Hello....and what wheels for a Langster ?

valerian

Hi, I am planning a return to recreational cycling after an absence of nearly 30 years. :oops:

To this end I have bought a Pearsons' Langster special at £99 and I'm trying to get my head round the many technological changes which have taken place since I last cocked a leg over a roadbike. [ Stems are no longer a thing of beauty, are they, and how drunk was the designer of threadless forks ?]

I intend to build up a single speed to exercise a knee which has been operated on twice for cartilage problems, so the idea of fixed scares me as the knee still has a tendency to lock slightly.
The bike will be used almost exclusively on the road and I am hoping for your recommendations for a suitable wheelset capable of bearing my considerable weight of 16 stones plus.
Budget is up to £150 max and I'm not looking for anything too showy, just strong and fit for purpose.
Any thoughts,recommendations or sources gratefully received.

redddraggon

Welcome

valerian wrote:

how drunk was the designer of threadless forks ?

I thought they were an improvement over threaded forks

valerian wrote:

Budget is up to £150 max and I'm not looking for anything too showy, just strong and fit for purpose.

This what I'm going to get:
http://www.ison-distribution.com/ison/e ... t=WHHAATKD

peejay78

i would recommend SJS cycles (www.sjscycles,co.uk) who will build you the perfect flip flop for not very much poundage.

meagain

"valerian wrote:
"how drunk was the designer of threadless forks ?"


I thought they were an improvement over threaded forks "

Yup, one of the most sensible and useful cycle tech innovations of last 30 years in my view!

As for wheels, I think you intend single free wheel rather than fixed and I therefore wouldn't go with the Halos (nor any track wheels proper). While possible to fit a single free onto a fixed specific hub (just ignore the lockring thread) a simple screw on will do fine. Might just as well go for a fixed/free (seemingly called a flip flop in today's parlance - tho' I can't see why the need!) in case want to try fixed - or even run two f'wheels for different ratios (double free hubs a bit rare I suspect).

AS PJ says, try sjs or any other decent shop and tell 'em what you want.

BTW, just been out on my bargain Langster - whike I wouldn't have paid full price for one in VFM terms an excellent bike I reckon! Good choice!

PS Edit! Seems the Halos ARE fixed/free, so would be fine if you like them!

gkerr4

meagain wrote:

"valerian wrote:
"how drunk was the designer of threadless forks ?"


I thought they were an improvement over threaded forks "

Yup, one of the most sensible and useful cycle tech innovations of last 30 years in my view!

As for wheels, I think you intend single free wheel rather than fixed and I therefore wouldn't go with the Halos (nor any track wheels proper). While possible to fit a single free onto a fixed specific hub (just ignore the lockring thread) a simple screw on will do fine. Might just as well go for a fixed/free (seemingly called a flip flop in today's parlance - tho' I can't see why the need!) in case want to try fixed - or even run two f'wheels for different ratios (double free hubs a bit rare I suspect).

AS PJ says, try sjs or any other decent shop and tell 'em what you want.

BTW, just been out on my bargain Langster - whike I wouldn't have paid full price for one in VFM terms an excellent bike I reckon! Good choice!

PS Edit! Seems the Halos ARE fixed/free, so would be fine if you like them!

hello - glad you like the langster - I'm curios though - why would you not have paid full price for one due to VFM?

I paid £329 for mine all-in (OK it's not the full retail) - which I thought was pretty decent. I saw the £99 frame deal and thought it was excellent, but actually - putting together a new one based on that (and I mean all new parts) isn't that easy.

Even for fairly cheap wheels (say Suzu hubs on Open sports) you are looking at £100
chainset = £100 (sugino 75)
sprocket + Lockring - £20ish
stem / bars = £ 40 for some cinelli Vai
seat post - £12 for an carbon look alloy one similar to std
saddle - the std fit BG 'sport' saddle is about £20 (same as th charge spoon for example)
tyres and tubes - £16 for vittoria rubino (non-folding) 2x tyre & tubes (wiggle)
rim tape - £3 (ish)
brake levers - £15 (shima r400 - ribble)
calipers - £23 (tektro - ribble)
cables - £6 (ish)
bar tape - £5

thnk thats about it - and in fairness this is probably a better spec than a std langster - but still that's just come to £460 so the std one, ready to ride, isn't that bad even at full retail!

where can savings be made on that list (wheels and chainset I'd imagine) but still - it's not bad is it?

valerian

Thank you for all your replies.

I'm sure threadless may well be an improvement, but I'm struggling to come to terms with having to cut the steerer and as for new-fangled star fangled nuts, well ! I think I'll have to do a lot more reading up on the subject before I reach for me junior hacksaw blade.

Yes, I hope to go for a fixed/free combination in case I do eventually want to try fixed.
I presume I will need a 120 mm rear hub, albeit I've just measured between the Langster frame and it looks more like a 126 mm ? Can anyone confirm whether a 120 would be O.K ?

Everything seems so much more complicated from the days when a chain lasted years and bike maintenance consisted of the odd squirt of 3 in 1 oil.

meagain

"why would you not have paid full price for one due to VFM? "

Probably (and unrealistically!) because I still live in the days (a couple of years ago!) when could buy and convert a NICE old bike to fixed for 200 quid max. And I had did have a set of wheels that stood me next to nowt and quite a few other bits. But yes, in general even at a ton for the frameset can't beat a complete bike price.

Valerian, are you sure about the 126? Spec says 120 and mine is 121 - between the drop out face plates. 126 sounds a large margin of production error!

valerian

meagain wrote:

"

Valerian, are you sure about the 126? Spec says 120 and mine is 121 - between the drop out face plates. 126 sounds a large margin of production error!

Don't know about "production error" but far more likely to be "measuring it by sight with a metal measure which got tangled up with the spokes as the wheel was still in place" type error. :oops:

I'll give it another go later on !

P.S. the wheel referred to above is an old 27 x 1 1/4 wheel which I now know won't do the job....