I Have No Bike Knowledge

[tough old man]

Im thinking of getting a fat tire single speed to cruise the waterfront and farmers market to pick up the soccer moms and vegan chicks.

Any good reasonable recommendations?

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Seriously, if that's all you want to do just get one of those fatbike beach cruisers, they shouldn't be more than like 300 bucks.

If you want a bike that you might ride on trails, in the snow, or through thick sand you need to decide on tire clearance, I'd consider anything from 3.8 to 5 inches "fat". You may also want to look for flexible dropouts in case you want to add some gears later.

Start with Salsa Mukluk and Surly Wednesday (tho not sure it comes as an "ops", flexible dropout version. Maybe the Ice Cream Truck and Pugsley do though) on the fat end, Salsa Blackborrow and Surly Moonlander on the fatter end.

[Mickey O'neil]

Yeah, it sounds like you just want a sweet cruiser. If that's the case, I'd check these out. http://www.electrabike.com/?field_marke ... _pricing=1

Fuzzy has some good suggestions as well.


If I were getting a cruiser I'd be all over this. http://www.bicyclebluebook.com/searchli ... x?id=18721

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=el ... ORM=IQFRBA

[Turdacious]

You could also take the spells approach-- pick up a decent used mountain bike for a couple shekels and ride that for a few months, and them upgrade to something new later. Personally I had no idea what I wanted (or needed) when I started biking.

[TerryB]

It is sad when a middle aged man goes through a childhood crisis.

TOM, bicycling is for children. How was your childhood?

[Shapecharge]

Christ I hate to admit it but Teri/Proto is cracking me up regularly. Hilarious.

[Mickey O'neil]

Actually, tom, this is what I am going to get when I do get a single speed bike to cruise on the road the the store or just for easy road rides. I think it's perfect for cruising around on.

https://www.purecycles.com/pages/bike-b ... -all-bikes

[nafod]

Only $35K. Electric motor boosted.

[Thud]

I don't get the allure of a single speed bike. Nobody is making you change gears.

[Blaidd Drwg]

I don't get the allure of a single speed bike. Nobody is making you change gears.

It's radically different. Less drag makes for super efficient pedal drive. It's quieter and incredibly simple to own an maintain. The back end being so light changes the feel and balance off road. On the track with a fixed gear it's simply faster, not by a little....by a lot. Single Speed cyclocrossers are nearly as fast as the geared guys over equivalent terrain. One randonneur I know locally routinely does 120k, and 180k brevets on a SS...mountain passes and all. It's pretty interesting how taking something away and making it harder makes you better.

[WildGorillaMan]

The crossroads I stand at is that while I want a bike, I only have two settings in my brain: all in or not.

As it stands right now I'm simply not going to ride with the frequency and obsessiveness that would justify spending two grand on a bike. At the same time I don't want to be seen in public on a $300 bike from Costco.

[tough old man]

So I got a Fat Tire from Framed in Minnesota. MSRP $1300 I paid $500. So far to go get milk and burritos it works great. 2X10 gears.

[Thud]

I don't get the allure of a single speed bike. Nobody is making you change gears.

It's radically different. Less drag makes for super efficient pedal drive. It's quieter and incredibly simple to own an maintain. The back end being so light changes the feel and balance off road. On the track with a fixed gear it's simply faster, not by a little....by a lot. Single Speed cyclocrossers are nearly as fast as the geared guys over equivalent terrain. One randonneur I know locally routinely does 120k, and 180k brevets on a SS...mountain passes and all. It's pretty interesting how taking something away and making it harder makes you better.

I ain't talking to you and your OCD friends who are willing to go 6 mos without sleep to add 1/2 lb to your total.

I'm talking to the guys who need a new bike for the 1 mi ride to the ice cream shop. And the guys recommending a Barbie bike with streamers.



I've seen a lot of people riding fat bikes. never in the sand or snow, always on the pavement. While wearing bike shirts. These things are the biggest fads since bell bottoms. You'll hate yourselves later.

Get a Trek FX or similar, ditch your Crocs, mirrored shades and Fitbits, and take a frikken ride.

[Blaidd Drwg]

So how about you give him some real advice..."don't by that stupid piece of shit cruiser", buy something you'll enjoy for years...if he wants to be a chuffer-boy like you he can always ride slower...if he enjoys it, he'll have the tools to do some real riding.

[Thud]

So how about you give him some real advice...

Get a Trek FX or similar, ditch your Crocs, mirrored shades and Fitbits, and take a frikken ride.

That's as useful as I get. Sorry.

[tough old man]

I ride with my daughters. One of which just last week started. When its me I ride trails at the state park or to the organic vegan farmers market.
I have a connection who sells Bison and Biltong but don't tell anyone.

[Bobby]

I ride with my daughters. One of which just last week started. When its me I ride trails at the state park or to the organic vegan farmers market.
I have a connection who sells Bison and Biltong but don't tell anyone.

Bison and Biltong isn`t vegan.

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

I don't get the allure of a single speed bike. Nobody is making you change gears.

