New to Fixie/single speed. Need advice on new bike

[Mrtoast]

HI All, first post. I am looking at getting a fixie/single speed for my commute. I am unsure what brands are worth looking at and what to avoid, I have seen bikes by charge, state, Quella, Foffa ect ect ect. I have read good and bad reviews on all.

So really I am here looking for advice from people in the know.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[andyfraser]

I have this with bullhorns (drop and flat bars are also available). It's my about town weekend bike. I can do anything up to 20 miles in a day on it.

Charge and Quella get good reviews. Some here like the Genesis bikes (Day One and Flyer) and Specialized Langster.

How far's your commute? On what sort of terrain (roads, tracks, paths, etc)?

 

[User19783]

Hi and welcome to the world of fixed wheel cycling,
Now there is several ways for you to go,
Buy a cheap off the shelve bike,
Buy a quality £550 plus off the shelve bike,
Or,
Build one up yourself,
Which is the best option imho.
Find a nice old steel frame with forward facing drop outs, ( so you can fit mud guards)
Then spec it out with a lot of cash or not,
Self builds give you individual kodos.
Check out some fixed wheel bikes on you tube.
And enjoy.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Whats your budget and what use do you plan to put it to?

 

[Mrtoast]

Hi and thanks for the comments, Firstly I would like to buy one pre made, I understand building one yourself would be better as you can spec it yourself, but I do not really have the time or knowledge. My daily commute is not very long about 10m round trip, it is all road with a couple of inclines, my max budget is around the £500 region.

 

[Mrtoast]

After spending hours and hours looking around I have come up with this as a possibility, would like to hear your thoughts

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/quella-one-british-racing-green-2015/

 

[JimboJames1972]

I'm in pretty much the same boat, with the added requirement that whatever bike I go for is able to take a minimum of a 28mm tyre (ideally 30 or 32mm).
I've also narrowed it down to either a Genesis Flyer (if I am willing to go over my ideal budget) or a Charge Plug 2, mainly because these are what my two local shops stock.
However, I have a day off tomorrow and am taking a trip to London to visit Brick Lane Cycles and Cloud 9. Now, I fully realise that most of their offerings will be well over my budget, but it's worth dreaming, isn't it?
Any more advice or suggestions to the OP much appreciated here too.

J

 

[potsy]

I dipped my toe into the single-speed/fixed club a few months ago and bought a Genesis Flyer, have mainly run it single-speed but have fitted a fixed cog and had a few goes that way too.

Enjoying it so far and plan to use it as my main commuting bike from now on, full guards and 28's are possible but tight, I have since dropped to 25c tyres.

 

[MrFixed]

Can't really fault a Fuji for something entry level and upgradable.

 

[Mrtoast]

Well I have set my heart on the Quella signature one, The two colours I really like are the racing green and the copper but I can not decide. what colour gets your vote?

 

[potsy]

Copper for me

 

[Mrtoast]

Copper for me

My gut was going with copper, thanks.

 

[Mrtoast]

I ride with SPD's on my mountain bike, and was thinking of SPD for the fixie, others have said use toeclips, what do you guys use?

 

[andyfraser]

For colour, I vote green.

For pedals, I use flat pedals on all my bikes. I can't get on with toe clips these days and I haven't tried SPDs yet. I'm happy with flat pedals though to be honest.

 

[booze and cake]

Sounds like you've made your mind up already but please don't chose a bike based solely on the colour, there are more important considerations!

If you're new to fixed/ss I'd advise a bike with a front brake, especially for urban commuting when the unexpected has a habit of happening with alarming regularity. I can't see from the angle of the photo but if the fork is drilled with a hole to fit a brake on the green thing then defo fit one, you can always remove it later if you insist.

Can't say I've heard of the brand to be honest. My pick would be a Genesis Flyer, Spesh Langster or Fuji.I've had a Flyer since 2008 that I've repeatedly tried to kill and it just will not die. Charge Plugs are solid but heavy and I've heard too many unflattering stories of Foffa to recommend them. Just my 2p worth

As for the pedals, double sided spd's are cheap and reliable and last loads longer than spd-sl cleats, plus they do spd shoes these days that you can actually walk in that dont make it look like you've got a nappy that needs changing.