Giant Bowery
Comments
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OK, got the fixed cog on the next day and have been up the mountains with it twice this week, first 75km with over 1,000m climbing and again with 50km and around 750m climbing today. It rockets up hills, the gearing seems just perfect for long drags and there is a definate "flywheel" effect with the pedalling motion just so smooth. I am getting well ahead of the geared guys I go out with on the climbs although they are catching me on the descents where I on the brakes and limited to 35km/h or so with legs flying around like crazy
I am definately pushing it up the hills more but at the same time finding it easier for the amount of effort.
This is the only bike I will need for commuting/around town; only drawback is the lack of rack mounts that meant I took another bike for the big shop today.
I'm used to a nice light carbon roadie but on anything up to around 7-8% grade I reckon this goes up faster. Had a short sharp 20% grade on the first 75km ride and while it very nearly killed me I still got up first and the rest of the ride I was powering ahead.
I simply cannot belive how utterly brilliant this bike is, fashion be damned, this bike bloody well WORKS. Have had many compliments on it too, both from the guys I ride with (a string of orders are now going in) and fellow roadies I have passed on the climbs (when they catch me on the descents!)
If you are a cyclist looking for a bike to ride at a bargain price, don't hesitate to get this, personally I was looking for something to work on my pedal stroke and becoming comfortable with a wider range of cadence. The complete and utter suitability to all commuting/around town needs was an added bonus that took me by surprise.
If you are looking for something to pose with, you may want to look elsewhere 0 -
J_C_M wrote:Ignore the Bowery, check this thread for options for OTP fixed/ss - personally I'd be looking at the Pearson Touche
http://www.londonfgss.com/thread6022.html
You'd be looking at bikes in two different price ranges there. Before making recommendations I think it's always wise to ask the OP's budget."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
Got my Bowery delvered today and i think for the money(£225 at Pearsons) it is a great buy for my first foray into Fixed/Single Speed.
Mark..0 -
"FIXED"0
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Have many people bought Bowery's for the reduced price ??????
If so i need advice on mud guards ...........0 -
I had a pair of SKS fitted on mine, by the LBS when I bought it. The clearance is tight with the standard fit 26 tyres, 23's are the better option anyway. Had it a few weeks now - for the cost, cannot beat it really.
Stunning bike to ride - which people still compare against a bike nearly twice the price. Not rocket science, is it?
Daz51, going by your comments in mid July on this topic. Seems quite a drastic change of opinion...0 -
yes Toshmund,
I totally agree. I am still not the biggest fan of Giants complete range of bikes. I still feel in the Allez Vs Scr argument the Allez look a million times better. But that is my own opinion.
The bowery i like as its simple coloured, amazing price and perfect for me.
I did look at the Specialized Tricross single but at £200 more it was just unthinkable0 -
I have got a Giant Bowery Single Speed which has a 46/17 gear ratio, but would like to get faster. On my geared bike I was using 53/15 ratio. Should I change the front or the rear or both ? I gather if I get a smaller rear gear it will be harder to get started.[/b]0
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To make it faster you will seriously comprimise your ability to get it up the hills. My bowery using the same standard gearing allows reasonable speed along the flats although I do have to freewheel sometimes but I can power it up some really steep hills JUST.0
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When riding single speed the biggest difference most people discover is not the hill climbing, it's running out of revs on the flat. Given time you build leg strength and find climbing easier, but learning to spin fast and efficiently can be harder for some people. If you ride a regular route you need to find a gear that will allow you to JUST climb the hardest hill. If you don't have regular routes you will probably find the best gear is one that you end up pushing occasionally.
Like Kona used to say in their advertising for the Unit, "It comes with three gears: sit, stand and push."
