Langster 2007 vs 2008

powenb

peejay78 wrote:

i'm partly tongue in cheek. but these are the things i am not particularly fond of:

1. the sloping top tube and extraordinarily relaxed geometry
2. the specious marketing and soulless incorporation of as many aspects of 'counter culture' as can be squeezed in
3. the stupid gearing
4. the ubiquity, and the fact that there are better bikes, with more substance, and less 'style'
5. the erect-dog's-penis style bar tape

amongst other things.

LOL I understand some of these.
So what would you choose if in the market for a cheap sinlgespeed?

peejay78

maybe a genesis flyer. can't go wrong with a Fuji either - very cheap.

although i noticed evans have started doing the surly steamroller for £500.

the best of the lot has to be the pearson touche, i saw a new black one outside ULU the other day, it looked amazing.

terongi

Hey peejay,

Any ideas on the dog penis thing? I am not very good with dry humour.

peejay78

you know, a dog's penis, when erect, sort of slides forward slimily out of a furry sheath.

the half-taped bars on the wrongster look like this.

terongi

peejay78 wrote:

you know, a dog's penis, when erect, sort of slides forward slimily out of a furry sheath.

the half-taped bars on the wrongster look like this.

Good grief.

I don't want any more of my sandwich now.

gkerr4

half taped bars - is this specifc to the langster 'london' edition?

peejay78

yes, i believe it is.

in fact, the older, black langster, with gothic lettering, isn't such a bad machine.

Ashley_R

IN the market for a fixed, was at one time going for a Langster, thinl peejay has certainly done his job of putting me off one, the thought of holding onto a dogs penis for any length of time is enough to put me off cycling let alone the bike!!

Anyone any opinion of the Lemond Filmore? Current likely purchase, that or the Genesis Flyer, or back to the Langster if I could ever get that image out me head.... :shock:

MrGrumpy

ignore the comments about the Langster its a cracking bike for £400, not so sure the fillmore are worth the extra £100 or so.As for gearing peejay thinks the gearing is gay for a fixed, well that all depends on the hills when cycling down south amongst the fashion concious Londoners then some stupid high gear is a must IMO 42x16 is just fine for me and I can keep up a good pace on my 15 mile commute. The only other bike worthy is the genesis flyer but with mudguards, can`t remember the name but it looked good and would be my choice possible next time.

johnnyhotdog

nothing wrong with the langster. just a bit of snobbery because it's popular.

the london special edition (with the dog's willy grips) is a bit too flashy and would be more likely to get stolen but other than that, all the negativity is just nonsense.

i don't particularly like the way it looks, but it's a nice ride, responsive, handles well and the gearing is right for where i ride - yorkshire dales and the lake district.
if you don't like the gearing, it's easy enough to change it. the wheels aren't too hot but do the job just fine.

best thing to do is test ride a few bikes and see which one you actually like riding- the kona paddy wagon is also an option.

marky2484

Was in the market for a new ride - didn't really need one, just wanted one .... you know how it is...Saw the 2008 Langster in the flesh in a local shop, - green and white , none of this London hideousness. Manged to get one in the January sales for £320. First impressions.... Good looking bike. Seems extremely light.Classy , deeeep green paint, nice contrasting white badges - very retro looking really. Gearing - fine for round town, might experiment with a larger chainring for longer / faster rides.Pedals cheap and nasty - immediately replaced with some nice MKS ONES. Saddle fine , bars and stem OK, FULLY taped bars, brakes pull you up well. Carbon forks seem to soak up road buzz nicely, pimped up the wheels with some red/black Zaffiros ( £4.65 each at Ribble) . Wheels seem OK, not the flashiest in the world, but still straight / no broken spokes. I think a lot of the people who dislike them are missing the point a bit - I have built my own fixed/ single speeds and enjoyed it. But.... part of the fun has always been getting the details right, fettling, having bits drop off etc.....The Langster is new. No fuss. No hassle. 10 minutes out of the box and I rode it home. Simple. Non bike riders seem to like it, and as I don't live in London I'm not subject to the derision of the the Fixerati - having said that, I quite enjoy the snobbery of the "My bike has a 1952 Harry Snodwart track frame, Phil Wood hubs and deep v velocity rims Fixed Gear Gallery crowd...
Having then spent the thick end of a grand on these masterpieces of simplicity, they then cry " Don't buy off the peg - it's cheaper to make your own"....

GaryGkn

I agree. I would say that off the shelf is far cheaper. I would probably go for the LeMond or convert a suitable road bike.

richardvaltos

I've got the 2007 Flyer. Great bike, commute 30 miles/day on it. Only two things, the saddle and seat post came there separate ways about a week after I got it, and changed pedals before leaving shop so can't comment on them. Fixed seat with epoxy magic glue. Also there was/is some issue with the supplied chain size and running the bike on the supplied fixed sprocket. I run the bike non-fixed as I live in the hills, and there's no way I'm going down all those fixed.

I tried the Filmore, and Langster before buying, and both are great bikes. In the end I went with the Flyer because hadn't seen one in Glasgow (up to then), but mostly the guys in Gearbikes are great. So more than anything it was loyalty to my LBS that swayed me. I'd recommend the Flyer wholeheartedly, still only seen one other out and about. Oh, and as I was walking out the shop with my new machine I was stopped by two guys outside the shop admiring it, saying how much they wanted one. Normally that would make me feel great. However, being from Edinburgh and knowing 'Weegies, I hopped on and pedalled like F**k!

meagain

This

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=016

would make a very nice base for a commuter-fixed IMO!

Usual disclaimer: not mine, no interest (though I very nearly decided to bid on it!).

Edwin

I've got an 06 Langster and I totally love it (that's the one with the dark grey frame and gothic lettering). Not keen on the 07 or 08 to be honest, but they're still decent bikes. Mine's got Mavic Ellipse wheels with a 12T cog, a Look carbon fork, carbon seat post, aero bars and a Selle Italia Flyte saddle, so I've already spent more than the 250 I bought it for second hand. It's seriously quick though, and only weighs about 8.6kg so I don't care what anyone thinks. Looks good to me and that's what matters. I was averaging over 20 mph on the way to work until the current windy weather kicked in...

I often think it would be nice to have a proper old track frame with handbuilt wheels and chrome bars etc, but really it's just fashion. The off-the-peg fixeds are probably better bikes technically, and what's wrong with sloping top tubes? The Langster isn't a track bike, it's a road bike with a fixed gear.
Being more of a bike snob these days (I've had the Langster for well over a year, and only bought it because it was the only second hand fixed I saw anyone selling locally at the time) I'd probably go for something a bit more unusual but I'm still not convinced there's any benefit apart from fashion sense. I quite like the look of the Charge Plug sometimes, but then again that's even more "trying to be trendy-looking for the sake of it" than the other bikes in this thread, so it's a tough one! Depends what you're buying it for really, I just wanted anything fixed for training, and because it makes a good commuter in the winter.