Charge Plug

I sense a merge a comin'

i got a plug and i can fit a 38 in the back and 38 in the front work pretty good

Right had a read of this forum and the Charge sounds like a good bike to start off with. I know almsot nothing about bikes, except that the wheels spin when you push on the pedals. Seems to be a mixed review on the plug and freestyler. Which one would be good for the streets of London? Really want one soon to start of the summer.

Really want to start riding again, and want something that I can slowly build up into my own, which would be the best frame to do this with?

kingsa, go for the normal charge plug, you're the sort of person who just want a bike to go around places, have fun, and reliable, right? the freestyler have a heavier fork which is fine for those who want to do 'trick' but probably be too heavy and crumblesome for everyday riding (as pictured below).

bullhorn bar give you the advantage of hand position, and if you don't like it, you can always change it.

but on triton for £360 (£20 more) you can have the freestyler, which I have had now for 2 months, and am pretty happy with it. I am not a bike expert by no means, but it gets me from A to B rode it SS first and now fixed. No complaints!

I really love my charge plug. Rode it all through winter, changed loads of stuff now, here's the most recent picture I've got; (Changed a few things after this picture, new seat post and wheelset.)

Ideally I'd like another lighter bike but I really don't think it would make that much of a difference so I'll just carry on making changes to the plug.

How dare you!
Read the title of the thread!

Spenceey, the most obvious change to a bike is the wheelset, a lightweight wheelset would make all the different (Open Pro laced to System EX hubs for example) and/or a carbon fork.

The Plug has formula hubs any way, which is essentially System ex is it not?

Reading his post it would apear that the wheels have already been changed.

I forget about that, in that case just change the rims then, and didn't see the wheelset part, doh.

from that photo it looks like formula hubs to me, could be wrong though.

changing the hubs was one of the main things for me tobehonest. need to get a new BB in pretty soon too, that's my next upgrade.

I've already changed the wheels guys, got the on ones. Look really nice, only stock parts I've got now are bb, headset, and crankset. Already feels lighter with new wheels.

need to get a new BB in pretty soon too, that's my next upgrade.

Mine needs changing soon aswell, not to bad considering its been in there for ages.

Mine was just creeking after I switched to fixed. In fairness it was badly installed by evans in the first place, just didn't realise when it was on the freewheel. It just creeks and groans at me now :(

Did you change the chain when you flipped it?

Nope - should I have changed it?

Might be what the grinding noise it.

Cogs and chains wear together, so if you have worn a chain down, then you use it on a new cog that has not worn down, it isn't going to mesh up that well and it could produce a lot more noise than it was producing. It will also rinse your cog.

Oh I've had mine on the fixed for ages now. In fact when I bought the new wheelset I took the cog off the charge set and put it on the on one wheelset. I only notice it sometimes when I really apply the pressure to the cranks like going uphill.

Just looked up and realiazed you aren't the person I was talking to...it's fourteen winters who is complaining of noise just after flipping his wheel.

too heavy and crumblesome for everyday riding.

Ed, you did that on purpose, didn't you?!

Also was thinking about carbon forks somewhere down the line, does anyone have any pictures of what they would look like on the plug? Kind of worried it might look shit.

Hey @Nhattatack, yeah the chain is changed, also ditched the half links idea too. Still get the odd groans though, which is what makes me think it's the BB that really needs to come out now.

How old is the BB? My plug freestyler needed the BB tightening up after a month or so. LBS said they tend to come out of the factory like that unfortunately. It's been find since though.

My freestyler has been off the road for a month or two (borrowed the cranks for another bike). I just cleaned the chain and everything else and put it back together, and now I get a bit of a creaking noise. I suspect it's the half link chain. Thinking I might replace it as it's a bit grubby even after the clean.

I'm looking into buying a fixed gear bike, I'm a newbie to it all, so wondering which to go for. A courier friend recommended Charge as a good first time commuter bike. But I've noticed the Charge bikes being ripped apart on some of the forums here, so am wondering what the best option would be? Does anyone have advice? Would Charge be the best to go for? I wouldn't want to spend much more than £400. I was also looking at building a bike, but that would be a much more long term option ... I need one asap, so at the moment am primarily looking at OTPs