Single Speed

okgo

So I'm going to buy a SS next month.

Now I've taken some advice on chain rings, so that's good.

But I'm wondering whether about a few things, the two I like the look of are the Dolan Pre Cursa and the new langster (not the chrome hipster one)

The langster has front and rear brakes, but the Dolan can only be specced with a brake for the front... What brake would you use and what not? Do you really need a rear brake too?

I assume LOOK pedals can be fitted? And a single bottle cage?

Is there anything else I should know about commuting on a SS?

rick_chasey

Get two brakes if you're on SS.

You can fit any pedal to any bike, same with bottle cages.

I'd suggest erring on the cautious side re-the gearing. It's easier to spin out than to grind to a halt.

il_principe

As Rick says, get 2 brakes.

Also look at the Pearson and Kinesis offerings - far superior to the Langster.

Key thing is to get the gearing right. Pedals, cages etc as per any other road bike.

owenlars

Firstly you can only get away with one brake if you ride a bike fixed wheel. If you are going to use a freewheel at all you will need to have both front and rear fitted.

Secondly if you are going to commute on it, even fixed, I would strongly recommend two brakes for dealing with the daily grind through traffic.

okgo

OK.

I will have a look at those, I love the Dolan as its a very simple design, but if you really want two brakes then its not idea. I won't be riding fixed I doubt, gear will be carefully considered.

clarkey cat

2 brakes definitely - even if riding fixed.

My only advice would be spend a day or two getting used to riding fixed before riding in traffic.

JamesFree

I picked my Langster up for £210 on ebay (brand new warranty replacement frame too)

It also came with a 48t x 16t, bull horn bars, some Bontrager race light TT brake levers and brand new 105 Callipers!

Its perfect for the commute!, though If I have been riding it all week I do start to get a little knee pain

Also I found riding fixed 1000 times easier with MTB style SPD's (double sided) rather than my Look's

pompy

Have a look at the On One Pompino too. I am biased but it is great. Comfy (steel) lightish (mine is 8kg) and very practical as you can fit mudguards, a rack, skinny race or fat knobbly tyres too. Mine has done 4000miles including a Lands End to John O Groats trip last year.

Origamist

The Dolan PC is a track bike - steeper angles, shorter wheelbase, higher BB etc than a Langster which has more road friendly geometry. If you were only going to ride it on the road, I'd not get a track specific bike, but a generic road ss/fixed and there's gazillions of them to choose from.

#mytwopenceworth

dhope

As everyone's said, 2 brakes for SS, can get away with 1 fixed.

Can always get a clamp on rear brake if the frame doesn't come drilled.
http://www.velodromeshop.net/index.php? ... ct&id=1254

EKE_38BPM

For SS you definitely need two brakes. For FG, you only need a front but you really should have some form of foot retention.

WRT FG braking: On any bike when you brake in an emergency you should heavily bias the front brake, so much so that the back wheel is unweighted and lifts in the air a bit (but not so much that you fly over the handle bars). A touch of leg braking takes care of just slowing down a bit. As usual, Sheldon explains it better (see the paragraph on braking).
The reason you need foot retention is so that if the front (and only brake) fails for any reason, you can still come to a stop using leg braking. All vehicles (should) have two independent braking circuits. On a car, the foot brake has one circuit acting on the front left and rear right wheels and another acting on the front right and rear left.

edhornby

if you are riding SS definitely 2 brakes

if you are riding fixed you only need one brake (you do need a front !) as you use back pressure on the pedals to balance the bike (same principle as using a brake) and the front scrubs the speed - its true that you need to practice away from heavy traffic but it's not that complex a skil to develop

anonymousblackfg

Ride fixed, else you look like your riding fixed then you get spotted as being soft as you have to ride SS.

Think about the Cotic Roadrat as well if considering the Pompino.

One brake when riding fixed is only really ok if you ride a girls/hipster ratio where your legs will be effective to slow the wheel down. If riding a man's gear this effect is less so, so a brake is a good help.

edhornby

I ride the precursa - it's fine for commuting, the high BB is a good thing to avoid pedal strike when cornering on a fixed gear, the head angle is steep but as long as you don't have a really short stem it's also not a problem

Clever Pun

clarkey cat wrote:

2 brakes definitely - even if riding fixed.

My only advice would be spend a day or two getting used to riding fixed before riding in traffic.

One brake on fixed is fine(gearing and leg strength should be taken into consideration though and your ability to do mad skids), but if you have a flipflip hub you'll need two if you ever want to flip your flop.

jonny_trousers

IMHO...

I agree that, although track frames might look cool (such as the Dolan), they are not the most comfortable for commuting on.

The chrome 'hipster' Langster will be a way nicer ride than the aluminium version. I think the Langsters look like great value for money.

The Pearson Touche is overrated. The only advantage it has over the way cheaper Langster is that it can take mudguards and a rack.

Go for steel (with a carbon fork).

Don't allow yourself to be pressured by the fixie facists who believe riding fixed makes you cooler/more skillful/fitter that riding on a freewheel. I've done both over long periods of times and have ultimately come to the conclusion that the advantage of being able to freewheel in the urban environment far outweighs the fun in riding fixed. You can remind fixie riders just how much more manly they look than you when you comfortably fly past them downhill while they look as though their legs are about to be ripped out of their sockets. And if skidding to a stop really does do it for you, you can always apply your back brake hard.

Totally agree that Look style pedals will be a PITA on a commuter. Shimano M520s, cheap and wonderful.

il_principe

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

IMHO...

