sizing not being able to test ride it is the perfect way to still not know.

Me I would check out Surly, they some excellent stuff that would be great for winter. The Karate Monkey SS or the Lowside would be perfect for that task or of course their many fat bikes like the Wednesday or Ice Cream Truck. Or if you want something more road bikey than All City Nature Boy is solid choice.

seau grateau

It looks like it's maybe a step above a Walmart bike, and I'd expect it to ride as such. BD hit a certain point a few years ago where a lot of their SS/FG bikes started getting cheap redesigns to cut cost. The Windsor and Dawes branded bikes that used to be fairly decent all turned into the same ugly/cheap junk. The Gravity line came in around the same time, I think. IMO, the Kilo TT and WT are the only bikes worth looking at in BD's SS/FG section anymore.