JRobertson

This guy is posting about 20 of these a day for 1 day auctions, new. They don't have a brand, but look fairly decent. I have no more than $300 dollars to buy a solid, reliable SS road bike to replace my car when I go back to college in the fall. Would this be an alright bike for now, and slowly build it up over the years? Or would you recommend something else?

https://cgi.ebay.com/58cm-Track-Fixed...QQcmdZViewItem

I'm looking at this, a Scattante Americano, or an older used bike. I'm concerned about the initial reliability of a cheap used road bike. Any specific older brands/models to go hunting for? Any others I should look into? If I had about $250 more, I would have like a 100 more options, but college is expensive.

What about the Scattante Americano? I've read mixed reviews. What I'm concerned about mostly, besides reliability (I like to bomb hills worry free), is frame/fork quality. I can slowly upgrade this over the years. Would this fit the bill?

awristawful

repost
don't buy it

JRobertson

repost?

lordgold

He means this has been talked about 10000 times before. They're pieces of ****, don't buy one.

JRobertson

Could you be specific about which is a piece of ****? Could you give any other answers?

jet sanchEz

I said this in the other thread about these bikes--------I wouldn't let a friend ride it and would encourage them to look for alternatives. You get what you pay for....

For $300 you can get something from Bikesdirect.com delivered to your door. Look into the Windsor Hour, the Motobecane Messenger or the Mercier Kilo TT. Any one of them is better than that bike on eBay. It really must be a POS if he is unloading them so cheaply.

JRobertson

Ok. Be honest guys. Disregard any notions of hip brands, cosmetics, resale value, anything other than reliability and quality:

Would it REALLY be worth 200 extra dollars to get something along the lines of a Raleigh Rush Hour, IRO, or Redline 925...versus a Scattante Americano or Motobecane Messenger?

I might be able to scrap the extra money together if I sell the catalytic converter out of my pos car and the car for scrap metal...I'll have to see.

bigbris1

Had to register for this one

After 10 years w/o a fix (NYC messenger back then) I decided to get back in the game. My first instinct was to go to ebay but something seemed off about these bikes. I went to my LBS & tried the Fuji Track 2008. I like it, it's light, holds my 265lb frame, de**** components & no toe overlap-it felt right. At $459 it was reasonable but I'm cheap.

After some research I just purchased the Windsor The Hour from BD for $299 shipped which is the same bike. When it comes I will spray it flat black & have a good re-entry point. Those ebay bikes are about $249 + $50 shipping so you might as well do the Windsor unless you need a smaller size (BD currently only has 61s & 64s). I'm 6'4" so that works for me. Site says new stock in July so why not wait it out?

A3rd.Zero

As I haven't ridden or even sen the Scattante Americano or the Motobecane Messenger I can't speak to their quality.

What makes you think that Redline is more hip than Motobecane?

At the $300-$500 mark the differences of a hundred dollars or so is not usually in components or in quality of the frame but rather the distributable volume of a certain brand. IRO can't push as many frames as Redline or Moto, so their prices will generally be a tad higher.

I own an IRO, it has been nothing but a joy to ride. I love it's looks, I love it's quality, I love the fact that the guy who owns IRO is a nice guy who works hard. I love that I can call Tony up talk to him and see how he is doing. Cycling, to me, is a grassroots thing that has more to do with the people involved than the steel, rubber, and grease that make it possible.

In terms of reliability and quality: I have owned my IRO for about 4 years, nothing has ever gone wrong with it. It has taken a horrendous beating, and after being racked for six months, I took her down put some air in the tires, flicked the chain to check tension and went riding. I have ridden Colnagos, Tommasinis, Cannondales, Paramounts, Handbuilt frames, etc. and I enjoy my IRO just as much. It's different than the expensive bikes sure, and it's a bit more blue collar and straight to the point, but I like that.

cc700

the only people that list this bike more than the seller on ebay are the people who don't know enough about them to spend their money elsewhere and post here for advice.

i've seen the ebay special as well as americano and the messenger in person and it's easy to see that the motobecane is a quality bike like the IRO. you're going to spend money on it eventually on tires and tubes if not components so just spend it up front for a kilo, hour, or iro in the first place and be happier longer.