I agree that, although track frames might look cool (such as the Dolan), they are not the most comfortable for commuting on.

The chrome 'hipster' Langster will be a way nicer ride than the aluminium version. I think the Langsters look like great value for money.

The Pearson Touche is overrated. The only advantage it has over the way cheaper Langster is that it can take mudguards and a rack.

Go for steel (with a carbon fork).

Don't allow yourself to be pressured by the fixie facists who believe riding fixed makes you cooler/more skillful/fitter that riding on a freewheel. I've done both over long periods of times and have ultimately come to the conclusion that the advantage of being able to freewheel in the urban environment far outweighs the fun in riding fixed. You can remind fixie riders just how much more manly they look than you when you comfortably fly past them downhill while they look as though their legs are about to be ripped out of their sockets. And if skidding to a stop really does do it for you, you can always apply your back brake hard.

Totally agree that Look style pedals will be a PITA on a commuter. Shimano M520s, cheap and wonderful.

There's a definitive list of OTP frames here:

http://www.lfgss.com/thread9085.html

singleton

Get 2 brakes and as an owner of a Genesis Flyer (Steel frame, lovely ride) I'd certainly consider one of those....

As far as gearing goes, depends where you'll ride. it was relatively cheap and easy to change the rear freewheel on my flyer (but you'll need a special tool) but changing the front is a lot harder and more expensive.

Koncordski

Cane Creek brake levers are very nice for an SS frame. Two lever positions and comfy hoods. http://www.canecreek.com/component-othe ... ers-scr-5c

iPete

okgo you any closer to going SS?

After wearing through yet more geared components in this weather I'm seriously thinking about SS. Am thinking road geometry, road bars or bull horns and two brakes.

Then again I'm always torn between upgrade Road bike, buy TT, mtb etc.

gtvlusso

okgo wrote:

So I'm going to buy a SS next month.

Now I've taken some advice on chain rings, so that's good.

But I'm wondering whether about a few things, the two I like the look of are the Dolan Pre Cursa and the new langster (not the chrome hipster one)

The langster has front and rear brakes, but the Dolan can only be specced with a brake for the front... What brake would you use and what not? Do you really need a rear brake too?

I assume LOOK pedals can be fitted? And a single bottle cage?

Is there anything else I should know about commuting on a SS?

Check the pre-curser for bottle cage mounts - not sure a pure track frame will have them. Also a track frame will have a higher BB which may mean that touching the floor may be a bit tricky with your usual seat height.

Any F + R caliper rim brake (Shimano Tiagra, 105 - something like that!) - assume the pre-curser has a drilled fork for a brake and a drilled rear bridge for a brake?

Brake levers - dirty harry is a common 'hipster lever for flat bars. For drop's - there are loads on ebay by various brands - personally, I would match the brakes and the levers.....shimano levers and shimano calipers

Yes, any pedals will fit the crank - there is a standard, you will need a 15mm pedal spanner though

The big check is to make sure that the pre-cursa can actually take brakes F + R without any drilling hassle.

pompy

Do it! I've not had to replace anything on mine (apart from tyres) and can vouch for their simplicity. A ss will get you fitter too.
http://lejogononegear.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... heels.html

Bikequin

I bought a Pearson Touche (It actually called a ‘Once more....’ now I think) SS about 3 months ago and have really enjoyed commuting on it. The new frame also looks the dogs if you ask me but then I’m not a hipster. It looks a lot more comfortable to ride than a lot of other SS I see cycling about which seem to be as you say track bikes with a brake shoved on the front. I’m also quite happy riding SS on my commute rather than fixed – although I’m going to try riding fixed again once the weather improves.

Only thing I would say is that I regret going for a 48-18 and am going to have to switch to a 17.

Finally the customer service you get in Pearson’s is second to none – a really great store to buy a bike from.

okgo

Nope, no closer, lots of thoughts about bikes, less so about SS of late haha. I'm useless.

willy b

I've gone the other way. Got ride of my SS mainly because it wasn't great for doing extra miles. I was running 53:18 which was fine, but did spin out, which was a nice excuse to ride slow

dhope

okgo wrote:

Nope, no closer, lots of thoughts about bikes, less so about SS of late haha. I'm useless.

Dolan Seta for £736 from Wiggle using the 37% plus extra 10% off. I'm tempted myself. I wont as I don't have anywhere to put it yet but I am so very tempted.

iPete

pompy wrote:

Do it! I've not had to replace anything on mine (apart from tyres) and can vouch for their simplicity. A ss will get you fitter too.
http://lejogononegear.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... heels.html

REALLY like that! What did it cost to put together and whats the frame called?

pompy

It's an On One Pompino frame (there is now a slightly neater looking Macinato frame too) Miche hubs, crankset Open pro rims, probably cost about £900 but you could get that down plus On One do ready built ones too (but albeit lower spec! )
It runs 48x18 which did me for my LEJOG trip last year without having to get off and push and I'm taking it to France next week for 5 days touring.

rubertoe

I am seriously thinking of getting a Pomino frame and building a SS as I go. I particularly like the 2011 brown frame, providing i can get the fork to match.

£148 for a frame and fork. need to check the brake compatiblity though.

nich

An alternative to the Pompino is the Cotic Roadrat, just another option to consider

pompy

You will need v brakes or cross style canti's. The Macinato is designed for calipers but if you like the brown paintjob you will have to get the Pompino. I have Tektro mini V's on the back which are fine and 105 caliper on the front as I got a carbon fork instead of the mega heavy steel job!