# Looking to buy my first fixie/single speed. Any advice?



## jkyle

I have a roadie and a mountain bike. They're both rather nice bikes, the kind I wouldn't let out of my site.

So, I've decided to get an inexpensive bike I can ride around town or to the store and not think twice about locking up outside or letting out of my site. Something that commuting doesn't make me nervous…not for my safety, but for fear of some crazy soccer mom damaging my bike. 

My only requirements are:


 Drop bars
 Brakes cause I'm a newb
 Flip flop hub in case I decide I don't like fixed gear.
 300'sh dollars, a bit flexible, but over 400 would be way to much. below is better if it's not utter crap

I've looked at the Bikes Direct models and read the posts here on them. Seems like most of my first choices are out of stock though (Gravity Attack, Black Dawes SST). 

So, any thoughts? Should I troll Craigs list for a used bianchi or something? Go with a Motobecane? I have a Performance Bike club card with about 100 bucks on it I could apply toward the bike, no idea what their fixed/single speed bikes are like though.


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## foofighter

there are SOOO many out there these days and like you i had a hard time finding one. I ultimately ordered a Dawes SST AL w/ BD they only color they have right now is raw polish so if you want black you're SOL, i order raw figuring it'll just be that much easier for me to repaint.

I have a spendy road bike that i didnt really see tooling around the neighborhood w/ my kids or commuting to work with so this is truly a good compromise. I had bought a Pro Stealth Evo integrated carbon stem/bar and for the price i paid that i will sell it to help pay for this bike. LOL

anyway, you really cant go wrong w/ a lot of the bikes you mentioned, just boils down to your personal pref


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## jkyle

Was looking at the raw polish SST. The pics make the polish look like some weird gold/off white color. . . does it look a bit better in person?

Also, some of the threads mention it hs more of a "road bike geometry" or feel to the ride. Not sure exactly what's meant by that.


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## foofighter

ya you get a lot of differing opinions some say the alu is too harsh and that chromoly is better suited. 

I havent received the bike yet, it's on the UPS truck expected delivery on Thurs...i really dont plan on keeping it in the "raw" state long  so it's perfect.

oh what's your budget? someone mentioned the Jamis Sputnik is a SS road bike


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## jkyle

Budget is 300'sh. Flexibly around that range. 

If I went the Bikes Direct route, this is the most likely candidates as far as what's currently available:

Motobecane @ 279

Or maybe one of the Windsors, don't know anyone with one of those though.


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## Sun Burn

jkyle said:


> Budget is 300'sh. Flexibly around that range.
> 
> If I went the Bikes Direct route, this is the most likely candidates as far as what's currently available:
> 
> Motobecane @ 279
> 
> Or maybe one of the Windsors, don't know anyone with one of those though.


I just bought that bike last week and I'm glad I did. Like you, I can't have my road bike or MTB getting stolen so I needed an around town bike that I wouldn't have to worry about. This bike fit the bill.

It came with a rear brake but I converted it to a front and I've been riding it fixed and I don't plan to switch to a free hub.


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## jkyle

Sun Burn said:


> I just bought that bike last week and I'm glad I did. Like you, I can't have my road bike or MTB getting stolen so I needed an around town bike that I wouldn't have to worry about. This bike fit the bill.
> 
> It came with a rear brake but I converted it to a front and I've been riding it fixed and I don't plan to switch to a free hub.


How's it ride? The components solid? I skimped on the cost of my MTB when I bought it (solid frame, BR drive train) and all it gained me was an extra trip to the bike store to upgrade the parts.


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## foofighter

remember these bikes are supposed to be our "BEATER" bikes...LMAO i havent got the bike yet and i'm looking at upgrades LMAO it's an illness. 

At least im not modding cars anymore...that gets expensive


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## Sun Burn

jkyle said:


> How's it ride? The components solid? I skimped on the cost of my MTB when I bought it (solid frame, BR drive train) and all it gained me was an extra trip to the bike store to upgrade the parts.


It rides smooth and quiet. The handlebars are nice and were wrapped well and the saddle is decent. The pedals are cheap pieces of junk but it's a sub 300.00 bike so you can't expect a lot. 

I don't know much about the crank, chain, hubs and wheels but overall the bike serves it's purpose and is a lot of fun. I have no regrets on the purchase.


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## jkyle

Sun Burn said:


> It rides smooth and quiet. The handlebars are nice and were wrapped well and the saddle is decent. The pedals are cheap pieces of junk but it's a sub 300.00 bike so you can't expect a lot.
> 
> I don't know much about the crank, chain, hubs and wheels but overall the bike serves it's purpose and is a lot of fun. I have no regrets on the purchase.


Excellent!

I don't care about cheap, like foofighter said it _is_ a beater bike. As long as it's not so cheap it's not functional. The BR cranks that came stock with my MTB were not functional (chain suck, slipped teeth, etc.).


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## CleavesF

jkyle said:


> My only requirements are:
> 
> Brakes cause I'm a newb


Actually wanting brakes means you're smart, and value your life as well as other's.


