General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

[NORE]



Here's my Fuji Track Pro:

Those deep v's look like baby Shamals

 

[KurtS90]



$279 for a warranty on a $999 bike?

Had to pay it on original MSRP of $2089.99.

 

[NORE]



^^ lol awesome
nice setup btw. Not a fan of risers but your drops are sick.

Thanks man. I'm no riser fan either but they do serve a purpose when tooling round the city moreso than the drops. I may get some Deda Elementis or something to fit my stem.

 

[otc]



Had to pay it on original MSRP of $2089.99.

Yeah...I would have just said that the thousand dollars you saved was a good enough warranty...especially since that sounds like some silly extended warranty or service deal...since the frame and all of the parts will have manufacturer warranties covering you for a while...

 

[globetrotter]

question for those of you in the know


I have a bike, it's not bad, but I want something else

I want a bike with a single non-fixed gear, fully enclosed.

I want a front and a read rack for carrying things.

that is basically it.

where can I buy a bike like that, and/or get somebody to take apart my bike and fix it like that?


thank you

 

[Fang66]



question for those of you in the know
I have a bike, it's not bad, but I want something else
I want a bike with a single non-fixed gear, fully enclosed.
I want a front and a read rack for carrying things.
that is basically it.
where can I buy a bike like that, and/or get somebody to take apart my bike and fix it like that?
thank you

What do you mean by fully enclosed?

 

[globetrotter]



What do you mean by fully enclosed?

the type that has a cover front and back, so that you can wear pants without having to worry about the chain grabbing your pants, and so the chain itself is protected from the elements.

 

[Fang66]



the type that has a cover front and back, so that you can wear pants without having to worry about the chain grabbing your pants, and so the chain itself is protected from the elements.

OK, what you are after is a bike with a single speed hub, chain guard, and rack braze ons. (you probably want fender braze ons as well).


Not sure if any company makes a bike standard with the set up that you want but the search terms you want are - single speed, singlespeed, chain guard, braze on -

There are a few complications with this set up that you have to consider if someone is going to build a bike for you and it might be worthwhile compromising what you want for what is easier and more practical. If you were to go for an internal gear hub rather than a single speed hub then your choices would be countless as many companies make exactly what you want in the other departments. Modern internal gear hubs are awesome and you will end up with a much better tool.

The complications;

Bike frames that easily take single speed hubs have a different type of slot for the axle of the rear wheel than on geared bikes. On single speed (or fixed) the slot is called a Track End, on geared bikes it is called a Dropout. Some frames have Horizontal Dropouts (this is probably your best bet if you can find one with braze ons).

Track End


Dropout


Horizontal Dropout


Frames with track ends rarely have braze ons for racks or fenders (unless you get a bike that originally had an internal gear hub and that's gonna be dollars to replace the rear wheel with something inferior. You can mount racks and fenders on frames that don't have braze ons, (I sometimes mount rear panniers on my CAAD 8 frame using P-clips) but it's a bodge and doesn't look as good or work as well as proper braze ons.

If you have a frame with drop outs then it is easier to get the braze ons but setting the frame up to take a single speed hub is also a hack/bodge job, again it can be done but it doesn't look as good or work as well as a frame with track ends. Horizontal Dropouts are less of a hack job and you might be able to find a frame with braze ons.
Looks like this from a Surely Cross-Check (might be an option)

Horizontal Dropout with braze ons from a Surley Cross-Check

So what you want can be built by any competent bike shop/mechanic but it will probably be a compromise.

 

[musicguy]

How about those chainless bikes? A quick search seemed like it wasn't such a good idea... still sounds quite interesting.

 

[otc]



the type that has a cover front and back, so that you can wear pants without having to worry about the chain grabbing your pants, and so the chain itself is protected from the elements.

Stop in and talk to Lew
http://copenhagenbike.com

His target market is pretty much exactly what you just described. Not 100% sure how his process works since he doesn't carry a full inventory (and I don't think he is limited to the things listed on his webite) but even if you decide his stuff is a bit too fancy, he'll probably steer you in the right direction.

