After considering comments on my last thread I’m going with dedicated fixed and narrowed it down to three options:

Condor Tempo, they have a frame built up that fits me for just over 1k

Surly Steamroller, built with some decent wheels I suspect it’ll be about same price as the condor. Or buy the full build for 850 and swap the bars and brake levers. I have an irrational leaning towards the surly!

Kona Paddywagon – cheapest option at 600 so if I find I really enjoy fixed I could upgrade wheels etc.

Thoughts appreciated. Assume they all fit as well as each other for purposes of comparison. Use is a 16 mile each way commute, twice a week.

I would be sorely tempted by the Condor in your shoes. I assume Condor are offering their usual free bike fitting as part of the deal, and will swap the stem and bars if necessary to get the right length/width for you?

Yes, they’re happy to make changes where required. I assume the ride of the condor frame, given the pedigree, would be about as good as steel gets within reason.

I have a Dolan fxe it’s been great, worth considering…if I’d had a bigger budget I would have gone for a Tempo.

Condor from those mentioned. I reckon it would hold its value well if you don’t get on with fixed

Holdsworth la quelda?

Costs less than the others would depreciate if you dont like it!

Never ridden one but quite like the idea as n+1 when theyre on offer.

The other thing to think about is what gear ratio. If you’ve not ridden fixed before, I would suggest discussing this with Condor when you get fitted, since they may be willing to change the rear sprocket if necessary.

That said, they probably supply it as standard with something like a 66″-68″ gear, and even if you are very fit and fast, I would suggest sticking with that to begin with, i.e. pedal faster rather than fitting a smaller sprocket or larger chainring.

I’ve had a Steamroller and absolutely loved it! However the Condor bike fitting service (which I’ve also had) is excellent, so unless you are confident with what works for you then go for that.

What colour are they? Honestly, priorities.

I’ve always had a bit of an itch for a Steamroller. Don’t know much about the others 😉

What wheels on the Condor? Forget the Surly. Paddy Wagon is a fabulous ride, but it needs £300 hand built wheels to make it fly. Mine is about £1200 with Ritchey carbon fork, carbon bits and harry rowland wheels. It is an absolute joy to ride. Newest geometry is a tiny bit slacker than mine (72.5 head angle not 73)

On One Pompino for £500? Though I’m not keen on the new ‘raw’ colour.

For a commute, I think its worth making sure you can fit full mudguards, and decent size tyres, and the option of a rack.

TiRed – The wheels seem to be Condor own brand with double butted spokes.

This is the bike. The gold chain will have to be replaced.

Condor Tempo 58cm Singlespeed Bike

Why the instant dismissal of the Surly?

One other consideration for me is I quite fancy a front disc brake, despite it probably being heresy among the fixed crowd. I have a couple of steep descents on my route which I know I won’t be able to spin and I don’t have fond memories of rim brakes in the rain in December. That would then tie in with the Kona as the price allows for wheels and fork change.

I have looked at the Pompino and it doesn’t do anything for me. Dolan is interesting but preference for steel frame although I know you can get good alu etc.

Gear inch wise I have been riding 72 inches on my route. I can’t make it up the final ramp of coombe lane but the rest is all good and I assume I will get stronger. Gives me something to aim for. The condor comes with 71 and the Kona I recall was about the same.

If you want more roadie styles go condor then Kona, if you want more robust go steamroller.

Re front disc. You can run one if you want but a decent duel pivot caliper brake will be more than enough so I would n’t get obsessed over this and let it rule your decision. Take it easy downhill to start with as it is a technique to learn. Stick with fixed because once you are over the initial learning curve it’s a lovely feeling. Especially relaxing when in traffic.

Surly is dismissed on account of geometry. You want a light, nice handling steel frame that captures the best of steel road bikes. Genesis suffer the same problem. Heavy and sluggish handling. The Condor looks great, might want to check the bottom bracket height as it has 170mm cranks. I prefer low flange hubs rather than track,, personally.

As for brakes, disc is possible but unnecessary. Decent long drop dual pivots are fine. You’ll be descending with the brakes modulating your speed, not just spinning.

Old 531 road frame

New back wheel.

