The Street > The Bike Shop
24" bmx frames?
jonathan:
big wheels carry momentum well, which is why you can move faster over a distance than a bike with smaller wheels. the acceleration resistance is negligible since you are not on a bmx race track. if you have any skills at all, you can hop a curb on my sort of bike. 10 miles is a pretty good distance. my old commute was about 10 miles and I always did it on a cyclocross bike with slick tires and gears. riding that SS sounds SSlow, unless it's fairly flat or you're in phenomenal shape, or you just don't mind the extra time it takes.
if you're afraid of gears and you want something bmx-ish, there are tons of rigid single-speed 29ers on the market that you can find cheap- Surly Karate Monkey, Redline Monocog, Kona Unit, etc. most are geared very low- mine is 32/20, for climbing long hills covered in loose gravel and mud and stuff. for a commuter, you could put a taller gear and some semi-slick tires are ride the heck out of that. (a 29er tire and a 700c tire are the same inner diameter and will fit on the same size rim, within reason regarding the rim's width.) one of the raddest-looking bikes I have seen in Austin is a red/orange Karate Money with bmx handlebars on it. for that matter, 26" hardtails are a dime a dozen these days, and make fun commuters that can take some rough handling but still get you around much faster than a bmx-type bike.
jonathan:
--- Quote from: condrbkr on February 07, 2016, 06:53:35 PM ---
I'm thinking this... http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/bik/5413647461.html
--- End quote ---
you can do better than that for a modified old road bike. that looks like a turd that is ready to fall apart at any moment. on any bike on that end of the spectrum, you need to pay attention to the frame size. how tall are you?
cmc4130:
--- Quote from: jonathan on February 08, 2016, 10:25:47 AM ---big wheels carry momentum well, which is why you can move faster over a distance than a bike with smaller wheels. the acceleration resistance is negligible since you are not on a bmx race track. if you have any skills at all, you can hop a curb on my sort of bike. 10 miles is a pretty good distance. my old commute was about 10 miles and I always did it on a cyclocross bike with slick tires and gears. riding that SS sounds SSlow, unless it's fairly flat or you're in phenomenal shape, or you just don't mind the extra time it takes.
if you're afraid of gears and you want something bmx-ish, there are tons of rigid single-speed 29ers on the market that you can find cheap- Surly Karate Monkey, Redline Monocog, Kona Unit, etc. most are geared very low- mine is 32/20, for climbing long hills covered in loose gravel and mud and stuff. for a commuter, you could put a taller gear and some semi-slick tires are ride the heck out of that. (a 29er tire and a 700c tire are the same inner diameter and will fit on the same size rim, within reason regarding the rim's width.) one of the raddest-looking bikes I have seen in Austin is a red/orange Karate Money with bmx handlebars on it. for that matter, 26" hardtails are a dime a dozen these days, and make fun commuters that can take some rough handling but still get you around much faster than a bmx-type bike.
--- End quote ---
Good points.
Every Thursday evening there is a 10-ish mile ride/bar-cruise, and people ride it on every kind of bike. I have definitely cranked miles around Austin on bmx 20", 22", 24", as well as singlespeed mtb.
But, when I got a Fairdale Weekender, I was blown away by how fast, smooth, etc. it was on road. The slightly wider 32mm 700c road tires are fast but feel tough enough for minor bumps on the street.
Here's an article on road bike tires and how tire width makes a big difference:
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/tire-width-how-much-difference-do-a-few-millimeters-make/
So, I definitely agree that a cyclocross or true commuter bike is worth it.
jonathan:
if I could only have one bike, it might be my CX bike. 35mm tubeless tires, disc brakes, and a wide range of gears- you can ride it just about anywhere. I have ridden the main trail on the Barton Creek Greenbelt on it. tons of fun.
cmc4130:
Oh yeah, as far as 26" BMX goes, Volume's Sledgehammer and Hessian, as well as the STOLEN Zeke 26" are worth a look. It seems kinda weak that Volume opted for not-full-chromoly with the Hessian (after the Sledgehammer 26" was all chromo).
https://www.danscomp.com/products/107186/2016_Volume_Hessian_26_Bike.html?gclid=CIzfnr7r6MoCFZWFaQodvhAMGw
The Volume Sledgehammer 26" was fully jumpable bike.... not just a bar cruiser.
On the Hessian, you can see the short chainstays (rear tire coming close to the seat tube) at 15.75″ CS. Also, not as much bottom bracket drop as the Fairdale Taj.
Stolen Zeke 26" -- Note that the Zeke has the bottom bracket above axle level. This will make it feel different from the Taj which has 40mm bb drop. I'm not going to categorically say one design is better than the other, because I can bunnyhop and manual just as well on an mtb-dj bike with 25mm bb drop as well as a 24" BMX with bb rise, but they do feel different.
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