Beginner's Single Speed Questions!!!



19birel

New Member
Oct 12, 2013
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Hey guys, so for fitness purposes I decided to get into cycling, and after some research, and an 8.8mile ride (on my mum's old bike) in one gear, I decided a single speed was for me. Here's my question, the bike I plan on ordering has an 8.12 lb frame, but for an $100 about I can buy a lighter frame (3.8lbs) and swap the components over. I know weight is critical in biking, but I want to know if the extra $100 for the lighter frame would be worth it, I don't have enough experience riding to be able to quantify how the weight loss would feel. I go up a lot of hills so I was thinking after hitting a few hills I would notice a difference but again I'm not sure. All advice appreciated! Thanks
 
FWIW. I'm guessing that you may not be making a correct comparison and that the 8.12 lb. frame weight includes the fork & possibly the headset/etc. ...

Because it's pretty difficult for a normal-sized steel bicycle frame to weigh in at 8 lbs.

So, of the 4.3 lb. difference, 2+ lbs. are probably the fork ...

I don't know where the extra weight is coming from.

Regardless, weight is generally NOT that important for non-competitive riders other than for bragging rights with your buddies unless you live in a third floor walk up apartment, or have a rotor cuff problem and need to hoist the bike onto a rooftop car rack, etc.

  • I know a guy who spent close to $5000 (according to him) on the high end Kestrel frameset w/ the fork which had a Titanium steerer + full DA group + Ksyrium SSC wheelset + CF bars (more exotic at the time than now) + other high end stuff about 10+ years ago, and then he strapped an underseat pack on his bike which easily weighed over a lb. Add the air pump + water bottles (filled) and suddenly a couple of pounds of bare frame weight may not seem quite as important.
  • THAT's my way of suggesting that you should ride the bike with its current frame & then decide if the potentially lighter bike will be a real benefit to your riding experience.

So, that begs the questions ...

  1. What bike are you ordering whose frame weighs 8.12 pounds?
  2. What frame are you considering as the alternative?
  3. Why not just buy the lighter frame & build up the bike from scratch with the parts you really want to use rather than swapping what must be mediocre parts if the 'first' bike truly has a frame which weighs 8.12 lbs?
  • What is the cost of the 'first', over-weight bike going to be?
  • What is your projected, total budget?
 
I misread the figures, and realized that the 8.12lbs is with the headset and fork as you predicted. So the aprox. 2 extra lbs. probably won't mean much to me. The frame I was looking at was the Sette Xion, but after further research learned that it would probably require some sort of kit to run a single speed setup with it as it's designed for multiple gears, and from what I understand it's not that great a frame anyways.

The bike I'm set on currently is a State Bicycle Co. Abacabb 2.0, with an 8.12lb frame set including frame, forks, and headset. If I order it with the optional carbon fiber fork, that should bring the weight down even more. My budget is to stay under $600, here are the costs I projected.

- Abacabb 2.0 with carbon fibre fork, free wheel cog, and water bottle cage- $586 shipped

- Building up the Sette frame with some lesser quality (random ebay stuff) parts- aprox. $610 depending on shipping and if I missed a part or 2

It now appears swapping the components from the Abacabb to the Sette aren't worth the cost in comparison to weight savings. Also I think I could end up spending more on a lesser bike given my budget by doing so. With the carbon fibre fork I could end up narrowing the gap between the weights of the two bikes.

Overall it appears the State Bicycle is my best bet, as there is no potential fluctuation in cost and from what I've been told I can rely on the components all being of good quality for the price instead of having to scout ebay for cheap parts, some of which are generic and probably mediocre quality to end up over budget with a crappy bike.

EDIT: just talk to State Bicycle, and the carbon fork is 2lbs. lighter than the standard fork on the abacabb 2.0. This would bring the frame set weight down to just over 6lbs. I'm inclined to believe that the State frame weighs about the same give or take a few grams as the Sette eliminating the use of a frame swap.
 
Quote:Originally Posted by 19birel . The bike I'm set on currently is a State Bicycle Co. Abacabb 2.0, with an 8.12lb frame set including frame, forks, and headset. If I order it with the optional carbon fiber fork, that should bring the weight down even more. My budget is to stay under $600, here are the costs I projected.
--- EDIT: just talk to State Bicycle, and the carbon fork is 2lbs. lighter than the standard fork on the abacabb 2.0. This would bring the frame set weight down to just over 6lbs. I'm inclined to believe that the State frame weighs about the same give or take a few grams as the Sette eliminating the use of a frame swap.


FWIW. Before you actually pony up for a bike from State Bicycles, you should ask them for some of the specifics regarding the frame geometry because I did not see a geometry chart when I glanced at their website ... Their frames definitely appear to have a Road geometry (a good thing, actually) ... While the head tube angle appears to be about 73º, it would be good to know what the top tube length is for the various frame sizes. Also, most of the components which are included with the already-built bike are not listed -- in particular, brake calipers, hubs, rims. Another thing which 'I' cannot see are cable stops-or-guides for a rear brake caliper's cable housing.
  • Now, I mention THAT because I have a faux-Track frame whose "cable stops" are both poorly spaced & poorly designed, IMO ... as they are, they almost serve no purpose other than provide spacing on the frame for the zip ties.
BTW. Here's my fore mentioned faux-Track bike ... Campagnolo seat post, Chorus crank/BB, & brake calipers ... Miche rear hub, Hügi 240 front hub, Tektro brake levers, etc. ...
700
If you look at the underside of the top tube, you can see that the rear brake cable's housing is simply lashed in place with zip ties.