cococard

hey guys, I have a quick question...

im 6'0 and am looking to build a bike, got about 700-1000 in chips.

Suggestions for frames and components?

rustybrown

...well....what type of riding do you want to do? Expound a little, please.

cococard

ok, i ride around town but dont do any tricks or agresive riding. Mostly run around with the girlfreind and such. I was thinking of a mericer kilo frame....

I also dont want a bike im gonna feel limited with.

sknoslo

What do you mean by limited? With any ssfg bike you'll obviously be limited to one gear. It's fun, but is with out a doubt, limiting. With a kilo frame you'll be limited to having pretty skinny tires. Probably won't want to ride it through snow or dirt.

seau grateau

Also, girlfriends are slow. You're going to feel pretty limited pedaling your track bike at 20rpm.

Henry III

Technically your not limited to one gear riding fixed. SA has three speed fixed hub that are readily available. That's a boat load of dough to make a fixed or single speed bike in my book. I built like two decent fixed gear bike with that much using newer quality stuff. You could pick up a decent older road bike and convert it. I picked up a nice Schwinn Tempo Columbus tubed frame bike with all 105 components and Cinelli stem and bars for $50. Buy a new wheelset, sprocket and lockring and some tune up type things(tires,tubes,chain, brake cables, bar tape) for about five hundred tops I'd say you'd could easily have a twenty pound or sub twenty pound bike. I guess I'm just not a big fan of new fixed/ss frames. They just seem bmx cruisers with 700c wheels on them. Flat, riser bars, platform pedals with big goofy straps and every color of the rainbow on them. They just seem really cookie cutterish. Sorry for the rant. lol.

rustybrown

I keep thinking Surly Crosscheck.

carleton

Unfortunately, there is no quick answer.

$700-1000 sort of limits you for building from scratch. Buying a-la-carte is always the most expensive way. If money is an issue, then you could either try to luck up and find what you want used, or buy a complete new bike and upgrade it as things break or you get extra cash.

Also, you may be a candidate for a road bike. There are lots more road bikes on the used market than fixed gears. 6'0" puts you in the 56-58cm range (just guessing). The coming fall and winter are great times to buy a bike because demand is low. To put things into perspective, a new Trek 1.1 road bike is less than $700. $1,000 on the used road bike market can get you a really really nice bike.

Crappymonkey

That is so true.

cococard

I have a track bike and a mountain bike, I also have a SohoS that I'm not to thrilled about, I got all of them at the local bike shop and are way to common for me. I really wanted something like the Kilo TT stripped ( i got the kilo TT PRO for the girlfreind) on bikesdirect.com.

I was gonna be cool picking up a bike and upgrading the comps on it, just that given my size I think it puts me in the 55 frame size for the Kilo tt and all of them are out of stock.

Scrodzilla

Sounds like you guys are hanging out with the wrong girls.

cococard - if you're 6' tall, a 55cm Kilo will very likely be too small and you'll be cramped - especially if you have long arms.

sknoslo

I don't know about that. I'm 6' and compared to the golden ratio I'm pretty proportionate (yes I've checked lol). I ride a 53 and I'm very comfortable on it. Even thinking about getting a slightly shorter stem. Though if I did it again I probably would go with a 55 and adjust the saddle/stem/bars accordingly, just so I could have less toe overlap. (with my current pedal setup I don't have overlap anyway, but its close)

carleton

Dude, that just doesn't add up. Will you please provide a quick photo (from the side) of you on your bike?

Scrodzilla

That doesn't add up at all. I'm 5'10" and my 53cm Kilo was too small, even with the saddle pushed all the way back.

WoundedKnee

+1

sknoslo

Ha I promise I'm not crazy. Unless they accidentally shipped the wrong size. My saddle is pushed almost all the way back. I have the stock stem. Haven't cut the steerer or lowered the stem at all. I have about 5-6" of seatpost showing, such that my legs are slightly less than fully extended on the down stroke. To be fair i'm actually more like 5'11-5/8" haha. I'll try to get a picture later if I get a chance.

scroca

How about just a picture of your girl friend?

seejohnbike

sounds like you don't really know what you want. buy something cheap to start and upgrade when you have an idea of what you actually want to upgrade (and have an idea of what you're actually willing to pay for certain upgrades).

also, even with a cheap bikes direct bike, all of the fittings, threadings, etc are standards, so you have limitless possibilities of what you can upgrade, and you won't feel limited at all. by the time you want to advance from a standard 4130/reynolds 520 frame, you'll definitely have a proper idea of what you're looking for, as well as the idea that 4130/reynolds 520 is a good choice for an around town bike, anyway.

cococard

yeah I picked up the kilo tt stripper chrome, in a 55. I did all the research and i guess a 55 is correct for my size, did I F it up?

carleton

September 19 @ 9PM:
September 20 @ 4PM:


Hey, man, did you really want our input or not? It seems that you already knew what you wanted to do. So, will it matter if we answered the question as to whether you F'ed it up?

cococard

HAHAHA, no you misunderstood me! Did I f*#K up with the size on the bike, I didnt say that I was Fed up with the imput JAJAJAJAJ!

None the less the question still stands, is the size right?

So, starting from there what components should I upgrade first.

renton20

Get the contact points how you like them first, saddle, bars and pedals, a decent cog and lockring, and then just pick up useful stuff. Maybe clipless setup if you want, decent lock, lights, etc

seejohnbike

if you did your research well, you shouldn't need to ask if you f'ed up.

Squirrelli

Bleedingapple's girlfriend can spin up to 120 rpm for a good amount of time...head asplodes.

cococard

a little assurance is always good, thats where the question comes from but I guess thats out of the question for some people.