Is he the Ello guy?
Yup, same guy. Even though Ello is a “local business”, I’m wary of giving them my name and personal information.
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Very popular in my (admittedly quite flat) neighbourhood. Single speed bikes are easy to keep working and thus easier to store and care for. I have seen one here in Brunswick with a belt drive. I think this is the next step for fixed gear bikes to take, but there are issues with gearing ratios to be addressed, because a belt can’t bend around an 11 tooth cog.
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Can anyone share positive experiences with e-bike conversion kits — this bike or others?
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I don’t own a fixie but I do own a 7-speed hub geared bike. I love the hub gears and have not had to do any maintenance on the chain or gears for the 7 or so years I’ve owned the bike. I think hub gears should be more widely available. They even look like fixies (well a fixie with a massive hub).
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https://www.gallantbicycles.com/blog/ - they’ve closed up shop.
The places where bicycles are most popular as practical transportation tend to be “flat landscapes” like Denmark and the Netherlands.
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Yeah, and they’re hipster fools. IMHO the “no-coast” setup is flat-out dangerous because it forces your legs to move in situations where you might not want them to do so. A sharp turn where balance and keeping the inner pedal away from the ground come to mind.
There’s really no functional reason to eschew gears. And to all those “It’s more exercise” campers: no, it isn’t. Proper exercise, whether sprint or cardio, requires proper gearing to maintain a safe and efffective rpm.
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Yeah,
and I just looked at the tech “specs” such as they are for these Solé bikes. Reads like low-end Wal-mart.
For one thing, if they can’t say what it is made of, they shouldn’t say anything at all. I’ll give them some credit for admitting to hi-tensile steel, the heaviest/cheapest frame material on the market, but all the parts…
Alloy.
When a bike advertises it’s parts are made of “Alloy” it is best to assume that the alloy in question is Pewter and move the fuck on.
When none of the major parts manufacturers had a line available cheap enough to sell to this bike re-seller, they got factories to produce stuff even cheaper. Really sad jsut how much of this “bike” company is pure market drivel preying on suckers seeking image.
I mean, c’mon, these don’t even have hipster cred. Most bike-friendly hipsters would recognize these are effectively boat anchors that you paid $400 for instead of the $200 that it should have retailed for…
Truth - the infamous Wal-mart fixed gear was a much better bike from a technical standpoint.
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Yes, he is.
LOL,‘lightweight 26lb frame’. The copy writer doesn’t know a chainring from a wedding ring.
Seriously, folks, don’t buy a stupid single speed. And don’t consider anything under $600 new an actual bike - in the trade we have an acronym for those: Bike-Shaped Objects. And if you want a lower-maintenance machine, you want a internally-geared hub (at least 7 speed). Need to spend at least $750 then. Even less maintenance? Belt-drive bike, $1000+.
Some folks balk at the money a proper bike costs, but you get what you pay for (unless you can score a good second-hand deal or line something up through a co-op - check here or here for a local one) - and you want something as good as you can afford, because you want it to be efficient when you’re the engine. A definite plus when you spend a good chunk of dough is increased reliability and longevity, too.
BTW, this thread is totally lacking bike porn, so here’s my dry-weather commuter.
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Your friends must love hearing your outsider opinions on what they should or shouldn’t do and whether they’re fools or not. So deeply researched and convincingly presented! So considerate of personal differences in goals and preferences. Yup, a real life changing attitude right there.
Now I’m just imagining an impromptu self-appointed life coach yelling at people doing interval training at the gym. “THIS VARIATION IS FOOLISH! REPENT!” For their own good, of course. That’s a pretty funny thought, so thank you for it.
I don’t think you’re off the mark there. The sort of adults who ride bicycles because they like it (as opposed to “the job requires it” or “can’t afford a car” or whatever) tend to have more than one, for different priorities just as you alluded to. One could have a fenders-lights-and-racks townie for the commute and a zippier, less practical thing for sunny-day sport and fun.
That said, if you live in dryish flatland, ride in the daylight and don’t carry too much stuff around there’s no reason why a cheapo, stripped single-speed like the one advertised can’t be perfectly practical. Or it can be a non-practical way to show off or fit in or whatever, but hey, people do that all the time with non-practical cars, clothes, and entire lifestyles and I don’t see nearly the same sort of disdainful backlash aimed at them compared to people who do it with bikes. Wonder why.
That said, I agree with the people above saying that an overly cheap cheapo can be clunky, heavy and maintenance-needy enough to sap a lot of the fun of cycling around in the first place. A better-quality used one, fixed up good, can be cheaper and much more enjoyable.
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Pretty much forever. Although I confess that I have gotten a major dopamine hit every time I finished overhauling a Sturmey hub. (make sure to count those ball bearings!!)
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As an owner of two 1960’s British motorcycles, I completely see your point.
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People love to criticize other people’s choices, especially when those who have made those choices apparently really love them, as those hipster single-speeders do — it makes it so much worse that they love something that’s so wrong!!! DON’T THEY KNOW?!?
To be fair, I really didn’t get the single-speed thing either. I’d tell my single-speed-riding friends that the modern variable-ratio transmission system was invented for a reason, that mechanical advantage was a concept understood by the Ancient Greeks, that single-speeds could only possibly be efficient at a single speed.
When my nice 21-speed road bike was stolen in Cambridge a year ago (Boston-area is no San Francisco, but is hilly enough), I bought a single-speed from a friend, fully-intending to replace the back wheel with an internally-geared hub.
A year later, I’m still on the single-speed.
I really like it. The connection between the pedals and the wheel is tighter and smoother than any I’ve ever felt. I don’t ever think about being in the wrong gear at a red light or on a hill. I never worry about derailleur maintenance. My chain has never slipped once. And I still pass everyone, both uphill and downhill on my daily commute.
Sure, tell people the thing they enjoy is stupid. They’ll probably just keep enjoying it.
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One day, I will own a Triumph Spitfire (or a GT6, if I’m feeling particularly fiscally imprudent), after which point I will be deliciously, permanently annoyed and broke in the best possible way. If it were the GT6, I wouldn’t much care if it only worked 2 days a year and then most likely on the days I didn’t actually want to go anywhere in the first place , I would happily just look at it, and dismantle SU carburetors in the kitchen sink. Because GT6.
ETA: /notsorryaboutpostingcarsinbikethread
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To be fair if most cars on the road were about the size and shape of most any Triumph there would be far less conflict between the different road factions.
My step=dad had a collection of Triumphs and MG’s (only MG TB’s tho) I think I preferred the lines of the Spitfire over the rest tho I would drive any of them… so long as he had already replaced anything electric about it.
But I’m short, I looked cool in a Spitfire. His best bud who rebuilt them with him was 6’7"-8" and looked hilarious in almost any of them. It didn’t help that he had the dress and demeanour of a college professor complete with baldness and leather elbow patches on his corduroy sports coats… he also wore a full face helmet anytime he drove any of them.
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I’m a used lefty, full-suspension Cannonade guy myself, but I’d consider suggesting this bike for my friend’s kid starting at ECU. His mom won’t spend more than $300 because she wants a disposable bike given his habits. Apparently most students leave their bikes locked on the racks outside their dorms. LOL.
If it were me I’d want an entry-level GT like the Escape II or whatever for $275. Local bike message boards are totally the way to go though.