250 quid all in.

Why the instant dismissal of the Surly?

They are fairly heavy, especially the fork. They ride well on the road though and are good off road too as can get some pretty big tyres into them. I have had 3 of them over the last 17 years but always change it for something more lively.

If you want mudguards and two brakes the Tempo looks okay. If it were my money I would get a very nice track bike for £1000.

A quick look on eBay shows some very nice bikes under £1000. A Cinelli Vigorelli for £600, a Look AL264 for £850, Giant Omnium for £500, De Rosa Milanio for £1000 and so on. Or if you want steel they are even some Colnago’s for around £1000.

Good point about the Pompino – they’re cheap. Bad points, they’re heavy and lifeless – I’ve owned numerous steel frames in my time and this was simply awful. If you’re in the South East, also look on LFGSS as you’ll probably be able to pick up a good deal on a used bike – an old frame built with Reynolds 531 or even nicer Columbus SL will feel a lot nicer than Deda 14.5 IMO

If it were my money I would get a very nice track bike for £1000.

My perhaps unwarranted concern with respect to a full track bike is that it will be overly stiff and uncompromising on the relatively rough roads I commute on as well as having angles which are too aggressive for my relatively inflexible mountain bikers body.

With regards to picking something up second hand, I appreciate it is potentially a good way of getting a very nice bike but with two young kids, work etc I just don’t have the time to scour and collect. And I also want something shiny 😀

Looks like the Condor will be a good bet although I really need to get rid of that chain.

I picked up a used Paddy Wagon for £200 a few yea ago. Then swapped the wheels bars, seatpost fork brakes, saddle… to be left with a sub nine kilo road bike with perfect geometry. The SAT 14.5 tubing is fine, but the 350g fork made a bigger change ;-). Most fixed and SS bike are heavy as stock f what they are. What pushed me to the PW was a review in Cycling Weekly a few year back that basically said that despite the stock weight, it was was great handling road bike. So I figured buy in and mak it lighter. Still retaining the handling. I have not been disappointed.

I rid it about 100 miles a week, including medium paced club rides. Gearing is 3:1 which will be too much for your ride. Most stock are 42×16 or about 2.6:1. Cumulative exposure geared for 16 mph at 90 rpm.

That Condor Tempo is a 58cm frame with a 57cm effective top tube. That sounds as though it might be a bit small for you (on your previous thread you said you were 6′ 4″). What size road frame and stem length do you currently use?

On the previous thread I linked to this nearly new 61cm Paddy Wagon, which has a 60.5cm effective top tube according to the Kona website.

I’m not going to waste time telling you that you don’t need a front disc: you will realise it yourself when you’ve descended a few hills using the brakes to control your speed and limit your cadence (as opposed to needing to bring a bike on which you are freewheeling to a dead stop in the rain).

I love my Fixed Surly Cross-check so id say Surly. But it does fail in that the fork does not have mudguard eyelets and only one bottle cage mount, so get a cross-check instead :0).

I love Surly handling, I appreciate its not ‘lively’ but for commuting on fixed I prefer something that just gets on with the job without having to think, you just ride, its so nice. It also means its solid as a rock when your legs are spinning like a loon, which mine do a lot as im currently on 66″ gearing as ive a lot of hills to climb.

Threads like this should have more pictures…

They are fairly heavy, especially the fork.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you’re 6’4″. You could build up a gate-sized Steamroller to something like 9kg without much effort or expense and that’s plenty light enough, while still being bombproof.

The Cross Check (or Straggler) is a good call if you need luggage, but it depends what sort of commute you’re doing. Maybe you take clothes in by car one day, in which case you don’t need to carry anything other than stuff to tighten bolts and fix punctures.

For a two-day-a-week 16 mile each way commute I’d want dyno lights and mudguards and that’s all; YMMV.

If you don’t like the gold chain I’ll have it, I love them 😉 Or if it’s any consolation, it’ll be black in no time anyway and you never need to clean a fixie so it won’t be coming back up gold.

Been commuting on a Condor Pista for 13? years now. Used to do about 8k a year on it when I lived in London and it never missed a beat.

