Foffa single speed as compared to Pompino

silly lily

Hi!
Just thought I'd ask because I really have very little knowledge of road bikes: for mostly tarmac/pavement riding with only the occasional off-road trip (I have proper mountain bikes for that), how does this:
https://retroroad.co.uk/collections/bik ... ycle-green

compare to the venerable On One pompano (except for the price):
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPOMPKOJ ... urban-bike

Made of same steel, I think and Would you believe that both (largest sizes) are claimed to be 10.5kg, yet the pompano looks so much beefier?
I am after a slick, good steel single speed.
Does anyone ride a Foffa here?

part time waster

I have had a pompano for 10 years. The frame and forks are bombproof , the weight is not important to me as its a fixed winter trainer. Guards gone on well . However as ive posted before Planet x own brand stuff is cheap crap. The bottom bracket shell wasn`t faced true and needed doing to keep the cranks in line. , the rear hub stripped early on and was replaced free. fine. The brakes supplied were awful and I binned them and replaced with a flat bar v brake mountain bike set up. Now its magic. The saddle gave way early on , im 70kg so should last more than 2000 miles of use. The tyres supplied were poo and got binned.Really you get what you pay for . I tend to ride fairly hard and train all winter , so commuting riding would put less strain on things.
I would buy the frame and forks and build it up with quality kit so its what you want and will last.

marcusjb

Pompinos are a great frame - a little overlappy in small and medium, but that isn't an issue for most people (though I accept that some people can not ride bikes with overlap).

Good comfy frame, not light, but not ever so heavy.

I had one for about 4 years and put many miles in on it without issue. The guy I sold it to has posted photos of it in Moldova and Morocco on tour - never got much further than Buckinghamshire in my hands!

Foffa, well, all I can say is do not ask any questions on LFGSS as there are some quite strong views on them there.

ugo.santalucia

All these CrMo frames weigh around 2Kg, plus 1 Kg of fork, so 3 Kg for the combo for a medium size. There is very little difference between them. They are all made in the far east and the quality is pretty much the same across the board. They are meant to be indestructible and more often than not they are

silly lily

Thank you very much for the knowledge. Which steel is lighter than chromo, then?

ugo.santalucia

silly lily wrote:

Thank you very much for the knowledge. Which steel is lighter than chromo, then?

Steel all weighs the same, it is the tubing that weighs differently, depending on wall thickness and diameter. Lighter steel tubings are generally way more expensive and frames cost several hundreds... for a single speed would be a waste of money.

silly lily

Ah, I see. I'm after a slick, slick frame which I'd like with bull bars and perhaps a carbon fork. Not sure I have the drive to go the building route again though... :roll:

ugo.santalucia

silly lily wrote:

Ah, I see. I'm after a slick, slick frame which I'd like with bull bars and perhaps a carbon fork. Not sure I have the drive to go the building route again though... :roll:

Condor Pista? different money though

https://www.condorcycles.com/collection ... a-frameset

Bear in mind second hand Condor sell for very good money

marcusjb

silly lily wrote:

Ah, I see. I'm after a slick, slick frame which I'd like with bull bars and perhaps a carbon fork. Not sure I have the drive to go the building route again though... :roll:

I went from a Pompino to a Condor Tempo.

I knew the Pompino was agricultural, but I did not expect such a huge difference (and it's not really down to weight as the Tempo is not ever so light really!).

Different game, but £700 frameset versus a £150-200 one (depending on the day of the week Planet X think it is).

silly lily

Yep, very different money indeed.

mamil314

This is interesting. I am looking to try out a Fixie. Even if one of benefits often listed is lighter weight as less parts are used, majority seem to be over 10kg due to heavy frame and fork. Do carbon/titanium or even alloy FG bikes have no place? I've looked ar Felt Footprint and Then Cinelli Mash and Fuji Feather, but any costlier options seem to be ridiculed on LFGSS as 'pointless'. I am not sure how that matters if one ends up spending alot of time riding it and enjoying it?

Pompino seems to be often recommended as a good starter frame, probably self build is the way to go.

ugo.santalucia

mamil314 wrote:

This is interesting. I am looking to try out a Fixie. Even if one of benefits often listed is lighter weight as less parts are used, majority seem to be over 10kg due to heavy frame and fork. Do carbon/titanium or even alloy FG bikes have no place? I've looked ar Felt Footprint and Then Cinelli Mash and Fuji Feather, but any costlier options seem to be ridiculed on LFGSS as 'pointless'. I am not sure how that matters if one ends up spending alot of time riding it and enjoying it?

Pompino seems to be often recommended as a good starter frame, probably self build is the way to go.

LFGSS is a bit different from here. The attitude is MTFU and get the cheapest most beaten up bike and with that you have to ride the hour record. Some folks are useful, others are just mere bullies

marcusjb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

mamil314 wrote:

This is interesting. I am looking to try out a Fixie. Even if one of benefits often listed is lighter weight as less parts are used, majority seem to be over 10kg due to heavy frame and fork. Do carbon/titanium or even alloy FG bikes have no place? I've looked ar Felt Footprint and Then Cinelli Mash and Fuji Feather, but any costlier options seem to be ridiculed on LFGSS as 'pointless'. I am not sure how that matters if one ends up spending alot of time riding it and enjoying it?

Pompino seems to be often recommended as a good starter frame, probably self build is the way to go.

LFGSS is a bit different from here. The attitude is MTFU and get the cheapest most beaten up bike and with that you have to ride the hour record. Some folks are useful, others are just mere bullies

Often true!

http://www.lfgss.com/comments/12932554/

Made I laugh!

Anyway, actually on the first page of the thread is a good list of options for OTP fixed/SS bikes that may help others here narrow their choice.

mamil314

Thanks for the answers. Another weird thing - do all builds involve 3kg wheelsets? Does Fixie riding demand 32H or similar high spoke count, a bit like disc brake wheels?

ugo.santalucia

mamil314 wrote:

Thanks for the answers. Another weird thing - do all builds involve 3kg wheelsets? Does Fixie riding demand 32H or similar high spoke count, a bit like disc brake wheels?

No, you can have a light set built for you... 1.5 Kg is perfectly fine for SS