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Totally awesome. Thanks Ted and Jacqui - hope your burnt shoulders are feeling a bit better now? :(

The organisation was utterly seamless.

Really? Isn't it more 60/40 or even 70/30 favouring the seat?

Had a fitting at Condor for my Condor so I'm pretty sure that's pretty close to 'right' :)

I wish I had one of those adjustable Bike Horse things at home. That'd be really convenient when looking up geoms online...

I shall look up The Bike Whisperer, thank you...

In an effort to head off my expensive ambition I tried a Charge Plug today (I think the all grey one actually looks super nice) and the Spesh Langster steel (the red+silver one), which despite the general Langster hate looks pretty nice I think.

Both can be got in Evans for £399 at the moment (the former via price match, I already have the voucher from them so...).

The problem seems to be the sizing, so a more general question: for those folks that frequently change bikes / have multiple bikes: how different do they feel and how much of a differing comfort level should I expect?

The large Plug is 62.2 STL, 56.6 TTL, the Langster is something like 60/60 and my current roadie is 61/58 and they all felt completely different... but there are so many factors I couldn't really tell why they were different. I would've thought the extra uprightness of the Plug would make it more comfortable than my roadie, but in fact I felt like all the weight was on my hands. The Langster felt better but the track bars are so lame it was hard to feel past that.

My hunch is that it was actually all down to the relative saddle/pedal position rather than anything else. My roadie has a layback seatpost and I have the saddle almost as far back as it will go as well. The further back the saddle is, the less weight is on your hands (and the easier it is to ride no handed, IMO, too), so maybe I'd just need to move the Charge saddle back and it'd be fine?

Equally, the whole Roadrat thing, how can I tell how comfortable it'll be without being able to test ride the setup I'm going for?

Ultimately then, my question is- for you guys who frequently build your own bikes: do you just get to know a half decent geometry for your proportions and then tweak the seatpost/spacers/stem to get comfy ride?

...or can you make any geometry comfortable with the right other bits?

Excuse the ramble :)

This is the best advice on this thread. So, so easy to convert. And not ugly at all.

I agree - that looks pretty ok :)

So do you just have the cassette splines the other side?

I can't imagine that wouldn't screw the chainline completely on a frame designed for geared operation?

On the Pompetamine - yes, totally aware of it. I believe On One brought it out as an answer to the Roadrat.

The advantages are it comes in a larger size and is cheaper (57cm - though with the geo differences, it's difficult to tell how much better that is than a 54cm RR - even the short RR has a longer Top Tube than the 57cm On-One)... the disadvantages are that it only comes in... ugly :)

I guess a disc hub with surly fixxer might be cheaper than having two wheels if you think you will convert eventually. Not sure how the chain line works out...do you have to respace or redish?

Thanks for all that :)

I don't think I'd have to re-space or re-dish. The Fixxer effectively goes over the cassette splines and replaces whichever cog position is appropriate to keep a straight chainline with your chainset...

And the rear-brake thing is the reason I'm tempted with the Fixxer route rather than just getting a 130 or 135mm 'real' fixed hub. I can use a normal cassette-taking, disc mount compatible rear wheel and then if I want to go geared, I can just take off the Fixxer, put on a cassette and disc and mount a rear caliper.

The fact I'm planning bullhorns and would have to swap to drops or get a combined bar end shifter/brake is neither here nor there... (!!). Ahem.

In response to others:
Thanks for the links to cheap fixeds, will take a look :)

And I can't easily mount discs on the Condor - it has a HUGE headtube which makes replacing the fork awkward (like 230mm or so) and it currently has carbon forks, so no braze on possibilities...

I think my brakes are well adjusted and I'm using Ultegra pads I think. Though maybe they do just suck in the wet?

Sounds to me like you ideally need 2 bikes, one geared with discs and one fixed.

You're probably right.

I'd love the roadrat as a 1x9 disc braked urban thing that I could throw around, and ANOTHER as a fixed beater.

But then I'd have three bikes and my flat mate (who, umm, owns the flat) would definitely kill me :)

ever seen these? this might help you go fixed for cheaper & less disassembling, i mention as you'll be buying a disc wheelset

Great tip.
A little ugly, but much much cheaper than the Fixxer option...

Cheers for the heads up :)

Incidentally, I'm not set on the disc wheelset at all.
Could get a disc front wheel and a rear with a bona fide 130mm fixed/free hub. It just means I'd need a second rear wheel if I ever want to convert to geared.

My Condor would definitely not appreciate being adulterated like that :)
I still want to keep a geared roadie for longer trips...

I was joking about the whole kids/fixed gear thing, you know that right?
(But yes, not about trying one out...)

I guess if I could get a not unattractive fixed in a decent size for under £300 I could/should do that first.

Once you're pushing 400 though I might as well build the Frankenstein bike I've always wanted!

Disc braked, single speed, 700x25 specced Roadrats are a staple build for that frame, the only weirdness would be making it fixed, so I don't think it's SO outlandish. Though one disc and bullhorns might be...
I really really like the look of the roadrat frame too. I know it's not the same aesthetic that many on here like, but it's personal taste, anyway :)

Am interested in all opinions though, though I would also like technical advice to tell me the above makes some kind of sense.

Been googling more and am thinking maybe I should go with an external BB track chainset like the Truvativ Omniums?
Or maybe these, for half the price: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CSOOTC/on-one-external-bearing-track-crankset

Hey folks,

I currently ride a geared Condor and want two things from my second ride: firstly to try out this whole "fixed gear" craze that I hear the kids go crazy for these days...

The second is disc brakes. The dual pivots on my Condor are so appalling in the far from infrequent rain that it really annoys me. I don't think any future bike I make should have to have rim brakes again.

