AirKuhl

Thought I'd try something never seen before, like ask a bike recommendation with my first post here.

This is a present for my son who's off to college this fall. He has been racing XC MTB for several years and trains both on and off road. He's a weight weenie and has developed a craving for a fixed gear road bike that's lighter and more flickable than his Tarmac at ~19lbs.

Pertinent info:
5'10" 135lbs
36" inseam
Prefers responsive to comfortable, he does 50 miles on his Tarmac with no complaints.
2 brakes, non-negotiable.
School will be in Oregon so easy on/off fenders would be nice. Terrain fairly flat. He's a maintenance fanatic so not I'm not worried about rust or bearings.
Budget <$1K

My goal is prevent him from turning into a hipster by disguising the quality single speed road bike that he needs with just enough of a clean trendy look to make him happy.

Unfortunately most of of my LBS's carry weak, heavy fashion statements like SE Drafts and similar, so after a couple weeks of lurking and online research I'm thinking 53cm Kilo TT+some bullhorns and maybe upgrade the wheels? Over at mtbr we like hating on BD so I'm confused. 52cm Wabi Classic? Is an All City frame set a light enough base for his goals? Are all they really that good or just the flavor of the month? Local CL has a Cannondale Capo, some Pistas and a Vigorelli in the price range too, although apparently some CL listers obviously still have a weird emotional with their bikes and price them accordingly.

So thanks in advance for advice. In exchange I promise to use my dog's shock collar on him if he uses the term "fixie" or buys skinny jeans.

cDiff Notorious

Wabi Classic is 18 lbs ish on a stock 55, has two brakes, and yes responsive. Wabi offers various options for stem length, brake levers, chainring size, cog size, saddle and some others I can't remember. He also has a fender on his site but, I have no experience on those. I bought the stock Wabi Classic and liked it. Never had a problem with the stock components, although I did replace those just cause and put some of it on my brothers bike.

Wspsux

I ride an All City Big Block my build is about ~18 lbs in size 52 (55 top tube) but I cant speak for the weight of factory complete build. Its very responsive and can be had with two brakes.

Edit: There is nothing wrong with skinny jeans as long as they're not crunching the junk.

Huffandstuff

If he's in Portland at psu, make sure you get him a nice lock and cable or else his fixie will get real light.

AirKuhl

Unless you create a muffin top. No one wants to see that. <shudder>

Thanks for the tip on PSU, but he'll be a ways south at OSU, where people are so nice and polite that it actually creeps me out a bit.

hairnet

#kilott

Huffandstuff

Oh, if it's OSU then I wouldn't be worried about skinny jeans, I'd be more afraid of him growing dreads, skipping showers and wearing phish t shirts.

I'd go with the #kilott unless the vigorelli is fairly priced then maybe that.

stryper

Can we stop suggesting or buying cable locks. They're worthless.

Huffandstuff

Lock plus cable, hombre. Sure it won't stop a dedicated person from getting your wheels but not a day goes by that I don't see a homeless dude walking around downtown with a wheel in his hand.

prooftheory

I think this one fits the non-hipster in disguise description okay.

jtbadge

Gotta get that Big Block.

TejanoTrackie 

Problem is that bike has been listed at RG as "Coming Soon" like forever. I still say by far the best choice in this case is a Wabi Classic.

Scooper

Your son has significantly more than half of his height in his leg length, so be careful in fitting him. Most stock road bikes are sized for riders with leg length about 45% of overall height, so you may have to get a smaller frame to keep the top tube short enough so he doesn't feel stretched out. I'm 6' tall with 35.5" leg length, and my legs are on the long end of the "normal" body proportion ratio bell curve.

rumrunn6

give him a blank check and let him make his own choices

AirKuhl

Yeah, he's built like a spider money. Seated on a road bike his typical posture is his short body hunched over pretty far with his long forearms almost parallel to the ground. He tends to prefer a slightly smaller frame, seat post at max height, 110 or 120 stem depending on the top tube length.
BTW, that inseam is a cycling fit inseam, not his pants inseam which is 34.

AirKuhl

It's very tempting, let him make his own mistakes. He'll impulse buy a poser bike and regret it later. Expensive lesson learned, right?
OTOH, since he's off to college this is one of the last decisions I can make for him, so maybe I'm doing it for myself as much as him.

Scooper

Yeah; I use "cycling inseam" and "leg length" interchangeably. It sounds like you know what fits him.

stryper

Still not worth a damn. Literally 5 seconds to cut a cable, then your wheel is as good as gone. Either a lock long enough to get both wheels or two locks. I build all of my own wheels, so maybe I have more attachment to them.

rumrunn6

I hear ya. My son is finishing his 1st yr in Boston and we've been doing more tours with my daughter for next year. I always look for the bikes. It's been interesting cuz they all seem to be different where bikes are concerned. Best of luck. :-)

sickz

i think a pertinent question would be... does he prefer drop bars or risers? that'd help steer ya towards a suitable candidate. although i do like the vigorelli, he might not if he prefers ergonomics.

sickz

..dbl post

AirKuhl

He wants bullhorns on this one. He likes using the brake hoods on his shiftie so they should work out fine.