After riding crap bikes most of my life, i was going to build up a really nice fixy, with some decent components, not top of the line, but quality stuff. and probably will if a nice light frame comes alone.
I have been looking for frames and can’t find a decent one thats a couple of hundred dollars, and i guess thats because i need to spend more money.
masi are having a sale on there bikes with 50% off (through bsc bikes) they have Weinmann dp 18 wheels and lasco cranks.
whats the general opinion, are they just chinese rubbish now they have been bought out ?
I see a heap of people rolling about on Pake frames. I’m sure those frames are only a few hundred dollars.
They seem to be nice frames, if not a little basic.
um, sorry…too basic? do you realise you’re posting on a forum inhabited by kids getting all moist over bikes without brakes, gears, cage bosses, lights and fender mounts?
see for $500 i could get the masi, which already has the $400 of wheels, it also has brakes/tires/tubes/bottombrake/headset/stem/seatpost/cranks/chainring/
but the point is that if i build up a pake frame, am i going to have a considerably better bike.
Yes, but lets just think.
Frame, $500
Wheels $400
$900, if you bought second hand, that would easily be halfed.
My thought, is buy an 8th Inch Scrambler v2 (might have to wait for your size) $250
Buy second hand Deep V’s (or what ever wheels you want) $200-250~
Everything else $300~ OR
Buy the masi, upgrade what ever you want to upgrade, at $500 a Masi you couldn’t go far wrong
and also ryan, i agree with dylan, that frame is a lil basic, and i get your point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have flash fixies.
Also Ryan Fixed gear bikes aren’t about boringness/basicness they’re about simplicity?
(Simplicity = the state, quality, or an instance of being simple.)
The Pake and the Masi are different in that the Pake has track geometry whereas the Masi is a compromise between track and road. Check the specifications on both sites. As the Pake frame is described as “Tange CrMo tubeset” I am wondering if it is single butted? The Masi frame is double butted 4130 chromoly steel.
If you could get a Masi Speciale Fixed for $500, as LukeR said you could not go far wrong. In fact you could buy the Masi, sell the frame and put the components on the Pake frame and save a few $$s.
I have a 2010 Speciale FixedLTD and I have been really happy with it. I bought it for a $1000 and thought it was worth the extra to get the upgraded components.
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Personally I love that masi frame so IMO $500 is a bargain… You could probably only buy cheap (and usually nasty) fixed bikes for around the 500 mark so half price is great.
Probably not better bike (different ride tho) but there is definite satisfaction in building it yourself… What’s the difference in retail between the two? EDIT … does anyone even sell a built up pake?
I might be interested in buying the frame if you were going down this route?
Certainly they come out of Taiwan, as do Pake bikes (Pake bikes: Designed in San Francisco, made in Taiwan) but interested to know the basis of your opinion that they are rubbish?
Masi ftw. Comfy on long rides and quick enough when you want it to be.
with your $500 savings get a better pedal setup and a bottle of grange and that’s really all you’ll NEED to do, but you might want to keep upgrading…
I ride a Speciale Fixed as my normal commuter / fun runabout, and for $500, I’d definitely buy it again. I do wish I had track geo etc so I could give track racing a go, but I guess that’ll just be the next bike…
Technically you are correct in that all of the high-volume sales bikes (think 500-1500 completes) are made in that area of the world, but what I think you meant to say was ‘Aren’t most big-name brand bikes made in taiwan’… Because there are a hell of a lot of bikes that are made in different countries.
for the cheaper end it’s hard to find a bike that isnt made in those same few factories…
