After a new bike for my new commute.

Want drop bars and a flip flop hub.

Any bargains out there for off the shelf bikes? Or should I just bite the bullet and build my own?

BEST

= $$£$£$£££$£££$$£.$£

what can you remortgage your house for?

EBC Track ’12

£289 looks a good price to me 🙂

Depends on your definition of “Best”.

For me it was a Kona Paddy Wagon. Best geometry, can take full guards, not too expensive. Acceptable but not light weight. Compliant (steel) frame, with small tubes.

Since LOTS of companies are now offering these bikes, what makes your purchasing power and component choice so much better?

I upgraded mine with handbuilt wheels, a carbon seatpost and a light saddle. Weight is sub 10 kilos. The next step is to commission a custom titanium frame to get the weight down further. But I won’t be changing the geometry.

Aye, I didn’t mean to put ‘best’. Dunno why I did. I meant value for money.

That EBC one looks alright, might swing by tomorrow and have a look.

The EBC one looks great value for money, but a 74/75 degree head tube does not for a relaxing road ride make (I know, I have a fixed track bike for the road too). you wan 72/73 degrees for that proper road feel, absence of twitch and toe overlap. For an aluminium frame, at 10,6 kilos, it’s not even light, either. But try it and see what you think.

It’s not a bad price for just the components to be honest 😉

What do we reckon makes up most of that weight? The frame?

The wheels will be 3 kg. The frame won’t be particularly light either. My custom wheels are 2.1 kg and I have some vintage track tubulars that are about 1.8 kg. All weights include tyres.