jkalber87

Hello everyone! MTB'er looking to get into the single speed craze. Been doing a lot of urban riding around downtown and putting a lot of unwanted road miles on my MTB, therefor I am looking into my first single speed bicycle. All of your help, recommendations and opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Looking at making the purchase sometime around August or September of this year so I have a bit of time to save money. Not totally dead set on these bicycles here but here are the ones that I have been looking at. Let me know what you think.

1.) Motobecane Fixie Record CF

2.) Gravity Vanquish (really digging the disc brakes)

3.) Windsor Clockwork PLUS

4.) Motobecane Fixie Track:

5.) Mercier Kilo TT



Thanks for taking the time to read this

ypsetihw

1. you missed the craze by several years
2. if you are really digging disc brakes to stop the bike down hills, you'll probably want gears to get up said hills
3. it's not as fun as you think it looks if you're a serious rider, and it's sketchy as hell when riding in traffic
3. if you insist, shop somewhere besides bikesdirect, which is very obviously where all those bike are being sold

jkalber87

Sweet deal, thanks for the feedback.

j_e_r_e_m_y

The first half of that sentence is just opinion, and the second half is just dumb. How is a single speed sketchy in traffic??

wphamilton

I don't have any of those, but for your purposes of a road bike for urban riding as an alternative to your mountain bike, I am attracted to the Motobecane Fixie Track. Chromoloy steel frame, and allegedly fairly light. If you consider 18-21 pounds "light", which I do. It's not really traditional "track" geometry.

Regarding the criticism BD is fine, and nothing wrong with riding a SS/FG in traffic IMO.

jkalber87

Thanks for the feedback. I also have been looking around local bike shops (performance bike, richardson bike mart, sun and ski).

I did some browsing on this forum and a lot of people recommended bikes from BD which is why I started browsing their site and noticed they have a lot of really good deals that could save me some money.

Zoroman

I got my first single speed recently.


I went to Craig's List. Paid $200 bucks for a beautiful Fuji Feather. Then I added things to make it lighter, quicker and more functional.


Are you set on NEW? What are features or characteristics you are looking for?


For example:
1) I wanted something classic/ retro looking.
2) I wanted caliper brakes.
3) Capable of narrow tires, like 23c tires
4) Quick and light
5) I did not want to spend a ton of money
THEN I added:
6) Pista retro handlebars
7) Light wheels with freewheel on BOTH sides of the rear wheel
8) Rack for carrying things
9) New tires in the color I wanted and 23c (the bike I bought had 25's on it)


I now have a bike I ride. And LOVE!

seau grateau

Jeez, Buzz Killington over here.

To OP, of the bikes you listed, I'd go with the Kilo TT. WT might be a good option too if you want more tire clearance. Most of the other singlespeed bikes on BD these days seem kinda junky.

Broctoon

1. There may no longer be a "craze" for single speed bikes (if there ever was one), but they're still a nice way to ride, for a number of reasons. It's never too late to get into them.

2. Stopping on big hills isn't the only thing disc brakes are good for. Some people like them for riding on dirt or gravel, or in wet weather. And some folks just don't care for rim brakes. Besides, who says you can't ride a single speed up hills? (Oh, I guess you said the OP will "probably want gears." Maybe. Or, he'll just have to carefully choose his SS ratios.)

3. I consider myself a pretty serious rider, and I've found SS and FG bikes to be even more fun than they looked. I also find them no more dangerous than geared bikes to ride in traffic.

4. Don't know about Bikes Direct, because I've never shopped with them. The OP mentioned Performance Bike as one of the retailers he's considering. I believe they carry the Fuji Feather, not a bad choice for an entry level SS.

ypsetihw

I say the craze seems to have passed because I'm finally seeing less of them around the city and I even have a new client who's a college student, and believe it or not, he actually wants MORE gears on his '89 Schwinn Traveler!

As for the brakes thing, I actually hadn't considered that he'd be riding it off road, but I have a friend who has a disc braked SS cross bike (with a very low gear lol) and it actually looks somewhat enjoyable to ride.

I had a flipflop SS/fixed that I got 4 years ago (when they were hot) and I used it fixed for exactly 1/2 of one commute before I flipped it to the SS side. I lived in a very flat area and even then it was a bear on the hills and a bit of a PITA when in stop and go traffic. fixies in traffic are just plain dumb IMO, and I've seen multiple accidents, including cyclists rear ending cars because they couldn't stop. dumb.

as far as BD, yeah their fixies look cheap, although I've seen the "kilo" in person before, and there are worse things you could buy for a couple hundo, as long as you are, or have, a good mechanic nearby to set it up.

a1penguin

I'm looking around for a single speed bike to run errands around town. Something that requires very little maintenance. Driving is getting to be too much of a PITA. I am looking for something minimal to put a couple hundred miles on a year, no hills, not a theft magnet. There are a lot of stunning bikes in this forum and not a lot of low end beaters :-)

Over on the right hand side of this page https://www.******.com/r/FixedGearBicycle/ there's a decent run down of bikes available in $200-600 price range.