You might also be interested in http://www.linusbike.com/ . None of their models come stock with front and rear racks and a full chain guard, but I'm sure the shop could add those on to you (a shop just down the street from Copenhagen deals in Linus and think they would be willing to collaborate to build one up with the bits you need)

Edit: also a lot of these bikes have the option of internal gear hubs instead of single speed. Not sure if this is something you would be interested in, but basically you have a shifter and 3 or 8 speeds but since the gearing is handled inside of the hub, you still have a straight simple chain line that is compatible with a full chain guard/case. I had a 3-speed for a while and loved it since you don't really need gears in chicago so you can just hang out in the middle...but if you are carrying a lot of stuff or want to go fast, there is an extra gear in either direction.

 

[Fang66]



Stop in and talk to Lew
http://copenhagenbike.com
His target market is pretty much exactly what you just described. Not 100% sure how his process works since he doesn't carry a full inventory (and I don't think he is limited to the things listed on his webite) but even if you decide his stuff is a bit too fancy, he'll probably steer you in the right direction.
You might also be interested in http://www.linusbike.com/ . None of their models come stock with front and rear racks and a full chain guard, but I'm sure the shop could add those on to you (a shop just down the street from Copenhagen deals in Linus and think they would be willing to collaborate to build one up with the bits you need)
Edit: also a lot of these bikes have the option of internal gear hubs instead of single speed. Not sure if this is something you would be interested in, but basically you have a shifter and 3 or 8 speeds but since the gearing is handled inside of the hub, you still have a straight simple chain line that is compatible with a full chain guard/case. I had a 3-speed for a while and loved it since you don't really need gears in chicago so you can just hang out in the middle...but if you are carrying a lot of stuff or want to go fast, there is an extra gear in either direction.

Copenhagenbikes are a ripoff. $1200, $1500, $1800, $2000 for a shopping bike?

 

[zippyh]



question for those of you in the know


I have a bike, it's not bad, but I want something else

I want a bike with a single non-fixed gear, fully enclosed.

I want a front and a read rack for carrying things.

that is basically it.

where can I buy a bike like that, and/or get somebody to take apart my bike and fix it like that?


thank you

You could probably get just about any single speed with rack mounts and just add the chain guard.

http://www.bikefront.com/products/chainguards/702

 

[Fang66]



You could probably get just about any single speed with rack mounts and just add the chain guard.

http://www.bikefront.com/products/chainguards/702

Most single speed frames don't have rack mounts.

 

[zippyh]

I didn't say they did.

 

[otc]



Copenhagenbikes are a ripoff. $1200, $1500, $1800, $2000 for a shopping bike?

I didn't say it was the cheapest, but I said talking to the very knowledgeable proprietor would probably be helpful (and he definitely sells bikes that cost much less than 1200). Honestly though, that is what those bikes cost. People think that the Batavus Old Dutch is a great deal at $750 and american retailers have had trouble keeping them in stock the last few years. The Velorbis and Abici stuff is more expensive but they are also fancy machines designed and built by cultures that ride bikes all the time in regular clothes and just expect them to keep working and working. Some premium is paid for them looking pretty

The linus stuff is much cheaper (and until recently was very hard to get in the US because they were selling faster than they could make them) but there honestly isn't much below that. You go much lower and you start dealing with crap...$400 isn't going to get you anything besides a mediocre hybrid from most big brands (with poorly functioning 27speed drivetrains and no chain guard or racks standard).
The used route can be tough for such a specific request since once you found a fitting bike, you'd still have to shell out on racks/baskets/and find a chain guard that works...full chaincases (like on a dutch bike) generally don't exist unless they are made for a specific bike since there are tons of sizing issues.

edit: didn't see zippy's chainguard. a bit ugly but would probably a lot of single speeds (44t in front is pretty common)