Fixed Gear Bikes or Other Simple Bikes

I'd say this looks pretty simple and it has a coaster brake and 3 speed.

SE Tripel

Similiar Raliegh Tripper

and Furley

Even as flat as Florida is, I would definitely miss the flexibility of having gears on my road bike. That said, I would also love to pick up a single track for shorter trips and 'cause they're sexy.

I'd rock that SE Furley in a heartbeat. That thing looks rad as berkeley.

The fixie thing is cool... But you would almost ALWAYS be better with gears :P

Hell, just don't shift... You can save them just incase :P

In all honesty, if your on this site we can safely say bikes are SIMPLE. They can get expensive but the parts themselves are easy. Lots of info online, compared to working on a car bikes are NOTHING.

ransom wrote: I'm a big fan of hand brakes and derailleurs, myself. They work really well.

This. I could see a single speed for the boardwalk or if you lived on a pancake. Me, I can't imagine going up steep hills on the same gear that I'd use for the descent. Just seems wicked inconvenient.

I ended up with the $100 walmart fixie. Good for what it is, cheap and so simple that the trained monkeys walmart uses to assemble them couldn't berkeley it up.

1988RedT2 wrote:

ransom wrote: I'm a big fan of hand brakes and derailleurs, myself. They work really well.

This. I could see a single speed for the boardwalk or if you lived on a pancake. Me, I can't imagine going up steep hills on the same gear that I'd use for the descent. Just seems wicked inconvenient.

As a training tool, it's fantastic. I get used to honking up hills on my SS and then the geared bikes seem like a breeze in comparison. For shorter rides, it's not bad at all.

I purposely ride hill on my SS just for the conditioning.

gamby wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote:

ransom wrote: I'm a big fan of hand brakes and derailleurs, myself. They work really well.

This. I could see a single speed for the boardwalk or if you lived on a pancake. Me, I can't imagine going up steep hills on the same gear that I'd use for the descent. Just seems wicked inconvenient.

As a training tool, it's fantastic. I get used to honking up hills on my SS and then the geared bikes seem like a breeze in comparison. For shorter rides, it's not bad at all. I purposely ride hill on my SS just for the conditioning.

My "road bike" is actually a quarter-century old Schwinn mountain bike with road slicks. It's so heavy, that even with the gears, it gives me a good workout. I do limit myself to the top four speeds on the large front chainwheel.

I'd get myself a new bike, but then I'd have to get rid of the old classic.

I checked a couple LBS and they don't have anything in stock I can try out. I did some searching and came across http://venicefixies.com/ anyone seen these before?

Are the components good, I've been out of the bike game for a while and don't know what components are good anymore. What about weight, what does a typical fixie weigh?

In reply to jonnyd330:

Black rims would improve the looks of those greatly.

I am rocking a Trek Soho S forma 4 years ago, flip flop hum (currently in freewheel mode, see my earlier post) . It has hand breaks front and back.

EricM wrote: In reply to jonnyd330: Black rims would improve the looks of those greatly.

What you don't like the hipster friendly paint colors? Haha

Yeah I like the blue bike but those orange wheels are weird.

I'm not sure what mine weighed, but it wasn't much (compared to the clunky mountain bikes I was used to). I didn't go for light, as the frame was heavy steel to start with.

IMO, if you're just tooling around and don't need to carry it up 14 flights of stairs, don't stress the weight that much. If, on the other hand, you're going for real long distances or racing it, be ready to pay for lightness.

1988RedT2 wrote: I'd get myself a new bike, but then I'd have to get rid of the old classic.

That's crazy talk. You'd have two bikes if you got yourself a new bike. That's how I now have four.