A ride for Uni

Hi guys,

I'm heading off to Uni at the end of this year, and am looking to build a slick ride to get around on. I will be in London (dependent on grades) and am looking forward to joining the community.

I am looking to build a fixed gear that:

1. rides well
   
2. looks good
   
3. is reliable and easy to maintain
   
   

and all for a budget of roughly £300-400.

I am quite happy to source second hand parts, if that keeps the price down and still fits my quota.

I'm relatively inexperienced when it comes to building bikes, having never done one before. This is my first project of many to come, hopefully.

I appreciate any comments you guys have along the way, good or bad, and will take as much advice as I can.

Let's build a sexy bike!

You're in the right place! First thing I'd do in your situation is to determine which size frame you're going to be looking for. It saves a lot of time when looking on the classifieds listings here as you'll know whether something's worth looking at or not as long as the seller lists the size of the frame they're advertising in the title.

You can also submit a post like you've just done in the Wanteds section instead https://www.lfgss.com/microcosms/550/?offset=31250

Oh and also, make sure you've got all the right tools. There's nothing worse than picking up a new part, taking it home with the aim to get it fitted nice and quickly, and then realising you don't have a crank extractor, bottom bracket tool, chain link extractor etc etc. Looking forward to seeing what you end up building!

I would scrub out looks good, build a beater and try avoid it getting nicked(sad truth of riding in london each day).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. Plenty of peoples beaters look far nicer than most of the pricey shoreditch poodles you see being 'slained around town.
As Ajo says, size and tools(if you're building up yourself) should be top of the priorities. Avoid anything overly obscure or rare to reduce headaches - for example french frames often have weird french threads in the bb and tiny seatpost diameters which aren't compatible with 99% of easily obtained parts.
If in doubt, just buy a 80's racer for under £100, ditch the gears, swap out the rear wheel so you can go fixed, learn to maintain it and spend the rest of your budget on beer/drugs/whatever else tickles your fancy while you plan a better build for long rides.

^ good advice that.

300-400 on here could get you a super nice complete bike, but for the same money its surprisingly tough building a whole bike.

http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/262180/#comment12113887

A dolan pre cursa would be a great start. Light and lots of fun for the money

First thing I'd do in your situation is to determine which size frame you're going to be looking for.

^ definitely the most important piece of advice.

If in doubt, just buy a 80's racer for under £100, ditch the gears, swap out the rear wheel so you can go fixed....

^ also good advice, but once you factor tools etc prices can creep. Although decent tools last a long time. I'd also look on eBay for Charge Plugs and Specialized Langsters - they were a cheap and common cycle to work choice so, they're not especially sexy so they tend not to command high resale value.

My other 2p would be, upgrade tyres before shinny bits and buy decent locks. There is a 'which locks thread'. Don't skimp. If you do have to skimp, choose something like the On-Guard Brute as a main lock and then one of the cheaper colored kriptonites as a secondary lock.

Thanks for all the interest and advice so far.

Regarding frame size, I am roughly 5'10. Am I right in thinking that a 54-56cm frame should suit me quite nicely @ajo1989 ?

I haven't thought about tools until now. I was always under the impression that a fine selection of screwdrivers, alum keys, and other typical stuff you'd find in a garage would do the trick. Is there anything bike-specific that I need to get?

I personally love the look of this bike.

I know that a Cervelo frame probably won't fit my budget, but is it too ambitious to want to build a bike that looks this damn good?

@Clockwise Thanks for the heads up. We'll see what I come out with, it might end up not being very steal-able at all. If it does though, then I'm sure extra measures can be taken to keep the thieves away from my beauty. I'll be lucky enough to keep my bike in a "locked and secure" bike storage place at Uni.

Also bear in mind the landscape of the area you're moving to. Where abouts are you going to be living/riding? Gear ratios are an area to research, although it's pretty hard to understand properly without experimenting and seeing what people mean when they talk about how much your tooth count can transform your riding experience. Probably good to aim for a standard 48tooth chainset and you can swap cogs out pretty easily if you've got the right tools (chainwhip, lockring tool, chain link remover if you decide to change cog size by a considerable amount). There's a thread on ratios somewhere too

Yea 54/56 would be a good shout depending on the frame dude. Also I'm with philDAS with the Dolan suggestion. I love mine

If it's the aero tubes look you're after you could have a look at the dolan track champ but be aware they're prone to cracking around the seat clamp.
They're a bit hated on the forum but Leader 721 or 725 are similar and I loved mine.

On One have a sale coming through on their Pompino frames with components which are brilliant bikes. If the sale is still on, I think it's £200 for frame and some components?

I wish that cervelo was available in other colours. Midnight blue would look class

.

get a dolan

Cervelo is not making T1 anymore.

Buy my dolan track champ! (it's actually too big so don't).

Built my gf a dolan pre cursa for around £270 from parts bought on here, even buying a frame set new and buying second hand bits you could make a banging bike for around 400.

Yep, do it

Just waiting for a super slick frame to turn up in Classifieds.

Pre Cursa.
Managed to build mine up for around £300

Might have found the perfect frame, I only have doubts about the sizing though.

It is a La Poivra track frame, top tube 56cm, seat tube 53cm. I am 5'10", will this fit me?

I'd appreciate your thoughts, or perhaps even a direction to the correct thread.

Should do, i'm 5'9 and i ride a 55.5x55.5 and a 54x56, if you can though, go and check it out! Ask the seller if they have some wheels they can put on it just so you can get stand over etc