Moving house soon, will finally be within a reasonable commute from work again. Commute will be about 20km ea way, no steep hills, just fairly gradual ones (Ipswich to Wacol). Have ridden this patch quite a few times on my roadie but dont wanna be commuting on that bike. Loaded on my roadie wheelset does not appeal, and swapping wheelsets does also not appeal.
Never owned or ridden a SS or fixie before. I figure less maintenance and lack of bail out gearing should be good for me. Have got a nice bag already, no rack required (but fender mounts would be nice). Might also be good to have the option to run at least 25c w fenders (pref 28c). Drops are also required, but I can always chuck some on, dont have to be included in the sale. 1 1/8 threadless is also a must as I have plenty of spares around already to suit.
If I grab a CELL $199 fixie will it do the job? Is there something significantly better to be had in the <$400 range (base purchase only, can add drops/tyres/fenders on top)? Budget is limited by the wife Also I am a spinner, I can avg upto 100 rpm cadence on rides, so what sort of gearing should I look at?
I don’t know what the clearance on the cell fixie is like, might be worth dropping them a line to check.
A used surly steamroller might be a good option if you can find one. Might also be worth keeping your eyes open for conversion candidates: steel roadie with fender eyelets and horizontal dropouts.
My GF has an SE Draft lite that came with 28’s and rack mounts. They can be had cheap enough and should fit your requirements. I’d say they are similar to the cell
I second HLC, i had a draft lite, picked it up for $150 second hand on Gumtree. drop $150 on fenders/tires/racks and maybe $100 on anything else and you should be good!
Some of the earlier SE drafts were made out of hi-ten steel. Made for a very heavy bike.
The cell deal is great value, $199 and I think they are doing $20 off orders over $149 atm. They come with risers but you could always swap out for drops.
I would go fenders and a rear rack, it’s qld and riding with a back pack suck, especially if its a 40k return trip.
I recon a sscx or conversion would be better suited.
There was a gt hybrid listed in bris on gumtree last night that had v brakes,
Pull the group off add drops.
You make a good point on the rack…happy to just use my bag for now. I need to lug a 15.6" laptop, so would have to find a waterproof method of putting it on a rack. Either way i’m pretty keen on single speed for maintenance purposes, and im pretty confident i dont need gears for this particular route.
Will be keeping an eye out for something to pop up, otherwise Ill prob end up with a CELL
If you’re open to building something up, consider a Voodoo Maji from velogear.com.au or torpedo7.com.au. Cheap but very nice frame for the price, good geo for long commutes, will take 32mm tyres with fenders, I’m pretty sure has mounts for a rack, and is 1 1/8". With a bit of patience and shopping around for second hand parts, or some love from fixed.org friends, you could maybe just build one for $400.
Also I am a spinner, I can avg upto 100 rpm cadence on rides, so what sort of gearing should I look at?