So, I've done a fair amount of research and my favourite option so far, by far, is the Cotic Roadrat frame. My main worry is that a Large is 54cm seat tube, and even though it has semi-MTB geometry, I'm going to be at the limit of a 350mm seatpost on that. I'm 6'4", btw.

It's a lot like the Surly Karate Monkey frame (a 29er with horizontal dropouts) (which gets eliminated mostly due to the horrible name) - i.e. it has horizontal dropouts (132.5 spaced for road or MTB hubs (but not track...)), disc and canti mounts and comes in a 'short' style for use with drops.

Also, because I do quite like gears, I may want the option to go to a 1x9 setup later, hence I'm thinking of buying a normal 130mm casette hub and using the Surly Fixxer kit to convert it to fixed.

So, I'm thinking something like:

• Roadrat Frame & Fork (Large/Short)
  
• Avid BB7R disc brake on the front
  
• Bullhorn bars with an end mounted TT brake lever for the disc (I much prefer this look/style to the finger brake on the tops)
  
• Alex R450 wheelset with IS disc mounts (Cotic supply these on OTP RoadRat builds, so it's the easiest option, though I could be persuaded otherwise)
  
• Surly Fixxer (need more research to make sure it plays nice with the Alex 450s)
  
• Headset/seatpost/stem: unknown, probably the cheaper end of the scale to avoid this being hilariously expensive. Still have to decide on silver vs. black too...
  
• Chainset: unknown. A track set won't work so need to convert a double with spacers (and take off a ring) or use something like the Shimano Alfine... though I think it's ugly and am not sure if I should worry about 170 vs 165mm cranks on a build like this? I am looking forward to having the robustness of a Hollowtech II type BB though :)
  
  
  

Obviously, instead of all this I could buy a cheap OTP like a Charge Plug or an even cheaper beater fixed... but I kinda want to learn the build side of things too, and I'm fairly handy with a spanner... usually :)

So...
1.) am I insane? This'll probably cost like £800+
2.) Is there anything above that definitely won't work?
3.) any other options / insights / things to consider?

In terms of looks, I'm thinking black frame/fork, silver headset/stem/bars/seatclamp and maybe seatpost, brown/leather type saddle/bar tape. So it'll be a weird bullhorned disc braked, pseudo MTB geo'd fixed gear with classic understated looks... !

Flame on!

As my story above indicates, the X 54 is pretty damned good. I have mine mounted on the seat tube just fine.

The only downside is it's not a particularly pretty thing to have mounted there. But hey ho...

If the Stolen Bikes thread is anything to go by, the Steel-O-Flex is next to useless.

I don't understand how CCTV helps anyone?

Thieves and ne'er do wells wear hoodies and such specifically to avoid their faces being caught on camera: I've never heard of anyone being caught from CCTV footage?

... And the downside is the whole surveillance state thing and the high cost. Wish they wouldn't bother! /politics.

The only bike I ever had nicked (so far) was locked with an Abus Varedo. I thought: I don't need the top Abus, the next one down will surely be enough to persuade people to try a different bike instead...

Was locked outside the LSE about 2 years ago for a couple of hours. I also made the mistake of being lazy and just locking the top tube to the Sheffield (have Pitlocks). Big mistake. Think they snapped it with a lever (I found the remains of the lock there, sheared in two places).

Moral: Don't use an Abus Varedo as a primarly lock I'm afraid.
Oh, and fill the shackle!

Oh, and I had to buy a new stem and steerer cap thingy too for similar reasons to the seatpost.

Just to add to the above story of vandalism.

I own a Fahg but I never use it - it's just too heavy for me to bother with. I really believe the X-54 is the sweet spot for portability, deployability and weight, as you'll see below...

So: I do own and use an Abus Granit X-54, which has, to me, the huge advantage of a very good frame mounting. It's not pretty but it's by far the easiest way to carry a lock.

My bike is also Pitlocked all round (didn't initially have a seatpost one and post was nicked within two weeks.) and I've never used a second lock in 3 years of cycling in London.

The bike in question is a fairly subtle looking geared all black Condor Agio.

This was about 3 months ago:

Bike was locked up near Holborn tube, on some highly populated bike racks under some trees on the big junction one block north of Holborn. When I returned to it about 2am, after failing to get through the Pitlocks, they nicked the saddle anyway (easily the lowest value item on there, it was a beater a shop gave me for free while they were replacing my real saddle) and dismantled the front of the stem, leaving my drops just hanging down on the front on their brake cables.

Perhaps they were trying to take away my whole front fork but that's as far as they got?

There was a single cut-mark in the rubber on the Abus, but nothing more. I'm still using the same lock today and am confident it wasn't compromised. I almost always lock through both rear seatstays, the back wheel and the bike rack - the clearances are too great for the edscoble method.

When I got back to it, it was obviously un-rideable so I wheeled/carried it to outside the Condor shop on Grays Inn to get the bus home and return in the morning. I locked it outside a 24h newsagent opposite Condor but obviously that didn't help because when I came back in the morning....

Either the same guys (it was only about 1km from the initial attempt location) or potentially some other guys tried again, and this time when they couldn't do anything, they too kicked in the front wheel (which is why rhowe's post prompted me to post) beyond usability. Fucking fucks.

So overall I had to get a new front wheel (the one they fucked up was about 2 weeks old after I'd worn out my old one), new saddle and new seatpost (they'd taken too many of the clamp parts from the top for me to easily get it back in action again without much parts faffing) for a total of about £250.

MUCH better than losing the bike, but still a fucking pain in the arse.

Still, Locks That Work: Abus Granite X-54. Twice in one night.

How was it locked and how was it nicked?