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

My mrs' company are just signing up to the ride2work scheme at evans (won't do cyclescheme unfortunately) and so we're limited to what Evans offer.

my plan was to build her up a Surly cross-check single speed so she'd have a really versitle frame that we could make geared and put treaded tyres on for a chicago winter later if she wanted, but that is out of the window now (unless Evans can order Surly stuff..?) so I need to find something that Evans sell that is capable of taking full mud guards, bigger tyres and a rack.

looking at the Evans website the dawes mono seems to tick a few boxes. does anyone have any idea if they are any good? The Felt Breed cyclocross bike also took my fancy, stick some slick tyres and a bigger chainring on there and it might be a winner (not sure if it has mounts for guards etc though), but the tyre clearance is good.

anyone got any suggestions of a bike that could do what i wanted the Surly to, but that she could get from Evans? She 'does'nt do' gears, so it would need to have the ability to run SS.

Thanks.

Late reply but have thought about the tricross? does all of the above
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/tricross-2009-single-speed-cyclo-cross-bike-ec016875

If your after real steel, the Gary fisher looks nice. Wont take big nobbly tyres though.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gary-fisher/triton-2009-single-speed-road-bike-ec017199

Hadn't thought about the gary fisher, worth a look thanks. will get her to test ride the tri cross. i've heard they are not the best to ride though, but it does lok like it'll do pretty much everything. her company are dragging their heals a bit so I reckon we'll be looking at the 2010 bikes which should be around in the next few months.

t-4003, where was it said that the ride of the Specialized Tricross Single, was in anyway deficient? I do remember that many didn't like the double-brake levers setup, and the slackness of brake response, but I had believed that that bike actually was a very good ride. If not excellent. As a multi-purpose bike, I would struggle to recommend a better one. In fact, I truly wish I owned one, as that would be my defacto winter bike, or a back up for when my other bikes needed a break from the stress of carrying me.

The Tricross is a pretty good ride, although I had crank problems with mine,(they fell off) my LBS eventually changed it for something else.

How disappointing, Fixie Inc. used to have good-looking bicycle, now they release the new Fixie Inc. Blackjack which is belt drive instead of chain, it now look like an Create/Republic/Unipack;

"Fixie Inc's JigSaw fastening allows the belt to be inserted into the frame’s rear triangle without bending the chainstay"

Another one is the 'budget' model, called the 'Backspin';

"The new steel-framed Backspin (main image) is aimed at riders who want to give fixed gear a try on a budget. At 850 euros (approx £730/US$1,200), it comes with toe clips, low-rise bars, a flip-flop rear hub and retro BMX saddle."

and of course, the Blackjack;

"If retro’s your thing, then the new Black Jack is definitely going to hit the spot with its gloss and matt black finish and polished stainless steel highlights. Redesigned to set it apart from its younger brother the Peacemaker, it has a new Seagull handlebar, threaded headset and a height adjustable, polished quill stem."

However, they did release their own mallet for you polo skidder;

"To help players build a new building a new mallet or replacing a worn mallet head by themselves Fixie have come up with this modular bike polo mallet constructed with standard diameters and head dimensions to make replacement quick and simple. So get 'em while they're hot or this will be another one of those games we Brits invent only to have the Germans comes along and beat us at it."

this will be another one of those games we Brits invent

you brits didn't invent it, us irish did

This is true...

Bicycle Polo

Invented by the Irish, Credit taken by the British, typical eh!

lol

I've recently been tempted to buy a decent OTP... am I mad... My bike is broken at the moment and I'll end up spendinig the same amount of money an OTP would cost me to repair it with decent parts and then it still won't be as I like it... Should I just buy an old Pista with the nice geometry and change the fork and stem....

Confused in Dublin

If anyone wants to order a Mongoose Maurice please let me know. It turns out the bike shop I work at can get hold of them, and they tend to price fairly.

We could probably sell them for the relatively dirt cheap rrp of £349 but with free delivery. I wont be getting anything out of this but the satisfaction of providing a good value bike and getting to assemble something other than a cheap mtb!

