Ok Team,
I know this type of thread has been beaten to death but I’ve been reading forum after forum, review after review and can’t quite seem to decide on the bike for me. I’ve gone through many “this is the one” and then something puts me off. Usually a bad review! I’ve been cycling for years and commute by bike so I’m not new to this. New to single yes. I initially thought I’d grab a frame from ebay but with the fixie trend in Aus frames are either very hard to come by or going for prices that make no sense. I built my last bike so this should have been the way to go but alas I’m sick of trawling ebay.
Anyway I’m looking for a single speed off the shelf now and want something light and speedy. I’m used to riding my road bike at pace so really don’t want to ride a heavy bike. Now don’t go thinking I’m getting all weight weenie here I’m not. I just want a bike that’s not an anchor and not a featherweight delicate thing. Is this a reasonable request?
To give you an idea I popped into cellbikes and picked up their new Mallet. That thing was HEAVY. Now I’m not dissing cell I think they are great but a bike with straight gauge cromo is built tough as and therefore too heavy for what I want.
So I’m now at the stage where the following bikes are of interest.
The Flite 100. I like the look and the colour and I can grab it from cyclic in Aus. This is another important aspect to the buying decision - can I get it in Aus?
The Jamis Sputnik - I like this bike due to it’s Reynolds tubes and carbon fork - still a steal frame but butted so shouldn’t be stupid heavy.
The Kona Paddy Wagon. I like this bike too but don’t really know what it’s made of? straight cromo or butted. Can’t find much info on the interweb.
se lager - can get this from cheeky in Newtown. I like this shop and the guys in there so this could be an option - don’t like bullhorns though.
I basically commute 40K per day so that’s why I don’t want an urban beast that will only get ridden around the cbd. I need a single speed that I can commute on over North Sydney hills - hence the weight issue.
So guys I’m throwing this out to you - Help me pick a decent single speed commuter for my 40K commute.
