Track Bike?

fiscem4 said:

Hey everyone,

I live in manhattan and am a serious cyclist. However, I want to start using a bike to commute around the city and I don't really think it would be ok to chain my Madone to poles and such.

So, does anyone know where I could purchase a really inexpensive track bike to use for commuting?

Thanks guys and gals.

Check eBay for a cheap fixie. They seem to have a bunch of them lately.

fiscem4 said:

Hey everyone,

I live in manhattan and am a serious cyclist. However, I want to start using a bike to commute around the city and I don't really think it would be ok to chain my Madone to poles and such.

So, does anyone know where I could purchase a really inexpensive track bike to use for commuting?

Thanks guys and gals.

Anytime anyone puts out a call for a really inexpensive commuting solution, fixed or otherwise, you've gotta think "used." Have you done much cruising through second-hand bike shops, or scoured craigslist or Ebay?

The other consideration is what cheap means to you. I suppose there are lots of sturdy new track bikes on the market, designed for casual use, that aren't too costly. There's always the basic Bianchi Pista, which is popular and goes for $500 or so. Felt and other big names make some simple track bikes as well; the Lemond Filmore is a beauty.

Don't forget to look into small boutique shops either. Big cities are the place to find small builders in the city/track market. Out here in the San Francisco area, for instance, we've got Soma--they practically specialize in city-bound track bikes.

Thanks for the help guys.

Craigslist was a bust. I'm going to check Ebay though and maybe some local shops. I'm a college student, so 500 bucks is an extremely large amount of money to me. I'd like to keep it a little lower if possible.

Any more help would be greatly appreciated!

fiscem4 said:

Thanks for the help guys.

Craigslist was a bust. I'm going to check Ebay though and maybe some local shops. I'm a college student, so 500 bucks is an extremely large amount of money to me. I'd like to keep it a little lower if possible.

Any more help would be greatly appreciated!

I've seen new ones on eBay for about 300 and old 10 speed conversions near 100.

Cool. Good luck. If you dig enough through used circles, you'll find it!

Places that sell stuff to bike messengers will be your best bet. I found this place on the lower east side. They'll have all the theft protection add-ons too.

Link

I have been thinking about maybe assembling a track bike from scratch. Any idea if this would be cheaper, assuming i bought used componentry and a used frame.

one thing to keep in mind - I lost my tool kit the last time I moved so I would have to take it to a shop to have the work done. Any idea on what this would cost?

Thanks

Eric