Looking for a new commuter for a 10m each way ride to work. Basic requirements, single speed, not too heavy, comfy(ish) geo, preferably take full length guards. Budget around £500

Shortlist:

Kona Band Wagon, currently on CRC for £450. Steel, takes full length guards. Not sure of weight.

Jamis Beatnik, Hi-Ten, currently in Evans for £260, takes full length guard, enough cash left over for a nice set of Token A30Aks to bring the weight down.

Jamis Sputnik . Reynolds 520, had one before like it, wont take full guards but could live with Raceblades. £400 in Evans. But not on the skinny side at 23lb.

Specialised Langster 2011 – Can’t fnid a 58cm ANYWHERE, and 2012 is agressive track geo and no flip flop hub

Trek District 4th – Alluminum, relaxed geo, on sale for £450. takes full length guards, not sure about retor colous scheme !?

Any thoughts?

genuine question: why on earth would you want a singlespeed for a 10 mile commute?

Dave

fashionable innit

get your gearing right and a SS its the perfect commuter, dont clean it, dont fix it, dont fiddle with it, just ride it, park it and replace the chain at the same time as the tyres

mine is built out of a very old, (older than me, rubbish, my dad says it wasnt great when it was new, but it was all he could afford) roady frame, frame/forks, brake calipers, guards and headset original.

OP – my vote is with the Kona.

My Scandal 26er with slicks is single speed and I use that for my 12 mile each way commute. It doesnt seem to make much of a difference in the journey time and is much simpler so to maintain so why not SS for a 10 mile commute?

FWIW I’d go with a hardtail frame that you can put slicks on. Vitus do a 29er commuter SS at about £300 IIRC.

I used a Jamis Sputnik for a 17 mile each way commute, if you get the gearing right its great.

Def swaying towards the Kona, love the paint scheme !!

You might be able to pick up a nexus or alfine hubbed commuter if you look about. A mate got a alfine carrerra for not much from halfords last year. Subway I think. Does the job.

Buy the one with the best frame. Genesis a bit out of your budget.

Or buy an old frame and build up from ebay.

i use a ribble winter bike with campag mirage 9 speed, full mudguards and a rack.

Bought it in 2006, have commuted on it about 3-4 times per week since then (with a few lapses while working away etc.) 15 miles each way for 4 years, 10 miles each way for 1 year and 7 miles each way for the last year.

It gets cleaned once a year. I’ve replaced the chain once. Everything else is original (except the tyres, which I swapped for gatorskins when i got the bike, that set is still going).

Some days I am feeling good and really go for it. Some days I’m hungover (today) and I limp in in a tiny gear. Some days the headwind is so fierce I can hardly progress in the lowest gear I’ve got.

Why limit yourself to one gear?

Dave

edit: just remembered I changed the brake pads 2 years ago 😉

Yes agree with the frame, I think the best quality frame out of these is the Sputnik, as its Reynolds 520.

Genesis Aether 10 £420 at Winstanleys
I’m sure you could fettle it to SS

Found a Genesis Flyer fo £450. Reynolds 520, looks smart in blue.

a Worx bikes SR2 with 2 speed freewheel hub.

if you dont get it alfabus, you dont get it, dont worry about it, its just a choice and is as important and ultimately meaningless as what tyres.

soobalias – Member
if you dont get it alfabus, you dont get it, dont worry about it, its just a choice and is as important and ultimately meaningless as what tyres.

I won’t let it ruin my day 😉

FWIW, I do ‘get’ the singlespeed thing for mountain bikes, but for a commute where you’re not just out for pleasure (you actually have to get somewhere, and at least some of the days you’d rather be in a warm car (with gears)), I don’t understand doing anything to make it harder!

Your argument about less maintenance doesn’t stack up against my experiences of commuting on a geared road bike. If that is the only reason for SS commuting, then no – I don’t get it.

Dave

totally opposing viewpoints then

in my life the SS commuter makes more sense than the SS mtb.

in my life the SS commuter makes more sense than the SS mtb./quote]

(still genuinely interested)

why?

how long is your commute? no hills?

my commuter bike is pure utility, and gears make the journey easier, so I use them.

Dave

My commuter bike is pure utility, and its a fixed gear.

It just works. And works. And works.

ok,

commute is just short of 7miles each way. 35% uphill, 35%downhill, 30%flat(ish) the hill is 1:10. The bike is a drop barred, 700×28 with 48/18 gear, full guards and pannier rack. The gear is big enough to make a good pace on the flatish bits, where i need to ‘keep up’ with traffic, the downhills are steep enough that i need to brake rather than go faster and the uphill i can climb, just.

i dont need gears to make the journey easier, it is what it is, im happy climbing in a big gear it makes me stand and is good for my knees and in the rare moments when i could be going faster, its nice to sit back/breathe, you know, just take a moment to realise that i would only save myself seconds and after all its work, i’d rather arrive chilled than stressed.

not sure i can get my point across very well, probably best way would be for you to ride with me and i can show you and talk you through it…

off for lunch now, but happy to expand further if i can.

oh and the mtb,

i usually ride in a group, i need a big gear for that final 3mile road sprint to the pub.

Secondhand older Langster. Doesn’t take rear guards though, so you’ll need race blades (or an asssaver) but not too heavy.

05 langster here, lack of splash protection is my main gripe, wheelset arent great either (all original though so meh – Paid £100 works for me)

Brompton
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/video-freestyle-brompton-riding-an-emerging-craze/011902

I’d go for the Trek District. Its light, and better quality stuff on it than some of the others, plus long drop brakes to clear mudguards AND the wheel drops out vertically, which makes it a lot easier when you’ve got full ‘guards on there.

Pearson touché – perfect for my 8m each way commute. Had 18/ 52 gearing which I found much easier going uphill than my Mtb geared cannondale bad boy. You can normally pick up one sh in good nick for 250 – 300. I had a kona paddy wagon before but the touché was a much smoother and felt faster. A few of them in my work cycle bay have racks and guards

Thanks all, went for the Touche in the end. Got the frameset from Cycle Surgery for £250 and a set of Token C30AKs. Just need some cranks now.

On the cranks….

I’ve just bought some of those Sturmey Archer (blatent Sugino copies) cranks and I’m very happy with them. Just don’t forget to rub the SA branding off!

http://www.highonbikes.com/sturmey-archer-single-speed-fixed-track-crank-black-10.html