Giant Omnium 2010 (RRP £850)

That's gone up £250 since 2009, but there is a seatpost included and a better chain tensioner

I've recently been tempted to buy a decent OTP... am I mad... My bike is broken at the moment and I'll end up spendinig the same amount of money an OTP would cost me to repair it with decent parts and then it still won't be as I like it... Should I just buy an old Pista with the nice geometry and change the fork and stem....

Confused in Dublin

Not mad really if you don't fancy waiting for certain part to arrived, I.e. Cheap IRO frame (not impossible to build a new decent bicycle within the price range of the OTP)

you can get a dolan precursa frame with road fork for €315 in mikes bikes in dun laoghaire

I'm gonna wait for the Specialized Steel Langster to arrive. Paired with the almost mythical SA three speed fixed, if they ever come out.

2009 Charge Plugs are coming down fast due to 2010 line out soon - can be nabbed for ~440 quid from http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/article_1059.001/Charge-Plug-2009-free-gift.html or http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m14b83s180p2557&rs=gb or price matched in shops. I don't think there's even any difference in the versions?

Yeeeeaaaahhhhh...... It really is laziness...

That's a good price for the Dolan though! My problem is my Cranks and pedals are fooked and as I thought I was being very clever buying ISIS cranks I'll probably just change the BB aswell so... Decent Crank, BB + Pedals is a decent bit of money!

t-4003, where was it said that the ride of the Specialized Tricross Single, was in anyway deficient? I do remember that many didn't like the double-brake levers setup, and the slackness of brake response, but I had believed that that bike actually was a very good ride. If not excellent. As a multi-purpose bike, I would struggle to recommend a better one. In fact, I truly wish I owned one, as that would be my defacto winter bike, or a back up for when my other bikes needed a break from the stress of carrying me.

I'm not sure where i've heard / read it but i'm sure I have (probably somewhere on here). it won't stop one being test ridden, as you say it does seem to tick all the multi-purpose bike boxes. thanks for your feedback.

New Cinelli Gazzette;

I like this frame, althought it look pretty dull like a Fuji Track, the weight seemed promising at 1700g, which is lighter than your typical Reynolds 631 frame that usually stand at 1800-1900g.

I do hope the fork is 1" threaded, but knowing Cinelli it's probably be 1 1/8th.

Excellent find Ed. I think the Fixie Inc Black Jack, Kona Grandwagon, SE Premium Ale, Viner Citta would all fail to sell in a shop that also sold that Cinelli Gazetta. Only the Condor Classico Pista and Ellis-Briggs Fixed Road bikes would stand a chance....IMO.

EDIT:
Cinelli are also doing the Bootleg Mystic Rats in all white
http://www.bootleg.it/scripts/shownews.php?lang=EN

We shall see, the only thing left is the price, if the Cinelli Gazzette is sold for says, £500, then it might be reasonably popular, however if it sold for a lots more like the Cinelli Bootleg Mystic Rats, then I doubt it'd sell that well looking like a cheap Fuji Track.

Shame about the change of colour on the Mystic Rats, I rather like how it used to look, even with the colourful bar tape.

Ed, where did find out the price of the Gazzetta would be £500? That sounds like a frame only price, and could no way include H+Son rims?
If it does, its a real steal!

EDIT:
Just answered my own question. Its frame and fork only price.

*Cinelli USA - Facebook*
All prices are frame set only, with the exception of the Mystic Rats which is of course the complete bike.

5 hours ago

1 Attachment

I was making an assumption on the price as an example to represent the value of the bike.

I hate that Cinelli USA facebook, somehow it made the company sound like some wannabe fixie skidder who want to purchase a batch of Unipack and labelled them "Republic".

$699 for the frame-only? it's a little high, but then in the current climate, I suppose that is expected, hopefully it'll cost something between £350-400, but I doubt it.

here's a higher resolution picture of the two bike;

http://static.londonfgss.com/attachments/14934d1252724585-cinelli-gazzetteresize.jpg

http://static.londonfgss.com/attachments/14933d1252724585-cinelli-gazzette-2.jpg

2 Attachments

Islabikes kids/junior track bike (not on their website yet), £399:

The kids who do the grasstrack racing with Hackney Cycling Club use those, they seem to be decent little bikes.