Help me build a new bike

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  • December 12, 2012 at 8:20 pm #912549
    jrenaut
    Participant

    So, new bike time. I’m not sure what I want, so I’ve been making a list of things I think I want and then getting advice from people who know more than me.

    I want a steel frame. 90% of my riding is downtown, so I’d like something a little smoother than the aluminum Giant.
    I want room for fenders, even though at the moment I don’t actually want to put fenders on.
    I want mounting points for racks/panniers.
    I want to be able to switch to single speed in the future
    I think I want just two chain rings up front. I NEVER used the small one on my old bike, so it seems silly to have three.

    I thought it might be cool to get an old steel frame from eBay or something and build that up, but a new frame would be fine, too.

    Budget is probably about $1000. It’s possible I could reuse some components from the Giant, but that all depends on the insurance situation, so I can’t count on that.

    Suggestions/advice welcome.

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  • December 12, 2012 at 8:28 pm #957456
    dcv
    Participant

    Doesn’t have fenders or rack mounts, but it does have BIG FRENCH WORDS
    http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2884-Flat-bar-commuter-or-drop-bar-tourer&p=36958#post36958

    seriously, it can be converted to SS, i think it’s in the price range and is steel

    December 12, 2012 at 8:29 pm #957457
    TwoWheelsDC
    Participant

    Surly CrossCheck gets you all that and you can get a full bike for pretty close to your budget, but just the frame would be pretty cheap. Not sure which other brands offer it, but the Surly is somewhat unique in that it has horizontal dropouts for easy SS/FG conversion.

    December 12, 2012 at 8:31 pm #957458
    mstone
    Participant

    I see you on a Surly Cross Check.

    December 12, 2012 at 8:59 pm #957464
    Bilsko
    Participant

    The Crosscheck recommendation is a good one – its right around the $1000-$1200 price point and fits most of your criteria well. They have ’em at Bicycle Space – i test rode it a couple of times before settling on the Disc Trucker. Now, I want a SSCX bike and the Crosscheck is looking awfully good.

    December 12, 2012 at 9:06 pm #957468
    ShawnoftheDread
    Participant

    Re the Cross Check, anyone ever have issues with fenders and the horizontal dropouts? Also, how much more $ would it be to switch the barend shifters to STI of comparable quality?

    December 12, 2012 at 9:16 pm #957469
    jrenaut
    Participant

    The Cross Check seems like the official commuting bike of Washington DC. The Bike Rack, my current LBS, stocks them. However, my bike mentor, the guy who helped get me into bike commuting, hates Surly. He thinks they’re cheap and don’t ride well. Not to say it’s out of the question, just that it’s maybe not my first choice.

    That French thing is pretty sexy.

    December 12, 2012 at 9:23 pm #957471
    DaveK
    Participant

    I don’t love the Cross Checks just because they need a big spacer stack to fit most folks correctly. The frame geometry is designed for a different purpose than the bike gets used for 99% of the time. I also switched the bar-ends on mine when I had one to STI shifters. Don’t get me wrong – I liked it, it rides very smooth, goes anywhere and does anything, but in the end it wasn’t the right bike for me. Salsa has the right idea with the Vaya – a slightly sloping top tube is more accommodating for a light touring/cross bike.

    The answer to this and all what bike should I get questions, by the way, is a Raleigh Furley, and if you don’t want SS just yet, Raleigh Roper.

    December 12, 2012 at 9:24 pm #957472
    Certifried
    Participant

    Well, it has a triple in the front, and I’m not sure about how easy it is to convert to SS, but I’m seriously happy with my Jamis Bosanova. It has disc brakes, all the fender/rack mounts, steel frame, etc.

    December 12, 2012 at 9:50 pm #957476
    mstone
    Participant

    @ShawnoftheDread 37933 wrote:

    Re the Cross Check, anyone ever have issues with fenders and the horizontal dropouts? Also, how much more $ would it be to switch the barend shifters to STI of comparable quality?

    Nothing, if you rip them off some crashed-up bike you find somewhere. ;)

    December 12, 2012 at 9:55 pm #957479
    Bilsko
    Participant

    Can’t speak to the racks/fender mounts for the CrossCheck – Crystal has one and can probably give you the low-down at #fridaycoffeeclub. Speaking of Raleigh Furleys, her boyfriend Adam has one of those – in a gorgeous orange and black combo.

    I’ve heard that the Furley is really tough to come by b/c of popularity and low stock issues.

    A few other options:
    The All City line, out of Minneapolis, has some great looking bikes – like the Space Horse: http://allcitycycles.com/bikes/space_horse – I still haven’t figured out where to see them locally.

    I like some of the options from Traitor Cycles – price is reasonable too: http://www.traitorcycles.com/Home.cfm

    Milwaukee Bicycle Co has options with a bit of Waterford pedigree at a reasonable price: http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=612&zenid=2b977fc0471e7fa653f5becd57169974

    December 12, 2012 at 10:11 pm #957481
    Certifried
    Participant

    Fat tires, you need to have fat tires on this build.

    December 12, 2012 at 10:14 pm #957482
    jrenaut
    Participant

    I’m happy with my 23mm tires for the moment, though I’d like to have the option of putting something bigger on there if I wanted to. Studded for winter, perhaps?

    December 12, 2012 at 10:32 pm #957484
    jrenaut
    Participant

    And no one has weighed in on finding an old frame (or even an old complete bike) and upgrading the components. Is that because no one thinks that’s a good idea, or just because no one who thinks that would be cool has weighed in yet?

    December 12, 2012 at 10:44 pm #957485
    jrenaut
    Participant

    Ooh, sexy. Did I mention bonus points for orange frames?

    December 12, 2012 at 10:45 pm #957486
    vvill
    Participant

    This is perhaps unhelpful, as I’m from the n+1 camp, and I’m aware you don’t have much bike storage space – but I’d just get a geared bike to replace your geared bike. If you are towing a growing kid with school stuff, etc gears are handy (imo) and you won’t be limiting yourself so much in choice. And you can convert any geared bike to SS easily enough (but FG not so much).

    If you end up going down the SS/FG route and loving it you will probably want a dedicated bike for that anyway. I wouldn’t want to tow either of my kids on a SS with the same gearing I would ride with by myself, and I’d probably have different tires, pressure, etc. too.

    Old frame – it’s possible sure, but I’m not much of a bike mechanic so I didn’t weigh in on that.

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