Looking for some advice...

Hi Stormalx - I can sell you a good Langster that I have had for two years. It's good for going around town and has eggbeater pedals.

Hi Stormalx - I can sell you a good Langster that I have had for two years. It's good for going around town and has eggbeater pedals.

Thanks but I'm not looking for one! Just got a nice 531C custom racer couple of weeks back, saving the cash to lace up a new rear, plan to take the front off my old pug at some stage.

I am in the market for some tires though, if anyone has a not too worn pair they are looking to sell? I was running Rubino Pros on my old bike but they are horrible! Fine in the dry but otherwise awful. Currently I have a Bontrager slick on the back and what looks to be the original on the front. I ended up in heavy rain the other week and was shocked at how much more grip I had than with the Rubino Pros...

£300 is (to my mind) a tricky budget. It's not really enough to get an OTP bike, and buying a bike to convert can be an almost bottomless pit.

It's a fine budget for an OTP - Fuji Track is £276.95 and not a bad ride. Buying a bike to convert is in no way a bottomless pit, as long as you know what you are buying/looking for to start with.

For example my current project bike cost me £103, it's a 531C frame and forks, Campag Headset, Cinelli 66 bars, Cinelli 1A stem, Cinelli BB, Shimano chainset, Campag seatpost. A steal for 100 quid. The only mandatory big expense is a new rear (hub/spokes/rim/cog). As long as the frame, headset, bb and forks are sound there is no reason why a build should not be quite predictable in terms of cost...

Oh and a 59cm OTP Pista is 19lb. No idea why the Langster is so heavy...

wheels can make a big difference.

wheels can make a big difference.

Yeah, but the Pista is a CroMo steel frame. The Langster is Ali. If a stock Pista is two pounds less than a stock Langster then they must have some shit rims on the stock Langster... unless the frame is somehow heavier?! How though, since it's Ali?

I think laKosh is lovely... Not quite sure what he wants from his OP, but lovely... I think*...
*Note: He/she posted, then ditched his/her disgusting thread INSTANTLY... Suckaz!

Yeah, but the Pista is a CroMo steel frame. The Langster is Ali. If a stock Pista is two pounds less than a stock Langster then they must have some shit rims on the stock Langster... unless the frame is somehow heavier?! How though, since it's Ali?

it's all in the component, you fail to take in the account of two brakes for instance beside the heavy wheels.

it's all in the component, you fail to take in the account of two brakes for instance beside the heavy wheels.

ed - for sure, see what you are saying. but what's the use in an ali frame with heavy rims and brakes? and to be honest brakes weigh fuck all, my campy brakes are seriously light!

rims can make a big difference, as in changing from an old racer with steel rims to new rims. otherwise i fail to see where the difference comes from. I can only say to prospective OTP buyers get a pista not a langster... Even if the frames are similar, that weight difference means the Langster must have shittly components compared to the pista...

Oh and a 59cm OTP Pista is 19lb.

That's 8.6kg.

...and maybe bullshit.

That's 8.6kg.

...and maybe bullshit.

Check this link:

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-47096.html

Guy says they weighed his pista at his LBS and it was 20lb even with heavy tubes. I remember reading before a guy saying that his 59cm pista was 19lb. How is that bullshit?

Bianchi Pista defintely doesn't weight 19lbs when I first got it, felt like it closer to 9-9.5kg than 8.6kg.

According to the kitchen scale (just weighted it), my 57cm Bianchi Pista weight 18.2lb.

the 19lb probably bullshit.

*the only original thing left on the bike is the frame and BB, even the original fork is heavier than the one I have right now.

ed - for sure, see what you are saying. but what's the use in an ali frame with heavy rims and brakes? and to be honest brakes weigh fuck all, my campy brakes are seriously light!

saving money, that how the bike company makes profit, they build up a bicycles and put on the cheapest wheelset they can get, and sell it for an extra £100, that how they do it.

You're right brakes doesn't weight that much, but it's a small addition to the final weight (very C+ I know).

Bianchi Pista defintely doesn't weight 19lbs when I first got it, felt like it closer to 9-9.5kg than 8.6kg.

According to the kitchen scale (just weighted it), my 57cm Bianchi Pista weight 18.2lb.

the 19lb probably bullshit.

*the only original thing left on the bike is the frame and BB, even the original fork is heavier than the one I have right now.

ok ed, trust you more than the random links :)

Oh and anyway, this is the main reason why I would not go for OTP. Spec is not clear, even then you're left wondering about components. I find a frame I like, then we get intimate. Shit I have a Master's in Engineering, got to use that somehow!

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread18340.html#post576463 ftw!

Oh god, this question is still very much fresh in my mind.

About two years ago I got bitten by the cycling bug. I bought my first frame, a mid-80s Bianchi, for $175 (I'm American, y'dig?) and spent $120 having the back wheel changed. I loved that bike, it was beautiful, and then I began to get new (old) bits and bobs over time to change this or that. And then she was stolen. sigh

Got a crap bike for £75, the boyfriend did some fixing for another £75.

Now I'VE bought a new frame, researched, read, cried, tore my hair out, missed auctions, won auctions I shouldn't have won, gotten beautiful parts, and am t h i s c l o s e to actually completing my first "build" for my ownself. You'll never look back.

P.S. That old frame is about to be repurposed as a polo bike (not for me). Watch out if you get into polo!

I bought my first frame, a mid-80s Bianchi, for $175 (I'm American, y'dig?) and spent $120 having the back wheel changed.

Ah, OK, I dig.

Got a crap bike for £75, the boyfriend did some fixing for another £75.

