Simple General Purpose Steel Bike

yipyipyip

Hi guys,

a few days ago the frame on my aluminium bike broke, so I need a new one. I always wanted to get a high-quality bike, and now the time has undeliberately come.

So I've been reading up on this stuff, and came up with sort of a whishlist:

• steel frame, with horizontal top tube
• fenders, or mount points for them
• 7 to 11 gears (hub or derailleur, not really sure which I prefer)
• crankset with a single sprocket (keep things simple)

Somehow, I don't seem to be able to find a lot of models which fit the description. Here are two:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/ ... oll/roll-8
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Pr ... 1___400983

Max price should be <1000 GBP.

Do you have any recommendations or hints? Thanks a lot.

thelonegroover

Hi,

I'm not sure these are available in the UK. Where are you?. Also, check out planet x's kafenback

yipyipyip

Right, forgot to mention. I'm in Germany.

thelonegroover

I'm sure both Cotic and Planet X will ship to Germany. I'd go for either the Roadrat or Kaffenback. Not sure about German steel bikes.

The Rookie

Maybe look at the offerings from Genesis as well.

I though Fenders were used on boats?

asprilla

Thelonegroover wrote:

I'm sure both Cotic and Planet X will ship to Germany. I'd go for either the Roadrat or Kaffenback. Not sure about German steel bikes.

The Roadrat is a flat bar bike. The equivalent for drop bars is the Escapade.

It doesn't have a horizontal top tube and it only allow for disc brakes but other than that it will allow you to set it up as pretty much anything you want.

Another option is the Singular Peregrine. Again, disc brake only.

yipyipyip

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Since I desperately needed a bike, I settled on the Fuji Declaration 2014 (fixie) as an everyday bike. Got one for 450 EUR including shipping (~350 GBP). I know its not CrMo but Hi-Ten, but the price for a steel bike was too good to pass up.

I still have some working components from my old bike: wheels incl. sprocket, brakes (but no levers), bottom bracket, crankset, foot pedals. Back and front derailleurs look pretty much like crap.

So I got to thinking maybe I'll build a second bike from that. I can get a Surly Cross Check incl. fork for 400 EUR (~320 GBP). Do you guys think it worthwhile to get the frame plus the necessary other parts and build a second bike (as compared to buying a complete second bike)? As in the original post, I want to keep it simple. So I was thinking of getting only a back derailleur with lever, but no front derailleur. Then maybe get a single blade chain ring. Is that possible and/or prudent? Say I have a 8/9/10-speed sprocket, and a single chain ring. How many gears will I likely be able to use?

Thanks again for you help.

The Rookie wrote:

I though Fenders were used on boats?

Americanism, sorry. What I meant was mudgards.

The Rookie

yipyipyip wrote:

Say I have a 8/9/10-speed sprocket, and a single chain ring. How many gears will I likely be able to use?

All of them on the cassette, you just need to get the front chainline correct

My commuter runs a single speed front chainset (stronglight) and a 9 speed cassette (11-26) gearing has been selected for my commute, I use them all daily but don't need any more!

As I run flat bars I use an MTB twist shift as it declutters the bars very nicely.

antonyfromoz

there is always the Fairdale Weekender, available in both flat(ish) bar and as a drop bar version. The flat bar version has a single chain ring while the drop is a double - and the flat bar is reduced at Triton to £499 - http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/urban-bik ... -2013-p784

The drop is down to £799 from £999 with Sora and BB7 brakes - http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/road-bike ... 2014-p1275

Full chomoly frame and forks (which they also sell sep if required) and disc brakes. Probably pretty heavy compared to alloy offerings but very versatile...