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## bonefamily

Glad to have seen this thread as I'm in a similar boat as you. I'm looking for my first dedicated single speed road bike and have been riding a BD Windsor Dover convert for the past few years. It's the aluminum frame and has been holding up well. I am also looking at BD for this next single speed purchase, but going back and forth between aluminum and steel frame. I mean, alot of riders really like steel for their SS and fixed bikes, but I like aluminum as well. I'm a 6' 185 lbs rider and I don't know if 4130 would flex too much for me on out of the saddle climbs - and there are alot of those where I live. I didn't know that the Gravity was sold out as it was one of my top choices (then again we could be talking about different sizes. I'm needing a 58cm) - seemed like a good deal coming with the carbon fork and still at $300. My max budget is at $300 so the SST AL is out of the running for me. Looks like I might end up with one of the steel Windsors...


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## jkyle

Yeah, I'm disappointed the Gravity's are out of stock. It says they are, but when you add to cart and click "checkout" it pops up and says they're not available. So you can check if your size is available by going through that process.

I've narrowed my choices down to the 


 Motobecane USA Track
 Dawes SST
 Windsor Clockwork

I'm not sure about whether to go with aluminum or chromoly myself. Though I'm a fairly light rider (165'sh), so over flexing isn't an issue for me I don't think.


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## jkyle

So, bit of a new development. Was looking at the Scattante bikes and saw the 2011 Americano's are on sale for $399.

That's a bit higher than what I was going to pay, but I have a team card with 100 dollars on it that also gives me 10% back on what I pay. Anyway, the math works out to:

(399 * .9) - 100 = $259

Or basically, $20 dollars less out of pocket than the Motobecane Track. My fixie friend said the components looked a tad nicer to him and when you buy a bike from Performance you get lifetime free tune ups and wheel truing. . . a nice touch.

Think I'm going to go with a black Americano 4.


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## bonefamily

^^ Looks similar to the Clockwork, perhaps a bit better specs. That would be a good savings with all the discounts.


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## jkyle

so, some was debited to my team card and, of course, taxes drove it up a bit. I walked away paying $340 with some 30 dollars or so on my team card.

Still fell neatly in that range I was willing to spend of 300 to 400…closer to 300 the better.

I think I'll rewrap the bars and not sure how I feel on the position of the brake levers, but I'll give the configuration a fair shot before I futz with it.


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## bonefamily

Congrats on the new ride, jkyle! Let us know how you like it after having some miles on it...


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## fast ferd

You know what? Spring for a decent lock AND try to keep your eye on it. The thief won't take it to sell; he's gonna take it to ride.


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## jkyle

fast ferd said:


> You know what? Spring for a decent lock AND try to keep your eye on it. The thief won't take it to sell; he's gonna take it to ride.


Hehe, there's dozens of these bikes locked up to bike racks all over santa monica.


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## duc_748

you can order a Mercier Kilo online for like $300 delivered...its not all that but for sure its a great starter fixed gear. I bought and learned fixed/brakeless on it, sold it 4 months later for same $ I paid for it pretty much...also craigslist...but that is for sure more time consuming!


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## BianchiJoe

jkyle said:


> Think I'm going to go with a black Americano 4.



This may not a big deal to you, but the specs say "Chromoly main frame and stays," which usually means some hi-ten steel is in there somewhere -- probably headtube and BB shell in this case, maybe seattube.


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## LucidME

Not sure if you've made your decision yet or not, but I just picked up a Kona Paddy Wagon for $330 shipped on bonktown.com. They've been putting it up quite a bit lately so that could possibly be an option.


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## retrospecrider

Get a Micargi, they are cheap but great bikes, and with you're leftover money you can buy some drop bars and brakes.


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## jkyle

I ended up getting the Scattanti Americano 4 I linked above. Got some additional stacked discounts that, combined with my store credit club card, brought the price down to around 250 after taxes. Not bad.

I'm very happy with it, been zipping around town on errands, but haven't put a fixed cog on it yet. The only thing I might change is the drop bars. Unlike my roadie, the drops are completely curved (no flat bar). After a while on the bike, it hurts my hands a bit due to the odd angle. Going to see if I get used to it and if I don't, probably change it out.


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## wim

jkyle said:


> The only thing I might change is the drop bars. Unlike my roadie, the drops are completely curved (no flat bar)


I suspect that it's not the curved _drops_ that are giving you problems, but the fact that there's hardly any straight section on the _tops_. These are track bars, and unless there's some sort of fashion- or coolness angle here, I have no idea what they would possibly be doing on a general use fixed gear. Get rid of them as soon as you can and start enjoying your ride.

For what it's worth, many track riders (including world-class riders) have dumped those so-called track bars in favor of bars that are very much like road bars.


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## jkyle

> I suspect that it's not the curved drops that are giving you problems, but the fact that there's hardly any straight section on the tops.


I have no doubt of this myself. I may have worded it awkwardly, but I have no problems with drops themselves, use them on my road bike all the time. 

I was thinking if I wrapped them it might not be too bad.


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## wim

jkyle said:


> I was thinking if I wrapped them it might not be too bad.


I wouldn't count on it. Other than a small section right next to the stem, the tops of these bars curve downwards towards the drops. This means that your hands will always tend to slide down as you ride. To counteract that, you grip the bars more tightly than you would on road-type bars and can't relax. I recently replaced a customer's "track bar" with a Nitto B-105 no-groove silver bar (like the ones at the link) much to his liking.
http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=188_232_129_476


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## retrospecrider

Thats a great deal no doubt, hope that you are happy.


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## jkyle

I picked up a set of Bontrager Anatomic-C RL's from a club member for like 20 bucks. Going to give them a whirl.


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