Hi,
I’m looking to build up a bike for commuting about 10 miles each way into town and I’d like to ride singlespeed or fixed as it’s cheaper and more reliable than gears and I’d like to improve my fitness.

The frame should ideally be comfortable and solid, if it comes with a fork, a disc brake mount is paramount.

I’ve looked at the pompino and pompetamine but have been a little put off by negative reviews, however those were for the full bikes and hence I haven’t discounted them as options.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Roadrat?

Pompino, Surly steamroller

Langster frame? I might be selling my full bike so am biased 🙂

Neither the Langster or Pompino have disk mounts. Roadrat looks like a possibility but I think I might just go with a Pompetamine for the moment, decide what sort of sizing I like best and then upgrade to a nicer frame if needs be.

Any ideas which would fit better, a medium or a large? I’m 5’11” and have a 33″ inseam.

Wifey has a Pompetamine to build up after regretting the sale of her Pompino. I had a similar Pompino and replaced that with a Road Rat running gears.

If you are sure you want SS/fixed for mostly road duties the Pompetamine is better.

The Cotic feels a bit leaden in comparison but is more versatile and might have a bit more clearance (certainly has more than my old Pompino but the on-one frames have changed a teeny bit since then)

Oh and get wide bars.

Thanks Tasso, that’s helpful information, for £100 it doesn’t seem anything can touch the on-one frames at the moment.

You definitely want bigger than medium for the Pompino/Pompetamine. I’d go for large if you’re going to run a dropped bar and XL if you want flat, assuming it’s going to spend most of it’s life on tarmac.

One other thing – Dia Compe 287 V levers are crap. Nice shape and good leverage but they need a guide or sleeve from a v brake noodle fitting in the hoods so that the cable doesn’t rub. It seems the Tektro versions are cheaper and get better reviews.

If you use flat bars and skinny tyres, don’t over spec the brakes. I found juicy 160’s could be a bit overkill on wet roads. BB7’s seem about right.

I think I’ll be using drops with this bike and a single front brake, surly hubs are another £20 for disc compatible and I like the idea of having a flip flop. I’ll go with a large frame (thanks simon1975) and use BB5/BB7 on the front with something like this

I’d take a rear brake over a flip-flop hub every time. And I only ever ride fixed on mine. The rear comes in handy going downhill.

What’s wrong with rim brakes anyway? I rode home through 40 miles of traffic in the rain yesterday, and didn’t want for more braking. More coat performance, yes, but not more braking.

I’m not sure which I’d prefer, fixed or SS so I’d like to have the choice, I’ve only ever ridden fixed before hence flip flop,

Why should I chose rim brakes over disc? I personally prefer discs as I suck at fiddling about with pads on rim brakes. If I did have rim brakes then I’m going to have better braking power which is appealing but then I don’t want to have to replace rims when they wear out which is the appeal of the disc brakes, however I suppose the savings of a disk over a rim is negligible really — though fitting a new disc is a much easier process, how long is the average life span of a rim (am I just being over cautious)? Are rim brakes as dependable as disks?

Charge Plug. Hard as nails, flip flop hub.

Are rim brakes as dependable as disks?

Well they have a hundred year head start 😉 . I think you are being a little over-cautious to be honest.

I was in exactly your position; 10 mile commute, need something reliable. Fancied fixed (have a track bike for the road already) and went for a used Kona Paddy Wagon for £230. It’s steel, has full guards, rack, bolt on lights. And it is a delight to ride. Utterly brilliant (that’s geometry for you).

I only ride fixed (in fact the freewheel hasn’t survived the winter despite never being turned), but the ride is so nice, and several 1000 miles in, I can’t say that I really notice it’s fixed, except when clipping in.

If I could change one thing, I’d make it three pounds lighter – so the next one will be custom titanium with lighter wheels and a carbon fork. Same geometry, mind.

Charge Plug. Hard as nails Heavy, flip flop hub.

Again nice geometry for commuting, but a little portly.

Why do you want a disc brake? Half the time I ride brakeless fixed, so I find a front rim brake is more than enough stopping power