I'm going to keep my eyes open on Craigslist and sales at Performance bike.

Senrab62 

I have ridden tens of thousands of miles fixed and geared. I have had no more close calls on my fixed geared bikes compared to my geared bikes. To say they are more dangerous in traffic must be based on cyclists who are unskilled or riding brake less. I, of course, always have brakes on my fixed bikes.

TejanoTrackie 

I have three bikesdirect singlespeed bikes, all chromo steel. They have served me well and are good quality for a good price. If you decide to buy from them the one that I would recommend is the Kilo WT.

https://m.imgur.com/a/IPcjH

Philasteve

Sounds like nonsense, if I can do it anyone can. OP I would go with the Mercier Kilo TT, that's just what I like though the decision is ultimately yours. It's a great bike to get started into the FGSS world.

NoGears

Single speed is just as if not more popular than it was several years ago. Big bike companies just aren't making single speed bikes because frankly...they don't care what people actually want. Only what they think we want so they push that on the customers. But there's plenty of smaller and better companies out there that produce single speed bikes and really, any bike can be make single speed by installing a chain tensioner, EBB, or finding that magic gear.

Disc brakes are great. End of story. Who cares if it's on a geared bike, mountain bike, CX bike, single speed bike, road bike, flat rides, hilly rides, downhill bombing...doesn't matter.

You're right. Not as much fun as it looks. It's even more fun than that. And no, single speeds are not sketchy. No more sketchy than any other bike that's geared. Fixies are a different story. I think fixies are stupid but that's personal opinion.

jkalber87

To be honest that is a great question, the main thing I'm looking for in my first SS road bike would be something that is light which is why I'm leaning towards one with an aluminum frame and parts etc.

jkalber87

Yeah, cheers to that. I kind of laughed at "ypsetihw" comments about disc brakes and stopping on the downhills. Never once did I state that was my reasoning liking disc brakes. I think disc brakes have many advantages (duh) and stopping power on the downhills would be nice but that's just one factor.

jkalber87

Just curious, why is the Mercier Kilo TT such a popular/recommended "entry" level bike here on the forums? I see it pop up a lot here and is recommended more often than not when someone is looking for their first SS bike or "entry" level bike.

jkalber87

Yes!! Out of the local shops I've been looking at the Fuji Feather did come up on that list. Performance Bike has is on sale for $379.

I'm still undecided if I should buy from BD or a LBS. The advantage of going with a local bike shop is it'll be warrantied and have regular checkup and maintenance for free or at a discounted cost.

IAmSam

Fun fact: Advanced Sports International (ASI), owner of Fuji, and several other bicycle brands, bought Performance Bicycle not too long ago...

Carcosa

I think it's safe to say, you're an idiot.

Philasteve

It basically matches a lot of the more popular brand name entry level bikes in stores at a somewhat cheaper price with decent components if you don't want to drop 9 hundo on something like a All City Big Block. Or if you don't want something like a Fuji Feather because it doesn't have everything you want in a bike. It's a step up from the Windsor Hour and matches something like a Fuji Feather. If you swap the saddle and pedals/straps you would be good to go. Maybe true the wheels a little bit. There's a thread on here somewhere that's basically 10,000 something posts dedicated to the Kilo TT. Even if you already have something nicer it's a good bike to have as a lock up/beater. Pretty good utility to it with water bottle mounts/rack braze ons and rear eyelets for versatility. But you really need to make sure you buy the right size if you're getting something online.

dudeonwheels

#kilott-WT

or
check here, citygrounds for something cheap.

NormanF

I would stay away from pretty colors. If all you can afford is hi ten steel, look for a quality, well-made frame.

Some mild steel frames feel heavy and dead. Others are responsive and lively.

Good advice is to try and ride the bike before you buy!

QStorm

@ jkalber87

I think that the real issue that you are going to have is finding a single speed or fixed gear that also has disc brakes and is lightweight (i.e., not necessarily an SS mountain bike). If you want a lightweight, road type single speed/fixed gear bike without the disc brakes, I think you'll find that a lot easier to find in a reasonable budget.

If you haven't already taking a look at these, I might point you toward the direction of the Aventon Cordoba or the Aventon Mataro. Both are available at sgvbicycles.com and I think both are also available at citygrounds.com but, don't quote me on that. Both are under $500, aluminum, and one has a carbon fork (Cordoba). I have heard good things about Aventon bikes and they spec out OK for light and fast type bikes. Also, I think that they do have some bike shops that are dealers. If there is one in your area, perhaps you can try before you buy.

Finally, the BD Kilo TT is amazing bike for the money and the Kilo WT is a really good version of that bike if you might want to run a little bit wider tire and possibly have the ability to add fenders and a back rack, I think.

@ ypsetihw

Claiming the someone has missed the fixed gear single speed 'craze' just because they are not buying one at the time when everyone and their brother was slapping some so-called cool sounding name on a really awfully built fixed gear/single speed bike with crappy components is kind of like saying that someone who buys a road bike now has totally missed the boat because they didn't buy a road bike when Lance was winning TdF's....