New commuter

[AyBee]

I've just managed to get myself an internship in london and this means I'll need to commute about 10 miles or so I imagine. Now, the tube is going to cost me £100/month which is ridiculous so I'm tempted to take a bike and cycle instead. I don't want to be too precious about my bike (my normal roadie and mountainbike are too nice to commute on and store outside so I'm thinking about building/finding a cheap single-speed (for maintenance issues). I currently have an old road bike (Dawes) which is about 10 years old and would probably do for a base conversion with the addition of new brakes/cables (although I've always had issues with the threaded headset). What would people recommend? Find a newer frame to build up or try this frame with either a new headset or would an a-head converter solve my issues with the headset getting loose?

[AyBee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for the suggestion. It's a bit on the high side though, I'm not getting paid very much and also, it needs to be kept outside I think so I don't want it looking very nice...May even vinyl wrap (/electrical tape wrap) whatever it is I get to make it look a little less nice

[AyBee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Umm:
New forks: £30
Brakes: £50
Headset: £15
Bar tape: £5
Sundries: £20

£120?

Don't get me wrong, it looks like an awesome bike for the money and I will definitely consider it!

[AyBee]

walm said:

Second hand Langster (the mondeo of single speeds)?
£230
http://www.gumtree.com/london/97/67168597.html
£240
http://www.gumtree.com/london/90/67165090.html
£190
http://www.gumtree.com/london/06/67006006.html

Is the langster a better bike than the Kona? Have found it for the same price as the Kona...! Still undecided on the buying new, but then it's only 3.5/4 months of monthly tube tickets and it's paid for itself...

[AyBee]

Raven Flyer said:

Or get an Oyster card.

https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do

It's still £99 monthly, i.e. The bikes discussed above would pay for themselves in 4 months and the bike would still have value at the end of it...! Not really much comparison for me - lemming crammed in the tube or a ride along the river at my own pace...

[AyBee]

walm said:

AyBee said:

walm said:

Second hand Langster (the mondeo of single speeds)?
£230
http://www.gumtree.com/london/97/67168597.html
£240
http://www.gumtree.com/london/90/67165090.html
£190
http://www.gumtree.com/london/06/67006006.html

Is the langster a better bike than the Kona? Have found it for the same price as the Kona...! Still undecided on the buying new, but then it's only 3.5/4 months of monthly tube tickets and it's paid for itself...

Steel (Kona) vs. Aluminium and Carbon Fork (Langster).
Apparently this is a big deal for some...
Kona RRPs for more: £550 vs. £450 so your resale might be better on the Kona.

Frankly most important thing is that one is LOUD metallic mint and the other is stealth matt black.

I had noted the frame materials but then components are also important. I'm not a big fan of the Kona colour purely from a stand out point of view but I may be able to wrap it in a tape of some sort to make it look a bit more tatty Out of interest, has anyone ever done this?

[AyBee]

I did check out some of the bikes locked up outside and they didn't look too nice. Want a SS just so I don't have to bother with maintenance and where it's kept. I'd be worrying about my roadie (which is north of £1000).

[AyBee]

The thing is, I have everything else...so shoes, pedals, coat, helmet, locks, cycling gear isn't an extra cost for me. Am I really going to end up spending £99/month using the tube over the weekends? I doubt it but happy to hear the thoughts of others...

ETA: Peak return using oyster card in zones 1-2 is £4.60 - so I'd have to do ~20 extra return journeys over the period of the month to get close to the tube monthly ticket. I highly doubt I'll be doing that on the basis that my pay as an intern is tiny...

Edited by AyBee on Thursday 21st October 12:19