My new commuter

mr_eddy

Hi

Just thought I would post a pic of new commuter - For the last 3 years I have been a single speed convert. I already own a SS MTB and a SS Road bike but I wanted something that could manage a 8 mile each way commute, the MTB is too heavy and the road bike to highly geared and has no concessions to practicality.

The brief was simple it had to cost less than £300 and ideally be new as I have not owned a brand new bike for ages, It had to be able to take 26" tyres as I prefer them to 29" (I think 29ers look out of proportion especially with a small frame - If you ever see 24" rims on a 4x4 then you know what I mean) and it should also come with rack mounts and ideally disc brakes.

Step up the Vitus Dee 260, Decent frame with bosses for racks front and back (rack/pannier bag on order), 42t chainset (simple but strong) and stealthy black. Perfect ! I swapped the pedals for some Welgo V8 knock offs and chopped 2" of each end of the bars. Total costs was £240

Also I popped on a 17t ACS Freewheel I had in the parts bin. The freewheel that came with it was truly shocking! Noisy /clicky and very poorly made. The ACS is not exactly top notch but it is at least quiet - If a WI ENO pops up on the eBay I may get one - I can't justify buying a new one @ £80 especially on a £220 bike.

Anyway so here it is, the 42:17 gives a useful 65" gear inch so its good for about 18-20mph at around 90-100rpm which is perfect for my commute. The guards are some cheapo Btwin jobs but they work pretty well - I may fashion a front mud flap to extend the front guard. I have seen some thickish black plastic sheeting at Hobby craft that would do the job nicely

At some point I will swap out the ProMax discs for something a bit better - Maybe some 2nd hand hydraulics or a set of BB5 mechanicals but for now they do the job well enough. Not going to spend loads tho as the whole point is to have a cheapish commuter.

craker

Very nice, proper practical like.

Do you not ride clipless? I was musing to myself at lunchtime how the resurgence of SS bikes is probably down to SPDs and the like. It's just such a great combo.

I've was out on my new fixie at lunchtime (langster). I only popped down to the supermarket so I kept my trainers on, got the laces caught up in chain ring. I'm new to fixie riding you see, something of a panicky moment when you realise you can't stop pedalling (you're fixed remember) and the lace is winding tighter and tighter round the pedal axle. Something had to give, fortunately it was the lace. I'm finding the fixed thing much harder than the transition to SS and I'm struggling to see the upside. :P

mr_eddy

Thanks

I do go SPD on my road bike but this is to stay with flats - This is going to be a jack of all trades bikes so being able to ride with any type of shoe is a bonus. I know you can get SPD / Flat combo's but they are fairly expensive and would go against the cheap nature of the bike.

The Rookie

Xpedo do some cheap SPD/flat combo pedals, my daughter used some on her hack/commuter, were about £25.

imatfaal

They are pretty ugly but chain reaction are selling M424s at 19.99 - I looked them up yesterday for a different thread
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... lsrc=aw.ds

The Rookie

Or you can get M520/540 and use the clip on resin platform, but its a bit slippery.

Big_Paul

That's the new version of my old Vee-1 that I ran for a while. I ended up flogging it and buying the Vee-29 as it just rode better.

Best thing about them is that you can give them a bit of stick and they shrug it off, my rear hub needed adjusted quite quickly and when I checked, there was no grease in the bearings! Good cheap bikes though.