You should, however, consider yourself lucky. The standard gear for riding a single speed MTB tends to be about 52". Road sections can involve riding at a cadence you wouldn't believe and still going incredibly slowly."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
anyone riding a bowery how does size compare to normal road bikes, i read a review that says they are lng and geomtry loos long. I ride a medium focus cayo and a medium allez will i get away with a small? anyone riding eitherof these bikes that can comment would eb gratefully recieived0
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Comparison (taking in price differential) with the Fuji Track anybody? Was considering getting one before I saw this thread.0
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fuji - any time! or 2009 langster (all chrome - i have a pimped one gorgeous) or pearson touche??? Bowery ugly piece of scrap iron up close but it is cheap.0
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The Langster? The original one, sure, but the current model. It's just a road bike with track ends.h"Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0
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Exactly, ideal for a roadies training tool!0
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Never met a roady who didn't train on a road bike. The richest have a special training bike, the poorest have one bike and the rest of them use their old bike as a training tool.
OK thats not strictly true I know one roady who hangs up his road bike at the end of september and rides off road until spring."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
Is that right?
I have a full carbon race bike for racing
A full carbon sportive bike with a more relaxed gearing for sportives and long rides on nice weather days
An alu bike with carbon fork for poor weather riding / short training rides
Plus
A langster for developing core strength pedalling surplease (or whatever its called), leg strength , cadence and hill climbing technique.
I am without an chadow of a doubt a roadie and there are at least 10 others in my club who ride SS for the same reasons.0 -
Well you and your club must be pretty unusual then. As I say I've never met a roady who rides single speed and believe me I'm old.
I'm certainly not a roady. I find riding on road dull in the extreme, it's just a way of getting from A to B. Tried the road club experience once and couldn't get over the combination of elitism, standoffishness and ennui.
I've got a road bike for commuting and getting around on, it's geared due to the fact that my 8 mile one way commute involves about 800ft climbing one way and 300ft the other. A single speed MTB cum cruiser like a big BMX for riding with the family. I got that off freecycle and I wouldn't have it at all were it not free. And my proper bike a nice single speed mountain bike. That bike handles everthing from byways to extreme XC because I can't see how people can justify having loads of bikes to do slightly different jobs.
If I did any urban riding anymore I'd have a fixed, rigid MTB with steep angles. Strangely enough the original Langster wasn't too far from that ideal, but with drop bars and 700c wheels."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
Clearly you dont understand because it aint your bag. I do sportives, closed cicuit racing, concrete track races, TT's, mass start suff and club runs plus training rides by myself 900 -1200 miles per month and all of my bikes get more use than most commuters bikes. Now a couple more to finish the collection, a TT machine and a track bike and i should be done! ..........mind you cyclo cross looks fun too........make that 3 more!!!!!
Im fairly new to the club scene, and i lead improvers runs as well as help with the begginers rides(plus all of the above), the eletist frosty reception is usually reserved for the rude, lazy or the ignorant but i personally think it is a reducing problem. :shock:0 -
brownbosh wrote:Clearly you dont understand because it aint your bag. I do sportives, closed cicuit racing, concrete track races, TT's, mass start suff and club runs plus training rides by myself 900 -1200 miles per month and all of my bikes get more use than most commuters bikes. Now a couple more to finish the collection, a TT machine and a track bike and i should be done! ..........mind you cyclo cross looks fun too........make that 3 more!!!!!
There are many more forms of mountainbiking than road riding, and the differences between them much greater. OK so I wouldn't try downhill racing or the like on my hardtail, but it has seen action in virtually every other MTB arena from dirt jumping to XC racing. The point being that you don't need different bikes for different types of riding. You could certainly use the same bike for sportives, road racing, TTs, commuting, training crits, closed circuit racing, etc. It may not be perfect, but it could do them.brownbosh wrote:Im fairly new to the club scene, and i lead improvers runs as well as help with the begginers rides(plus all of the above), the eletist frosty reception is usually reserved for the rude, lazy or the ignorant but i personally think it is a reducing problem. :shock:
The club scene will always contain those who are elitist and it will always contain cliques. Strangely enough the larger the club the easier it will be for newcomers to infiltrate. Partly because the law of averages means that the more members there are the more likely there are to be friendly people, and partly because unfriendly clubs will stay small.
However, the fact remains that when me and my friends tried out a few local clubs we found them all to be elitist and unwelcoming to potential members. My favourite (!?) comment came from the membership secretary of one club, "you'll need better bikes than that if you want to ride with us". Similar attitudes were prevalent at all the clubs we visited.
