Single speed/fixed bike review website

noggincp

Am thinking of coming over to the darkside for commuting.

Anyone point me in direction of website which has reviews of the good bikes all on one site?

Ta

meagain

Despite the huge (relatively!) increase in popularity of fixeds in past couple of years, still not very many really! Not off the shelf at any rate. Once decided what manner of bike you want (in part dependent on intended use) and how much you want to spend, choice pretty much well made: can't be more than 3 or 4 per category and not too difficult to find details. Most will have had at least a mention here I imagine.

If you want to build your own, new/specific/conversion whatever, more choice/decisions - but no reviews!

Give us some clues and opinions will I am sure be forthcoming!

one_bad_mofo

Try taking a look at FIxed Gear Gallery (http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/). For the main part it is a reader rides type of thing but it does have a large reveiws section too. One caveat is that it's American so some of the reviews might not be relevant, as in the bikes aren't available in the UK.

gkerr4

also try :
http://www.londonfgss.com/

which is the london fixedgear / single speed forum - search "for off the peg" to get people's opinions - although in my opinion they are biased against off-the-peg as it isn't 'cool' enough to ride a langster/bowery/flyer/despatch - it is much cooler apparently to buidl your own from rusting second had parts

or someting.


there is a fairly good choice now - the specialized langster started it off - I can also think of:

Giant bowery
genesis flyer
felt despatch (- this is new and stunning - if I was buying again i'd have this!!)
charge plug
surly steamroller
pinnacle batchelor
on-one pompino
cotic roadrat


there are others that will come out

i have a langster - bought it last summer - love it! - very light, feels fast, sensible gearing - bargain price!

andyp

gkerr4 wrote:

also try :
http://www.londonfgss.com/

which is the london fixedgear / single speed forum - search "for off the peg" to get people's opinions - although in my opinion they are biased against off-the-peg as it isn't 'cool' enough to ride a langster/bowery/flyer/despatch - it is much cooler apparently to buidl your own from rusting second had parts

I think you're misrepresenting the opinions on londonfgss - what irritates us is people not doing a search and then asking a question like 'I'm new to ss/fixed - which off the peg should I buy?'. It's been debated enough that there are a lot of threads to go through.

The bias against off the peg isn't necessarily to do with coolness but pertains to the fact that you'll learn far more about fixed and ss if you build one yourself. The satisfaction derived from that is high and you'll probably be able to do it cheaper than buying an off the peg bike.

Plus the London Langster was an abomination and should be derided at every opportunity.

Pete Beer

Although as a an introduction to fixed / ss you could do worse than a Condor or Bianchi Pista.
I agree with Andy, building up a bike really helps you keep on top of things and although I'm totally mechanically incompatent, it is possible. Just don't be afraid to ask daft questions if you get stuck and don't try spinning the wheels and testing the chain (see Sheldon Brown's site, ugh!!). I'm much more attached to the bikes I've built.

gkerr4

andyp wrote:

gkerr4 wrote:

also try :
http://www.londonfgss.com/

which is the london fixedgear / single speed forum - search "for off the peg" to get people's opinions - although in my opinion they are biased against off-the-peg as it isn't 'cool' enough to ride a langster/bowery/flyer/despatch - it is much cooler apparently to buidl your own from rusting second had parts

I think you're misrepresenting the opinions on londonfgss - what irritates us is people not doing a search and then asking a question like 'I'm new to ss/fixed - which off the peg should I buy?'. It's been debated enough that there are a lot of threads to go through.

The bias against off the peg isn't necessarily to do with coolness but pertains to the fact that you'll learn far more about fixed and ss if you build one yourself. The satisfaction derived from that is high and you'll probably be able to do it cheaper than buying an off the peg bike.

Plus the London Langster was an abomination and should be derided at every opportunity.

hmm - you are right about the building up process being very satisfying - i have built bikes and it is great.

I completely agree on the langster london

- but...

I think that the regular langster gets a bad press from a lot of forums (cycle-chat and lgfss as well) 'cos it is popular and also people think that a fixed gear should be steel rather than alu and that they should be of std (not compact) geometry.

Pete Beer

It really depends what you are going to mainly use it for. I'm lucky I have several bikes but my favourite the Argos would be a nightmare for daily commuting, 3" of toe overlap, very tight geomatry, (you feel every bump) and tubs.
Again given the choice I'd go for steel, the Condor was aluminium. If youre near an Evans they seem to have a good selection of off the pegs.

meagain

Here's a few of those I have built/adapted/bought in last 6 years or so. Nice thing about fixeds (please, NOT fixies), yer takes yer pick...

sam_dilly

this site reviews a few of the most popular single speeds

Single Speed Bikes