Condor wheels are great as they’re proper handbuilts (or at least they were when I bought) and have survived all manner of abuse.

You won’t be going any quicker DH than you can on the flat so I’d say don’t worry about the disc. Riding fixed you need to think much further ahead anyway so it’s rare you find you just need to *stop*.

I looked at a Surly when I got the Condor but came to the conclusion they were basically the same quality as an On-one with some better marketing and a more “exclusive” price tag.

If I was buying off the shelf, I’d probably look at the Kona, but given Condor is an option and they’ll fit you and tweak parts etc, plus the better wheels – I’d say it was a no-brainer to go that way.

That used Kona is a right tempter. Must…Resist…

That Condor Tempo is a 58cm frame with a 57cm effective top tube. That sounds as though it might be a bit small for you (on your previous thread you said you were 6′ 4″). What size road frame and stem length do you currently use?

Sorry, technically 6ft 3 and a bit. Yes, I was worried it would be too based on the numbers so I popped in yesterday. Sat on the bike I apparently had the correct ‘right angle’ shape between torso and arms whilst from a standover perspective there was apparently the right amount of clearance. It certainly didn’t feel like I needed a high top tube. The reach is noticeably short based on the numbers but I’m not sure what influence that has. The bars on that bike are only 42cm and I usually ride 46cm and they felt very shallow for the drop section.

I appreciated that link you hunted down the other day (didn’t mention that in previous thread) but I think, especially now, the 61 will be too big.

I currently ride a Pinnacle Arkose 2 in XL from 2015. The geo chart is on this link but have it set up with 10mm beneath the stem and then a 100mm, 10 degree rise stem. Aero I am not 😀

I don’t need to take any clothes with me on the commute. Already have some decent exposure night riding lights for mtb so whilst a dynamo would be a nicety I don’t feel its worth it from a monetary perspective.

basically the same quality as an On-one

I’ve had four Surlys and at least seven On-Ones and the Surlys are better quality, especially now that EN testing has made Inbreds dead lumps (I was a big fan of the early ones, but the new ones not so much). The welds on Surlys are always very neat and I’ve yet to see a quality control issue. The decals fall off if you so much as fart within twenty yards, but that’s it.

They’re all made from pretty basic piping, but Surly do a really good job with it.

whilst a dynamo would be a nicety I don’t feel its worth it from a monetary perspective.

Oh, it’s probably not (though SJS have a Shimano hub for £20 at the moment), it just completes the whole “get home, dump it, get up the next day, ride it” 365-day zero maintenance thing of a fixie. In normal operation there’s literally nothing you’d ever need to do to it 🙂

I looked at a Surly when I got the Condor but came to the conclusion they were basically the same quality as an On-one with some better marketing and a more “exclusive” price tag.

I went from a Pomp to the cross check, literally swapped frames over and went our for a ride. Cross check is much more mellow, and more comfortable too. Very different feel, material doesnt dictate everything. Your not wrong about the price though, but everyone who does steel has had to bump prices to maintain quality (except on-one who were already at the bottom in terms of QC).

Already have some decent exposure night riding lights for mtb so whilst a dynamo would be a nicety I don’t feel its worth it from a monetary perspective.

I have a whole load of exposure lights but the B&M dynamo set on my cross-check (in pic above) are just much better for road riding AND i dont ever have to touch them. £50 for a hub and £50 for lights, SO worth it.

double post..

The reach is noticeably short based on the numbers but I’m not sure what influence that has.

It’s good to hear you’ve had the chance to sit on it. I always think – never mind the numbers, does it feel ‘right’? If it feels right and looks right, it probably is right. Incidentally the photograph on Condor’s website shows the bike with an inline seatpost: given the 73 degree seat angle, you might find that you want/prefer/need the saddle further back (again, I would hope that Condor would identify this as part of the bike fit and offer to swap to a layback seatpost if appropriate).

The bars on that bike are only 42cm and I usually ride 46cm and they felt very shallow for the drop section.

42cm certainly sounds narrow relative to your height, and if you normally ride 46cm I would want no less wide a bar on a fixed gear, especially when climbing out of the saddle on a steep hill and ‘pulling’ on the hoods. Personally I would not worry about the shallowness of the drop, but then I am inflexible and stay on the hoods.