It's radically different. Less drag makes for super efficient pedal drive. It's quieter and incredibly simple to own an maintain. The back end being so light changes the feel and balance off road. On the track with a fixed gear it's simply faster, not by a little....by a lot. Single Speed cyclocrossers are nearly as fast as the geared guys over equivalent terrain. One randonneur I know locally routinely does 120k, and 180k brevets on a SS...mountain passes and all. It's pretty interesting how taking something away and making it harder makes you better.

I ride SS for the simplicity. My main commuter for 4 years now is a Surly cross check that I converted over to SS to gain an order of magnitude in reliability. Quickly found that I can go about 2 gears taller than I thought I would be able to up hills when judging against the same ratios in a geared bike.

Never ridden fixed cause I like my knees and shins where they are, but my hipster friends say it's another gear or so easier to climb than a freewheeled SS bike because the pedals move you through the dead spots.

But to the TOM's question, I would absolutely recommend a SS bike for what he wants. No reason to complicate things when it's just going to cruise a flat waterfront boardwalk.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

I don't get the allure of a single speed bike. Nobody is making you change gears.

It's radically different. Less drag makes for super efficient pedal drive. It's quieter and incredibly simple to own an maintain. The back end being so light changes the feel and balance off road. On the track with a fixed gear it's simply faster, not by a little....by a lot. Single Speed cyclocrossers are nearly as fast as the geared guys over equivalent terrain. One randonneur I know locally routinely does 120k, and 180k brevets on a SS...mountain passes and all. It's pretty interesting how taking something away and making it harder makes you better.

I ride SS for the simplicity. My main commuter for 4 years now is a Surly cross check that I converted over to SS to gain an order of magnitude in reliability. Quickly found that I can go about 2 gears taller than I thought I would be able to up hills when judging against the same ratios in a geared bike.

Never ridden fixed cause I like my knees and shins where they are, but my hipster friends say it's another gear or so easier to climb than a freewheeled SS bike because the pedals move you through the dead spots.

But to the TOM's question, I would absolutely recommend a SS bike for what he wants. No reason to complicate things when it's just going to cruise a flat waterfront boardwalk.

I have a Trek Earl city bike that i'm running fixed 44/16, freewheel at 44/17. The challenge is going down hills for me.

My mountain bike is also a single speed, 32/20. It's fuckin rad. Sitting and spinning is for the lycra crew. Stand and mash is the only way to climb I ride in the Santa Monica's averaging around 1000 ft of elevation gain every 7 miles or so. There are very few sections that I can't get up and I beat geared riders of similar capabilities consistently.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Actually, tom, this is what I am going to get when I do get a single speed bike to cruise on the road the the store or just for easy road rides. I think it's perfect for cruising around on.

https://www.purecycles.com/pages/bike-b ... -all-bikes

I see those purefix bikes everywhere. One thing to note- they're not chromoly frames. I did ride one of their higher end track bikes the one time i went to the velodrome, tons of fun.

May want to check out State Bicycle or Fyxation, only about a hundo more and made w/ chromo. I like the Fyxation handlebar options.

[nafod]

Sitting and spinning is for the lycra crew. Stand and mash is the only way to climb

I blew out the front derailleur on my MTbike for a bit and it was stuck in the big chain ring, and while being too lazy to get it fixed, kept riding the mountains. Thought I would suck and have to get off and hike-a-bike some sections, but found that I just adapted to the gearing and kept on plowing. It was a learning exercise for sure.

But I got it fixed, and I am back to crawling my way up in super, super low.

I love my dropper seat post.

[Thud]

Hey BD, not that random outbursts of snark and hostility need to be explained for around here, but I do regret baiting you into a sincere response with a seemingly sincere inquiry before turning the snark on. Nobody needs their time and good intentions wasted, as I did yours. Bro hugs...

I have a Marin hybrid that I had to de-cruiserize. So much better after replacing the front shock with a rigid fork, and rigid seat post. Lowered the bars, changed the pedals, and the thing is now a pretty lightweight yet robust recreational/commuter bike that I chuff on for ~30 mi rides (the only limit being my time, not the bike, of course).

I'd actually like to try a lean assassin single speed that one could bear down hard on sometime. Pretty hilly around here though, I'd certainly need to try before buy to see how doable.

TOM, looks like you got yourself a nice bike a great price. Kudos.

[Blaidd Drwg]

Nah...

I earned that..and you're probably right. TOM doesn't need a scalpel, he needs a functional pocket knife with a not shitty blade.

[Mickey O'neil]

Actually, tom, this is what I am going to get when I do get a single speed bike to cruise on the road the the store or just for easy road rides. I think it's perfect for cruising around on.

https://www.purecycles.com/pages/bike-b ... -all-bikes

I see those purefix bikes everywhere. One thing to note- they're not chromoly frames. I did ride one of their higher end track bikes the one time i went to the velodrome, tons of fun.

May want to check out State Bicycle or Fyxation, only about a hundo more and made w/ chromo. I like the Fyxation handlebar options.

Thanks for the info, Fuzzy!

[tough old man]

Best pic of my bike so far.