Hey all,
I am new to this forum and wanting to purchase a fixie.
I have been around bikes my whole life but not of this genre. I recently got back from Japan where my scenses were bombarded with all manner of bikes in particular some really unique fixies.
My question, as the subject suggests is what are your experienced opinions of a good size fixie for general commuting and maybe some light flatland trickery.
I live on the Gold Coast with some light hills and am 5’9". I had a 53cm road bike that felt ideal but would you go that same size in a fixie?
I was looking at Kona’s and Specialized but with a BMX background, I really love every inch of the Subrosa Malum which comes in a 52cm and a 56cm (closest to my size…).
Also, I ride about 16km to work which is easy enough but do you think that a fixie would still be fine for an everyday commuter (and yes I do realise that everyone on this site is probably biased.)? I am also biased as I have had it with chain slap and cables and missed gear changes.
Cheers to all
John
I used the effective top tube length on my roadie as the guide for my fixie frame. Don’t forget about stem length as well though if your building.
Thanks Trmac,
Unfortunately I don’t have my road bike anymore and neglected to measure the top tube.
I really like the subrosa and the Surly bikes but I don’t know anywhere is my area (gold coast) that has these bikes built up and in stock for me to have a go on. I might go to Goldcross and sit on an SE then compare the geometry on the websites.
John
It’s impossible to recommend a size based simply on height, but there’s a fair chance you’d be best suited on a ‘medium’ frame, which generally means a 54cm in road bikes or 17" in mountain bikes. Being a fixed gear isn’t going to change the size you need. A bike that doesn’t fit is bad, no matter what kind it is.
When buying a new bike, be sure to check the geometry. A lot of bikes sold by size measurement rather than s/m/l are often mis-labelled, and the TT/ST sizes end up being shorter or longer than the size would suggest. I ride a 57cm frame size, yet when I purchased my latest bike I had to go for a 59cm rather than a 57cm, as the sizing of the 59 was actually closer to 57.