I know many clubs that are mainly road clubs have MTB sections, but I'm really not interested. The great thing about the MTB scene is that it it largely much more relaxed than the road scene and the organized club mentality doesn't fit in very well. You turn up, you ride, you drink, you fall over. It has a lot in common with the urban fixed scene in that respect. Indeed when I lived in a city I mainly rode fixed (old style Langster) and got out onto the dirt occasionally. These days the opposite is true. However I am missing riding fixed, even though there is no fixed scene up here in the hills. So I may just have to fix my commuter and build up my leg strength.
Anyway we are so far off the topic of this thread that you couldn't see it on a clear day. So...
The Bowery would be unbeatable at the price were it not for one thing; the Revolution Courier Single. The flat bar MTB layout is much better suited to riding in urban traffic and at £229 list it's an absolute bargain. If I could afford a Bowery at the moment I'd buy the Courier."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
the courier's sold out....0
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avoidingmyphd wrote:the courier's sold out....
Which is fine because I haven't got the money for one."Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker0 -
Anyone got any feedback on the sizing? I ride a regular 54 with a 54cm top tube. The medium Bowery has a top tube of 55.4cm but the reviewer said it was on the big side although he had front wheel/foot clearance.
What sizes have you guys bought compared to your regular bikes?0 -
primalcarl wrote:Anyone got any feedback on the sizing? I ride a regular 54 with a 54cm top tube. The medium Bowery has a top tube of 55.4cm but the reviewer said it was on the big side although he had front wheel/foot clearance.
What sizes have you guys bought compared to your regular bikes?
Hi there,
The Bowery is definitely a long bike. I ride a 56cm Specialized road bike, but bought the 54cm Bowery after reading the comments about it being on the large side and I'm glad I did, seems to be the perfect size for me.0 -
@karnali- I too have a Focus Cayo, 58cm, and my Bowery is a Large. I was fortunate enough to come across one parked in the street while with my Cayo and so was able to compare reach which was pretty much identical. I've also ridden a Trek 5000 and Specialized Sirrus, both in 58cm, in case anyone has one of those for comparison. 58cm
It fits well, I don't think it is in any way too "long" in terms of where the bars are, I was able to get the same distances between contact points as on my Cayo. The only issue is the Campagnolo-style brake hoods, compared to Shimano-style they do put the "riding on the hoods" position around 2cm further forward with the saddle-bar reach the same as on the Cayo. I solved this by moving my saddle forward a bit.
Have been riding the Bowery a lot and it has massively improved my pedalling technique already, it is far more consistent now on the geared bike. I can power up hills but also hit really high cadences (63km/h today @180RPM) - this is great for really picking up the pace in a sprint without having to change gear.0 -
Todd Sweeney wrote:primalcarl wrote:Anyone got any feedback on the sizing? I ride a regular 54 with a 54cm top tube. The medium Bowery has a top tube of 55.4cm but the reviewer said it was on the big side although he had front wheel/foot clearance.
What sizes have you guys bought compared to your regular bikes?
Hi there,
The Bowery is definitely a long bike. I ride a 56cm Specialized road bike, but bought the 54cm Bowery after reading the comments about it being on the large side and I'm glad I did, seems to be the perfect size for me.
Thanks for the info. I normally ride a 54cm so hoping the small will be ok0 -
I've just bought a Bowery. Got it set up on Monday evening, and fitted the fixed sprocket and lock ring...... but I'm not sure I've done it properly.
Everything seems to work fine, but when I apply some backward pressure on the pedals to slow down I experience a slip. Feels like the sprocket is slipping slightly. When I accelerate and apply some heavy forward pressure it then slips back again.
It only happens when I'm moving at a good pace, and try to slow, then try to accelerate quickly (so apply a lot of pressure). I've tried pressurising manually to see where the slip originates, but I can't generate enough force with arm pressure.
I've tried tightening the sprocket/lockring, but neither seemed to move at all.
Any suggestions?0 -
"Any suggestions?"
IF you've tightened the sprocket with a decent length bar/chainwhip and banged upo the lockring....then try the chainring bolts!d.j.
"Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."0 -
anyone know where the cheapest place to buy one in London now that Pearsons have stopped their offer?0
