The definitive OTP ( Off-The-Peg ) List (<£500 and <£1,000 sections)

As long as you use a brake then you can have a fairly low gear and it can still be okay (65 GI) which makes uphill okay and the flat okay assuming yiou are a spinner rather than masher. Just use the brake to keep speed in check when going downhill.

I've got a budget of £500, want a OTP as it keeps life simpler and haven't got the time or space to build one up from scratch in my rented bed room.

I've come up with the following:
1 - Langster Steel, nice looking, bloody awful saddle (lifetime warranty on frame bonus)
2 - Langster - lighter than above, doesn't look as good, guard mounts
3 - Genesis Flyer - rode on last year, liked it.
4 - Charge Plug in any of it's guises, prefer the bars on the normal one, prefer the wheels on the freestyler, ridden both, like both.
5 - SE Draft Lite - uber cheap, will it last?

Any others out there?

Do a search for "OTP" - this particular topic has been done to death. There is lots of information available on the site. But you must search, search, search.

okey dokey

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

I'll roll out my stock answer- ride all of them, choose the one that you get on with the most.

On a personal note I'd go for the Langster steel, as I find it entertaining in a strange way.

Go for a fuji track, £350 online,

spend 50 quid on a brake and lever, and get a nice saddle and some decent tyres and a 17/18/19 tooth sproket and you've got a nice solid bike :)

or £20 on a brake and £30 on guinness.

On a personal note I'd go for the Langster steel, as I find it entertaining in a strange way.

Why would you buy the steel over the proper Langster? The current one is a good bicycle. The steel looks like wannabe hipster tosh to me.

Probably langster steel if you want to do no work. Fuji track if you want more of a bargain, though as I think someone's already said- a standard one needs a bit of work. Now seeearch!

Fair enough... the Langster steel is clearly the superior option. For the additonal £50 you pay over the alu langster, Specialized kindly throw in an extra kilo and a half. Score!

That £50 pays for the "real", aluminium has no "real".

I can't roll that way.

does anyone know how much a built up langster alu weighs, roughly?
is the frame all that lightweight?

was thinking of picking one up on the bay and doing a lightweight build

never mind

UTFS

Langster: 1587g (conversion from 3.5lbs) (again not sure what's included or frame size specified)

My Langster was 8.5 kilos last time I weighed it.

The steel is 11kg or something

2.5 fucking kilos for fifty quid! Bargain!

EDIT: 10.44kg according to Evans website....

My Langster was 8.5 kilos last time I weighed it.

is this with brakes and the std wheelset, saddle, seatpost etc?

im interested to know if it would be possible to whittle down to the 6.5kg mark

or is that Optimistic

Jokes.

Jokes.

whats realistic then?

Fill it with helium.

im interested to know if it would be possible to whittle down to the 6.5kg mark

or is that Optimistic

You would have to change pretty much every single component to get it to 6.5kg so a bit more than whittling.
Set your sights at 7.5 for an easier life :-)

been looking for a new frame and or SS ride...

rode the se x dc pk ripper, was too small for me but felt really bad in lots of ways and pretty cheap componentry, mayeb i am too heavy or lockring was not tight but chain was slipping...

had a play with the steel langster but not a test ride yet but liked everything about it...

i'm 6'2" and rode the charge freestyler yesterday and it felt big but was told i need the xl, liked most things about it but SS just felt plain weird, brakes were a novelty too, kept fallign over as i would stand on a pedal to mount expecting resistance!

surly steamroller is looking good to me too...

You would have to change pretty much every single component to get it to 6.5kg so a bit more than whittling.
Set your sights at 7.5 for an easier life :-)

fair do's,
better get reading weight weenie threads.

http://i26.tinypic.com/1551gyr.jpg

13.5lbs (6.12kg) allegedly

(a little heavier with a real chainring, but could be lighter with no brake and some chopped bullhorns.) :) food for thought

is this with brakes and the std wheelset, saddle, seatpost etc?

im interested to know if it would be possible to whittle down to the 6.5kg mark

or is that Optimistic

Definitely doable.

It just gets a bit expensive. Like Kerley says 7.5 might be a better option. For the record my Bob Jackson weighs around 7.5 kg. I would have thought the F&F are nearly a kilo heavier (a kilo of pure 'real' mind) than the langster Alu with carbon fork.