Hey all,
First, a warning: instead of just asking a simple question, I tend to elaborate a bit much... feel free to ignore me if you dislike this habit ;) also the actual questions are at the bottom...)
I recently decided I want to buy a fixed gear bike. A summary of how this went:
"hey these bikes look like fun, let's order a really cheap one online, they even have pretty colors!" (yes, I was looking at Create bikes, which are apparently the same as Republic bike)
"hm, if I spent a bit more I can get a nicer one" (looking at Polo&Bike, mainly because they at least where full chromoly frames)
"well, since it'll cost a bit more I'll do some research" (read a lot here and in other places, posted my first thread here, decided that maybe quality was more important than pretty colors and geometry actually matters too...)
"ok, this isn't going to be that easy"
Now, if I were to live in the States, I'd have an easy time of it. You have a lot of choice when it comes to these bikes (which in my price-range seems to equate to "buy a Kilo"). But, I live in the Netherlands. We have more bikes here than we have people (seriously, not a joke, we do). But apparently not a lot of fixed gear bikes.... which means hardly any stores that sell them and very limited availability when it comes to brands and parts and such. After quite a bit of searching I've found one store that sells more than just a few models, I'm going over there next weekend to check some bikes out.
Basically, I now have a few options, based on my budget and the bikes available:
-The Fuji Feather: probably my first choice right now, but they are out of stock untill october. If it is the best choice I'll wait. But I would really like to start riding in the summer...
-The Creme Vinyl Solo: I love the looks (on-par with the feather in my view), and it seems decent. But: the frame only has a chromoly seat tube, the rest is apparently hi-ten. They advertise that they get their tubes from Tange in Japan (which is supposed to be good) and the bike isn't heavier than most chromo bikes, so I was a bit surprised by the use of hi-ten steel. Specs on the same model in previous years seem to implicate that those where full chromo, which is even weirder. Or are other "chromo" frames in this price-range simply not full chromo either?
-The Maze fixed gear: a Dutch brand, which I guess is nice for me. Seems decent, though I'm not to fond of all the shiny metal personally. Full chromo frame and fork. But, hard to find any objective reviews...
-Build from scratch: I could get the store to build a bike up from scratch. They have Leader frames and a selection of parts. But, doing some calculations, the only thing I could get built up in my price range (max 750 euros or about 980 dollars) would be a Leader 721 frame with basic parts... or possibly a 722 frame with el cheapo parts...
A last note: in the Netherlands we can get a tax-benefit when buying a bike. In essence, I pay the bike from my before-tax income, which it's actually 42% cheaper. This is up to 750 euros (hence the budget). But this doesn't work if I order from outside of the Netherlands, or for second-hand bikes (not that there are many good second-hand FG's for my size for sale anyway)
When I'm at the store I'll try out a few bikes to see what fits best and rides best, but since the Fuji won't be there, I won't be able to compare it to the others.
Ok, so I do actually have some real questions:
-Does anyone have experience with the Creme Vinyl Solo and/or is the partly hi-ten steel frame a reason to stay away?
-Am I correct in assuming that building up a 721 or possibly 722 frame with "as cheap as they get" parts wouldn't really be a good idea?
-Assuming that no-one here will have experience with the Maze bikes, does anything in the specs pop out to suggest either "good" or "avoid like the plague"?
Again, thanks to anyone taking the time to read/reply!