Fixed bike for £1000?

amaferanga

I'm trying to decide what bike to get through Cyclscheme next year (only 3 months to wait!) and found this rather nice looking Ellis Briggs. Does anyone happen to have one of these?

At the moment I'm thinking about getting a very nice fixed bike (already have a Bowery and previously had a Tricross Single, both which are great commuting bikes) with a budget up to about £1000, though the scheme does allow up to £1500. I'd love something titanium, but I think I'd end up with crappy components to keep it below the £1500 (and I don't really want to go over £1000 anyway). I'll probably commute on it (have secure bike parking at work), but It's primary purpose would be for long (100 mile +) rides.

I can't find many bikes that would fit the bill. Would it be worthwhile getting a Pearson Hanzo built up with a full carbon fork and nice bits up to about a grand? Don't like the look of the Condor bikes, though I could be persuaded.

Anyone got any suggestions?

toshmund

The lbs do a bike made up for them, which I will try to get you the catalogue/send you a photo of one if you wish Mike? The frame is the same as a Pearson Touche' - and it looks a lovely piece of kit! Cannot remember the price offhand, but it is sub £1000. They do the cycle to work scheme as well.

Could not find it on any of the pages, but here is the link.

http://www.tsbikes.co.uk/index.php

I was thinking of getting one myself as a Xmas present to myself, or a Ridley Crossbow...which looks great in the showroom.

markw99

I've just bought a Condor Potenza. Absolutely love it, cost me £850 in the end. It's quick,light and really comfortable. It's a track frame but they do some more with relaxed geometry, They have some beautiful frames in the showroom and were really helpful.

Monty Dog

I'm running a full-carbon Battaglin RS-1 race frame with a White ENO eccentric rear hub and it's a 14lb road rocket - stiff as hell, but for low maintenance winter riding it's a hoot. Gearing is 50x17 which makes 20% 'interesting' Quality of the ENO hub is fantastic and means you can make a phenomenal fixie from any frame

amaferanga

Toshmund wrote:

The lbs do a bike made up for them, which I will try to get you the catalogue/send you a photo of one if you wish Mike? The frame is the same as a Pearson Touche' - and it looks a lovely piece of kit! Cannot remember the price offhand, but it is sub £1000. They do the cycle to work scheme as well.

Could not find it on any of the pages, but here is the link.

http://www.tsbikes.co.uk/index.php

I was thinking of getting one myself as a Xmas present to myself, or a Ridley Crossbow...which looks great in the showroom.

Wouldn't mind seeing a photo, but I'm not sure I like the Touche frame. The 2010 does have a slightly nicer paint job though which makes a big difference. Can you specify the colour?

I've just been looking at the Condor Potenza, which with a carbon fork could be just what I'm after....

markw99

I'm really happy with my Potenza. Mine's in red with white forks with an upgrade to Mavic Open Pros on Miche hubs and a Miche chainset.

http://www.condorcycles.com/potenza.html

The black and gold frame looks really good too, I think they start at about £700 for the basic build then upgrade as you want.

Think the black frame with a carbon fork would look pretty cool. They had around a 5week build time I think, but guess that changes.

If you do go there and try one, then make it early doors as it's pretty busy at lunchtime. I went at 10am and it was fine.

mankybianchi

I'm interested to see Monty Dog that you're using a White Eno hub. I have looking into one myself and came across a variety of opinions.

Just wondering, do you still need to use particular combinations of chain ring and sprocket due to the small amount of adjusment the hub can make? Also, have you come across any problems with wheel rub or brake reach due to the rotation of the hub?

Cheers

Mikefule

Someone mentioned a Pearson Touché. I have one of those.

I was quite impressed with the speed of service from Pearson, and the frendliness of their staff on the phone. However, I was disappointed it arrived with no lockrings on the sprockets - so going down a hill and trying to slow the bike, the sprocket unscrewed and the chain came off. I rang them and they tried to imply it was a "safety feature" because if you were going to fast, it was safer to unwind the sprocket than to take your feet off the pedals. They did send me some lock rings eventually, though.


The bike itself is OK, quite twitchy steering. Very tight clearances - it came with 23mm tyres and after too many punctures I tried to fit a spare 28mm on the back, and it wouldn't go.

Convict

Tight clearances on a Touche - that sounds odd. I have one and it's going into it's second winter, 2500km cylced. It's a great bike. I have 700x25 Gatorskins that I upgraded to when I bought the bike and SKS mudguards. The bike will take guards and a rack. It doesn't have track geometry and would easily take 28mm tyres with the mudguards. It is fast and light and handles well. Sure there are components that I would like to upgrade - mostly the cranks - but I think it's a superb bike for the money and is mostly under-rated.

Mikefule

Oh, I'll try again then. I'd prefer something fatter.

fossyant

I've got the same frame as the Touche via my LBS, although specced up with Ritchey Pro kit, hand built wheels etc, came in at about £1k.

Very nice bikes.