SRL Archive - Discussions and Debates

What is this kind of bike called.
Where can I get one cheaper.

http://bikes.urbanoutfitters.com/build.asp

single speed street bike?
pawn shop

E: that is so weird….flip flop hub (sprocket on both sides of rear wheel) one is a normal freewheel (lets you coast without pedaling) while the other side is fixed, meaning that if the bike moves, your crank has to move.

Besides looking awesome, are they any good at being bikes?

if you plan on casually cruising around a campus/town/city it looks like it would hold the bill. Stress on the casual. Since it is a single speed, it would do poorly on hills, and at high speed. It does have 700C wheels though, (which is a French wheel sizing) and is roughly 28-29" (pretty large). The seat and handle bars are at about the same level, so it would take some getting used to to ride; you would have to be hunched over a little.
So, if you don't have many hills, don't need to fly to class, and don't need to do any offroading, it should be fine. I can't even express all the trouble that geared bikes bring if you don't get a great one. I can never get the derailers set right on them, and if I do, the cable stretches and you gotta do it again. The simple 1 speed design would remove that.
You might have a hard time finding replacement inner-tubes locally (probably not in California but here in Montana I would).

I'm going to be UC Davis in a year, where a bike is pretty much mandatory
I'll just be using it to go around campus and stuff, but the $400 is a lot for a bike, and Urban Outfitters overprices all of their stuff anyways.

That style of bike is pretty sexy though, and I'm thinking about getting one like that, but I bet I'd look silly being all hunched over riding it hmm…

Thanks Brain.

From: Brain
single speed street bike?
pawn shop

E: that is so weird….flip flop hub (sprocket on both sides of rear wheel) one is a normal freewheel (lets you coast without pedaling) while the other side is fixed, meaning that if the bike moves, your crank has to move.

My friend has one of those, I'm pretty sure he actually takes the wheel off and flips it around. I've seen him do it a couple times.

And Yohojo fixies are nice because they're lighter (and generally people think they are cooler), but you can't change gears or anything to bike up a hill.

And you look really weird when you brake suddenly because you have to stand on the pedals and press down on them.

tl;dr fixed gear: hip, simple, low maintenance multi-speed: more hassle, but more versatility, usually less cool

E:

From: YoHoJo
That style of bike is pretty sexy though, and I'm thinking about getting one like that, but I bet I'd look silly being all hunched over riding it hmm…

You wouldn't look silly, you'd probably have hipster bike enthusiasts asking you where you got it from :)

Have you ever ridden a 20" BMX bike? (Assuming the one you rode wasn't geared crazy…) This bike will be harder to start out (a little) but be faster at regular cruising. The gear ratio (44/16) is similar to that on most BMX bikes, except it has much larger wheels.

E:

From: Tim0suprem0

And you look really weird when you brake suddenly because you have to stand on the pedals and press down on them.

He still has the caliper brakes (hand brakes) so you don't have to stand up to brake. I'd be used to it, since most all unicycles are fixed drive ;)

Get a 20" ! :) i think that bike you posted is overpriced, but since i live in Argentina, i cant really tell. (even though i buy my bmx parts from an us site 'flatlandfuel').
Good luck with whatever bike you buy !

Flatland BMX is one of the coolest things ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LTVhqHAdo

I knew Shady? would show up in this thread :p

$400 is pretty steep…and I personally wouldn't buy a strange bike unless I got to try it out first. But then again, $400 can be really cheap compared to some bikes…

From: YoHoJo
Flatland BMX is one of the coolest things ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LTVhqHAdo

Yea, I used to flatland, but I was the only one in my city so I got bored. Now im more into street/park

From: Brain

He still has the caliper brakes (hand brakes) so you don't have to stand up to brake. I'd be used to it, since most all unicycles are fixed drive ;)

Oops didn't notice the handbrakes :rolleyes:

/offtopic is unicycling hard? I think they're sweet, but I have no desire to spend money on one and I don't know anyone who has one.

E:

From: YoHoJo
Flatland BMX is one of the coolest things ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LTVhqHAdo

Holy shit that guy is insane! Kids used to do this at my elementary school (they were in college, I was in elementary school lol), never knew it was a specific kind of BMX.

From: Tim0suprem0

/offtopic is unicycling hard? I think they're sweet, but I have no desire to spend money on one and I don't know anyone who has one.

yes, and no. Is riding a bike hard? I bet it was when you were learning :p Same thing but with 1 wheel. Just need to practice lots. You can get the fairly cheap for $50-80, my 5 footer was $112 on ebay, and my good one was $250.

uhmm…ontopic…yohojo would get lots of good health full exercise while riding a bicycle.