Best Run-around Bike?

[XmisterIS]

I am after a bike to take into town when I need to go shopping for little things, etc.

It needs to be a bike that I don't mind leaving chained up to a lamp post.

I have a Giant FCR C hybrid - but I would never ever leave a full-carbon £1K bike chained to anything!!

I would never ever get a BSO - I regard them as being an abomination against man, God and all things cycling related. Also, they are prime targets for thieving chavs.

So ... I am thinking of getting one of these: http://www.createbikes.com/?gclid=CKLV38fPxp4CFUYA4wodvXWWqg

Fixed gear, so easy to maintain, fewer things to go wrong. Cheap too. Will be nimble around town.

I'll just need to learn how to ride one!

But - do you suppose one of those would be more or less of a chav-magnet than a BSO?

 

[MacB]

a lot of poor write ups on those, regardless it would still be new and shiny and very nickable. The favoured options seem to be to build something up that looks really rubbish but rides well. Or carry your bodyweight in a variety of locks around with you, but even then don't lock up anything too bling.

Some interesting stuff on locks and how to use them properly on LFGSS. But no matter how well you lock it there's always the risk that they could damage it just out of badness.

Sorry, that all sounds really negative, I think I've been reading too many 'stolen bike' threads lately

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Just make your own. Forget fixed, if you just want a hop on and go single speed with flat pedals will be much easier. I converted an old racer into a flat bar singlespeed - stuck an On-One chain tensioner on it - an afternoon well spent. Good bike for nipping to the shops, up to the swimming pool or for a bike ride with my six year old.

With the greatest of respect to the bikes in your link, they look like a pile of poo!

 

[MacB]

another idea have a look at the Dawes frame and stuff I have for sale. You could build that into a good allrounder for £300 all in. I could throw in some North Road bars for that even less nickable look Let's see:-

Frame, forks, rear brake, headset, spacers, stem, bars, seatpost - £120
Wheelset - £80
Drive train - £50
Tyres, tubes and any other bits I've forgotten - £50

Shop around a bit on e-bay, haggle with me, and you can probably knock £50 off that total. You've then got a much better steel frame bike than the one in the OP. Plus a frame good enough to be worth upgrading bits on as they wear out.

Seriously that's exactly what I built the Dawes up for, but now I want to offroad as well. Hence I'm transferring all the tranferrable bits over to the Karate Monkey frame. Otherwise I've got 3 bikes that are all really road orientated.

Obviously you don't need to opt for my Dawes frame, but I'd definitely look for a cheapo old frame to build up for your stated purposes. Just don't fall into the same trap I did. I put far too expensive a wheelset and drive train on the Dawes. Thus defeating my purpose in trying to build a bike that I didn't care where I left it

 

[XmisterIS]

I think I'll get an old bike and fiddle with it as you say.

MacB - thanks for the offer ... I will give it serious consider consideration! What is the frame size/geometry? I ride a Giant FCR C with a 55cm frame and that fits me nicely.

Is the rear hub a singlespeed?

 

[MacB]

I think I'll get an old bike and fiddle with it as you say.

MacB - didn't you say you had an old racer that you could chuck my way for cheap dollar?

The cheapo one would be ok but would cost you a lot more to build up. The Dawes would be better fit for purpose and, as you can see from ad, I've already done a fair bit of the spend for someone

PM me if you're interested, I'll send you my mobile and we can have a chat.

 

[jimboalee]

I'll undercut McB by £25.

 

[tyred]

You're never selling your Twenty, Jim

 

[XmisterIS]

What the hell is that?!




(I'll get me coat)





MacB, I'll phone you tomorrow or Thurs if that's OK with you

 

[MacB]

no probs, and have a think, though not expensive it's still an outlay

 

[XmisterIS]

I have been thinking!

(as suggested!)

It occurs to me that having to get a frame with horizontal dropouts is a real pain in the arse because there are so few around compared to the ones with vertical dropouts.

BUT ... as I understand it, the purpose of the hoz dropouts is so that you can alter the chain tension on a fixie or singlespeed.

I don't want to run a chain tensioner because as I understand it, you can't put one of those on a fixie, and I want to run a flip-flop hub.

*HOWEVER*

Sheldon Brown (RIP) suggests that you can fiddle around with sprocket/chainring sizes with a vertical dropout frame to get the tension right. Apparently there's a website for calculating exactly what you need, given the length of your chainstays.

Alternatively, how easy would it be to take the vertical dropouts off a steel frame and put horozintal ones on? You can buy the vertical dropouts themselves absolutely dirt cheap!

 

[MacB]

yep, fixie and chain tensioner is a no no, it's dangerous, for running fixed without any chain tensioning option, via dropouts or EBB(eccentric bottom bracket), then you are thinking Perfect Chain(I think it's called or maybe Magic Chain). Simple idea, you select chain length, cog and chainring all to marry together perfectly on the frame in question. I never seriously explored this option so don't know any more detail.

Well worth looking into properly, as you can see from my experiments, if it doesn't work, or you make errors, expect to lose 30 to 50% of your spend. I spent over £700 building up the Dawes and it's not what I want

 

[SavageHoutkop]

....or you could do what I do and get a brompton, and then take it inside with you.
In folded/half folded mode it doubles as a shopping trolley if you have front luggage on it, and mine comes inside (eg) the bank with me as well. No one has yet objected to its presence.

 

[XmisterIS]

....or you could do what I do and get a brompton, and then take it inside with you.
In folded/half folded mode it doubles as a shopping trolley if you have front luggage on it, and mine comes inside (eg) the bank with me as well. No one has yet objected to its presence.

Yet another option!

The thick plottens.

How expensive are they and how quick are they to fold/unfold?

MacB - can you fit an eccentric BB in a standard MTB or road frame? And how much play does the eccentricity give you? Logic would say that you only need one chain link's length - approx 1/2".

 

[MajorMantra]

It occurs to me that having to get a frame with horizontal dropouts is a real pain in the arse because there are so few around compared to the ones with vertical dropouts.

What makes you think that? Until sometime in the late 80s/early 90s most frames had horizontal dropouts so there are squillions of them around.

Matthew