JRobertson

Well I think from what you guys are saying, I'll go with the Motobecane...and If I can sell my car for scarp metal I'll get the Raleigh or IRO. Thanks.

kidrobot

after years/months reading how the Windsor "the hour" was POS, it's funny that you guys actually pick something over it. This eBay bike must be a real POS.

gargiulo.mike

get a mercier kilo tt

pirate golf

Most stuff I've read about the Hour wasn't bad. The Mercier does seem to be a far more popular choice though.

cc700

i hadn't actually seen one but it's the same frame as a fuji track so it was really just that for 100 dollars more you can get better cranks, saddle, and small components on the fuji.

but now that i've seen both in person the windsor is a great buy and more of a 'track bike' than anything below the kilo tt's price point, by leaps and bounds. great bike with IMO awesome graphics.

mihlbach

Three years ago, nearly everyone on this forum condemned the Bike Direct entries (Mercier, Motobecane, Windsor, etc), as POSs. They were new, unfamilar, with prices that seemed to good to be true and everyone assumed they were crap. Now, ironically, everyone thinks they are awesome bikes and its cool to own one. The fact is, they are not awesome bikes...they are decent frames with crap components that most people upgrade. They are initially a good bargain, but inevitably get more expensive once you start down the path of upgrades.

A lot of people here are sheep...they just repeat crap they read without having any real knowledge or ability to judge something for what it is. Most posters above assume its total crap and even provide an "expert" opinion, but they really have no clue. This new ebay special is simply less familiar and it has not yet been accepted as cool. To me, it doesn't look much different than a BD entry and until people post real feedback about it, theres no reason to think its any better or worse.

bbattle

Which is why I say Bianchi San Jose and be done with it.

peabodypride

that's a completely different type of bike dood

cizzlak

when you can't wait more than 2 days to buy a "track bike" what do you expect kids to do, mang? "omg they are all sold out of the kilo tt WHAT DO I CLICK ON INSTEAD?!?!" how about waiting? how about researching? jesus, and people wonder why the economy is full of AIDS. kids blow all their money on a whim just to get into a scene. remember when people blew their money on coke to be cool? sigh.

peabodypride

rambling rant aside, it's unreasonable to have to wait perhaps months for a Kilo

xiamsammyx

those were the days

Faust1976

With the gas prices going up, people at my job are constantly asking me about buying a new bike. They are almost always in the price range of $200-$300. I'm glad they ask me, cause most of them are thinking of swingin into a dept store, and buying the first flashy Magna they find. Fortunately, there are many place in mpls that sell awesome used bikes, and a great SS/FG can be found in that price range. You're better off buying an old Scwinn conversion than those horribly welded POS on ebay. Plus, you'll have a bike with some character.

cizzlak

it _is_ unreasonable to wait months for a Kilo. but there are many other framesets out there. sure they may not fit into everyone's budget, but isn't that what sacrifice is all about? i would think that a couple months of research, penny pinching and general planning would imbue ones-self with much more pride in the final product than just buying a no name rig off of eBay. i recall spending a couple months looking at everything from bianchi pistas to surly steamrollers to de bernardi throngs/zonals, trying to figure out what i could get for my money, and insofar how much of my money i was willing to spend. i did end up getting lucky on craigslist, and found a small-time framebuilder 531 frame in my size locally. i guess i just hate on "out of the box" solutions because i have always put a lot of my own time and effort into personalizing frames that i either convert or buy, strip, and modify myself. sure, everyone starts somewhere, but i guess i just had good dudes show me the ropes way back when; i didn't have to go it alone. god bless a good LBS (or three). i see people contemplating plugging $300 on an instant-trendy complete bike and i immediately think about all the hours spent filing, cold chiseling, hacksawing, stripping, sanding and painting frames that i have built up. to each their own, absolutely. but this is a very opinionated forum, and i relish that fact in the end, i side with everyone else who is just glad there is such an interest in people riding bikes, poopcrap or not.

cheers!

JRobertson

I hope you're not referring to me.

bigbris1

When I started looking for a low budged fixed gear bike I saw those ebay specials, but then I went to the LBS & rode the Fuji Track 2008. I think it's a very solid bike, the Ritchey headset was smooth, the thredless stem looked substantial, it has decent wheels , hubs, cranks, seat. The matte gray was cool too. I just coludn't drop $500 on it.

I'm glad I found The Hour because after close inspection it is the same bike as the Fuji, just with much less decals, same cranks, hubs (black) wheels, tires, seat, seat post, handlebar, frame, fork, etc. $299 shipped is good enough to be a throw away bike if it came to that.