Now I'm confused. ;)

the "boyfriend" did some "fixing" for another £75.

Fixed =)

Oh and a 59cm OTP Pista is 19lb. No idea why the Langster is so heavy...

The Langster frame is lighter than the Pista so if those weights are accurate it's the mostly likely the cheap bb wheels and finishing kit that beef up the Langster. It has two brakes too.

tynan boned up when he weighed up the Cuntster versus his Argon. That might've just been because he was near me though.

You're right brakes doesn't weight that much, but it's a small addition to the final weight (very C+ I know).

Actually, taking 105 for an example,
350g pair calipers
250g for levers
50g/metre for cable

650g = 1.4lbs

Then you could factor in expendable shit like tyres and tubes which might vary by 500g each end blah blah

Also the fact that people weighing shit don't use proper scales, don't mention what's on the bike at the time, etc.

All this and the difference still comes down to having a good shit in the morning.

Get a Fuji Track. Spend lots on a good lock. Start saving for a build. Start looking around for bits for your build.

Befriend someone in your area who has the tools and knowledge to help you. I'm happy to buddy your first build if you are in East London. Other than that, get an OTP.

hey all, i've been lurking for a while - mostly reading - and decided to finally make a thread, firstly, to introduce moi-self, but mainly to clear up a few queries and get some general advice.

;o

i'm 20, a student, really enjoy what little experience i've had of cycling in my youth-youth and on a geared roadie that i've been riding about london, since moving up from brighton. I'm not ashamed to admit i know little, or rather, have very fragmentary knowledge of the build-up, or the geometrical make-up of frames and so on... And probably am a little more comfortable with riding than i am talking about riding.

I've searched around the forums and learnt a fair bit from sheldon brown's site so i know some basics, most importantly i know how some people have been riding consistently for hours, day-in, day-out, for more years than my entire life can account for. The way i see it is that people ride for different reasons like couriering, racing, training, poloing, touring, down to pretending to drive an 'air-bike' around your living room when you were 6 years-old (massive insightful tangent), and some people know more whereas others know little, and possibly even little about them knowing little, which is a phase of progression all pass through.

Since getting more and more into cycling and trying out a couple of friends fg builds, i'm beginning to feel ready to try and go for an upgrade from the 59cm, tubular tyre'd monster which i currently claim as my steed, which is also a little bit sore under the hoofs, and has just been a temp ride for me.

Although i couldn't think of a better way to better acquaint myself with the experience and enjoyment i read comes from building your own first road fg or flip-flop, there are too many signs hinting at a bottomless pit conversion, costing me time, money, and beer, that i cannot or will not (in the case of the latter) squander. Dub me a thirsty spendthrift if you will.

What sort of price range should i expect, having my lack of expertise, in either getting a simple/standard first fixed-gear bike off the peg, or in building or altering one through the help of others, and if so what frame should i be aiming for etc. I like to make my money count, and although i can respect that business has to turn a profit i'm not really willing to go blowing a bundle of cash on a poorly made, dangerous or uncomfortable ride without researching or at least asking for some advice of those who already know better. I'd like to stick as close to/or as less than £300 as possible, at least in starting out.

Advice, pointers, ideas, constructive comments and i'm all up for those of you who wish to flame, but at least make it relevant; unguided wit is like a drill to the eardrum. All will be appreciated. Sorry for the ramble, hope st. Paddy is nice and prosperous to yo' bellies,

si

parklife!

tynan boned up when he weighed up the Cuntster versus his Argon. That might've just been because he was near me though.

That was a very difficult period in my life, I feel better now, but if I have any more than 9 pints I have flashbacks.

OK folks, first post, so I have to post on an existing thread. Like the site - SO much information if you sift a while. And I am like the OP, looking for some similar advice but which doesn't seem to be said elsewhere...

In my case, I have a BFO old Raleigh I want to turn into a single-speed. Reasons for thinking of doing this are that it needs lots of work anyway, so if I'm going to replace much of the bike, why not convert to s/s while I'm at it, because I'd like to try s/s riding. It was an old bike that came to me for free, the gear cable snapped a while back, so I just took it as an excuse to ride everywhere in top gear and I get on fine with that. So an s/s conversion seems to make sense. Plus I have other bikes to ride, if I want transport in the mean time.

Now Raleigh may not be da schizzle when it comes to frames but it stands 34" high at the crossbar and is equally long from seat to handlebars. I'm 6'1 but I have a really long back and long arms (just ikkle 32" legs), so in terms of frame geometry, I kind of need a frame size that's more for someone about 6'4-ish but with the saddle down a bit, so I like riding this one. It's also an American Raleigh, made from "Reynolds 501 all terrain frame tubes" which I am told are much better steel than the British counterparts. I'm not fussed about the weight of the frame - I weigh nearly 16 stone, so a few grammes here and there is making no difference. And it's not like I'm doing time-trials or anything, this is just for getting around town. Oh and it has a forward-facing horizontal dropout for the rear wheel too.

So if I want to do this conversion, I guess I'm looking at a flip-flop hub, buying good 2nd-hand bits from folk off here seems to be good advice and I have the time to fiddle to get the bike up to scratch because I have other bikes. I'm also pretty mechanically minded, I just never put too much of it into bikes before, so this'll be a good learning experience for me.

BUT...

I know people seem to use smaller frames for single-speed and fixed-wheel particularly. However, I can't seem to find anywhere that discusses WHY you use a small frame and whether it is a necessity for some reason. Am I being a madman for wanting to convert this bike to s/s..?