The Tempo already has mudguards, and as for other accessories and upgrades like dynamos, a disc front fork etc. etc., I would say hold off spending your money and just ride it as it is for a good few months, or better still through the winter. You will then have a much clearer idea in your own mind about what you really want/need.

@lunge, if you are tempted but the 61cm is too large for you, Triton Cycles have a 59cm 2016 Paddy Wagon for £449 here.

@lunge, if you are tempted but the 61cm is too large for you, Triton Cycles have a 59cm 2016 Paddy Wagon for £449

The reason I’m so tempted is that 61cm is perfect for me and rarely do bike size come up at good prices.

To reemphasise, MUST RESIST!!!!!

Personally I would not worry about the shallowness of the drop, but then I am inflexible and stay on the hoods.

Appreciate the input. What I meant here was that the distance between the flat section of the bar that goes through the stem and the front of the bend where the brake hoods are clamped onto is very short relative to what I am used to. Like you I very rarely go on the drops. Whilst there is optionality in parts the spec’d bars only go to 44cm based on their website so looking at it I think it would be a cost extra.

Never mind Lunge, that Kona is tempting for me too. Hadn’t seen a 59cm discounted to that degree. £600 between that and the Tempo is a big difference, especially when it seems the Kona frame is considered ‘good steel’. A difference that would allow for some nice wheels, carbon seatpost and whatever bars I fancy, within reason, should I feel the need.

What I meant here was that the distance between the flat section of the bar that goes through the stem and the front of the bend where the brake hoods are clamped onto is very short relative to what I am used to.

I would not get hung up about that distance: it’s something which is particular to the bars, which you can change (if necessary in conjunction with a shorter stem to maintain the same relative position of the hoods on handlebars with more forward throw), whereas you cannot adjust the frame and the top tube length is key.

I note also that in the Condor photograph the brake levers appear to be rotated back a bit (and/or the bar themselves are), which may account for that seeming reduced distance between the flats and the hoods. This is not necesarily a bad thing: you might prefer the hoods at that angle, but equally you could rotate the bars and/or levers forward (top of the hoods more horizontal, like modern STI/Ergopower shifters tend to have to be positioned) or switch to a bar with more forward throw.

Whilst there is optionality in parts the spec’d bars only go to 44cm based on their website so looking at it I think it would be a cost extra.

In that case I would say pay the extra to get it right. In fact it might be better that way: if Condor are only offering a limited choice of bars, e.g. just that one shape of bar with what you feel is not enough forward throw or width, then it would be better not to restrict yourself to just that choice. If you know the bars on your current bike work for you, then I would want the bike fit to be undertaken using (or with the option of using) the same or similar shape and size of bars. If Condor’s upgrade charge for the right shape/size (for you) of bar is too expensive, e.g. if they only have it in a carbon version, then still get yourself fitted with that bar, but take the bike home with the stock 42cm bar and buy the right shaped/size bars online and fit them yourself.

I’m a fussy so-and-so, and I generally do not tape the bars on a new build until I’ve ridden it a few times, because I like to get hood positions and the bar rotation just right for me.

Lunge, would another picture of mine help 😉 ? It’s a nice bike that gets even better with upgrades. I’d quite like a nicer frame, but chose a disc wheel instead!

Maybe not Lunge but I would quite like to see your blinged up Paddywagon.

Gotama, if you go for the 59cm Paddy Wagon from Triton, check that the bike is supplied either with an uncut steerer, or that not too much of it is cut and that there are plenty of spacers under the stem to allow you to get the right position. According to their respective geometry charts the Paddy Wagons have shorter head tubes than the Condor Tempo, and in my experience there is a risk that the mechanics who assemble for the online retailers can chop off too much of the steerer.

Oh alright… Summer livery, 8.5 kg and not wearing the lighter Mavic Reflex rims and tubs. It’s currently sporting a -17 degree Thomson stem and matching Thomson seatpost (collars and cuffs need to match 😉 )

In winter it acquires different monocoque forks and mudguards and a rack for my briefcase.

*coughchaintensioncough*