I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself. I've had a look around this forum a bit and there seems to be some good stuff here.
I first tried cycling round london about ten years ago. I went to the local bike shop wher i'd got my last bike at the age of 12. Twelve minutes and £110 later I walked out with a yellow mountain bike that seemsed to fit my needs i.e. it was cheap and would get me around without attracting attention and getting stolen (how I can have been so stupid took me years to get that kind of self insight). About 20 minutes later I was half way to notting hill when a nail went straight through the front tyre. bad luck i thought to myself and walked the rest of the way to my friend stopping on all saints road to get the thing fixed. the guy in the shop was like why on earth would you buy a bike like this? For the same money you could get something decent second hand.
So....8 years later when I next wanted to start riding I took his advice. I knew nothing but had an idea that i didnt want to ride the tube every morning. I went to brick lane and got myself a second hand brand name mountain bike for about £80. It took me half an hour to realise that the back tyre had a huge hole in it so i took it to a shop in camden and got "puncture resistant" tyre - remembering that the nice man in all saints road had sold me one. I was happy enough on that bike even if i did suspect that it was stolen. .... And then it got stolen.... and i didnt ride again for a while
I made a couple of further attempts when i bought a bike off a guy at work for £100 and another when i got an old raleigh 3-gear girls bike for £25 that i thought would never get stolen... but it did. By now i'd lost my office job and thought i'd try doing a bit of courier work while i thought what i wanted to do with my life. I went into the local bike shop on kingsland road to get my girl's bike a new chain (some nice person stole the chain off an old 3-speed - it was quite comic when i tried to peddle and, cartoon-like, my legs spun but nothing happened). I came out with a yellow falcon single speed conversion for £95. I guess it's from the 70's or 80's. It's a great bike but when a friend offered me an entry level road bike for £100 i took it. As a courier i liked having 2 bikes and the gears did help.
The story ends with my road bike getting stolen, save the front weel, a shimano R500, that i've put on the yellow falcon. So now I'm deciding what to do.
Either i could get a new (second hand) road bike and keep the singlespeed as a second bike. Or i could upgrade the back wheel of the falcon in which case have to decide if i want single speed or fixed gear. I am on a pretty low budget but can spend monney if necessary and good value. I also have plenty time to put work into a project.
I'm aware that this post is getting a bit long so i'll stop soon. First question is this. I live on a hill (parliament hill) and the road up (tanza) is very steep, quite possibly the steepest in london. I can ride up it in 1st gear on a geared bike but not on my singlespeed. going down I take advantage of the freehub. similarly when i come down tufnell park road to the holloway road i often don't pedal at the top. If i got a fixes gear would this be a big isssue or would i get used to it in a day or two. Equally I do find it annoying tat I can't stop the bike without using the brake. That extra control seems to be the big advantage to a fixed hub. Are there other advantages? Do you feel more connnection to the bike?
Finally if i am going to build a fixie do you think my 30 year old bannana flacon racer 10 speed is a good frame to use or should i try to pick something else up either for free or very cheaply?
hi
I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself. I've had a look around this forum a bit and there seems to be some good stuff here.
I first tried cycling round london about ten years ago. I went to the local bike shop wher i'd got my last bike at the age of 12. Twelve minutes and £110 later I walked out with a yellow mountain bike that seemsed to fit my needs i.e. it was cheap and would get me around without attracting attention and getting stolen (how I can have been so stupid took me years to get that kind of self insight). About 20 minutes later I was half way to notting hill when a nail went straight through the front tyre. bad luck i thought to myself and walked the rest of the way to my friend stopping on all saints road to get the thing fixed. the guy in the shop was like why on earth would you buy a bike like this? For the same money you could get something decent second hand.
So....8 years later when I next wanted to start riding I took his advice. I knew nothing but had an idea that i didnt want to ride the tube every morning. I went to brick lane and got myself a second hand brand name mountain bike for about £80. It took me half an hour to realise that the back tyre had a huge hole in it so i took it to a shop in camden and got "puncture resistant" tyre - remembering that the nice man in all saints road had sold me one. I was happy enough on that bike even if i did suspect that it was stolen. .... And then it got stolen.... and i didnt ride again for a while
I made a couple of further attempts when i bought a bike off a guy at work for £100 and another when i got an old raleigh 3-gear girls bike for £25 that i thought would never get stolen... but it did. By now i'd lost my office job and thought i'd try doing a bit of courier work while i thought what i wanted to do with my life. I went into the local bike shop on kingsland road to get my girl's bike a new chain (some nice person stole the chain off an old 3-speed - it was quite comic when i tried to peddle and, cartoon-like, my legs spun but nothing happened). I came out with a yellow falcon single speed conversion for £95. I guess it's from the 70's or 80's. It's a great bike but when a friend offered me an entry level road bike for £100 i took it. As a courier i liked having 2 bikes and the gears did help.
The story ends with my road bike getting stolen, save the front weel, a shimano R500, that i've put on the yellow falcon. So now I'm deciding what to do.
Either i could get a new (second hand) road bike and keep the singlespeed as a second bike. Or i could upgrade the back wheel of the falcon in which case have to decide if i want single speed or fixed gear. I am on a pretty low budget but can spend monney if necessary and good value. I also have plenty time to put work into a project.
I'm aware that this post is getting a bit long so i'll stop soon. First question is this. I live on a hill (parliament hill) and the road up (tanza) is very steep, quite possibly the steepest in london. I can ride up it in 1st gear on a geared bike but not on my singlespeed. going down I take advantage of the freehub. similarly when i come down tufnell park road to the holloway road i often don't pedal at the top. If i got a fixes gear would this be a big isssue or would i get used to it in a day or two. Equally I do find it annoying tat I can't stop the bike without using the brake. That extra control seems to be the big advantage to a fixed hub. Are there other advantages? Do you feel more connnection to the bike?
Finally if i am going to build a fixie do you think my 30 year old bannana flacon racer 10 speed is a good frame to use or should i try to pick something else up either for free or very cheaply?
dan