Alta Bikes

crowbar188

http://www.altabikes.no/

Anyone got any experience of these?

I emailed them and they said it would cost €800 incl shipping to get one sent over from the UK.

tunney

9.5kg for the whole bike? 1.4kg for the frame?

Very very heavy.

crowbar188

Well i dont think theyre intended to be raced at all. I think theyre designed as city or commuter bikes.

tunney

I know ........ but my giant bowery also a fixie for commuting is much less and much cheaper. Langster too.

crowbar188

Whats the Bowery like actually? Ive heard bad reports of that too.

And while im here i might aswell ask, how do you find cycling single speed in Dublin? Im thinking about getting one but can't help think ill regret it. I like the idea of its simplicity but im not sure if its really practical for such a hilly city.

niceonetom

that site is long on cool and short on detail. i can't see any specs as to what the wheels are (hubs- flip flop or single only?) what the crankset is (looks cheap?), headset etc.

if i can be cynical for a moment (!) it looks like a fairly generic low-end aluminium frame with a nice(ish) paint job and some cheap bits put together by an advertising co. and a graphic designer in a transparent attempt to cash in on teh-nu-hotness (:fixies, but they've gone single speed because that doesn't scare off the noobs).

you can do a lot better for €800. i think a specialized langster (ok, bit generic) would be a better bike for less money (and it's made by made by a bicycle manufacturer!!) or pearson, charge, bianchi, kona, iro, giant...

the singlespeed/fixie market has never been so competitive, shop around before you commit.

TinyExplosions

And don't forget the Fuji Track -a damn good looking single speed.

No problems using one in Dublin, I do every day -there's not that many hills around really, nothing a bit of practice wouldn't sort out

crowbar188

Do you not find it annoying only being able to travel so fast down a hill? Or do downhills give you a chance to get a breather after the uphills and so even it out?

Ghost Rider

The fact that you go so fast UP hills on a singlespeed is plenty compensation for only being able to go so fast on the way down. Well, I'll rephrase that: you either go up hills nice and fast fast or you go up them very, very slowly i.e. you get off and push. But that's only happened to me once around Dublin (in Chapelizod) and I cycle here every day.

Riding singlespeed, you do become very aware of road gradients: Dublin city centre is not as hilly as you might think. That said, if you're customising a bike, you do need to give some thought to your gear ratio. I use 42:16, which is quite common. I think the Langster has that too.

crowbar188 wrote: »

Do you not find it annoying only being able to travel so fast down a hill? Or do downhills give you a chance to get a breather after the uphills and so even it out?

tunney

Bowery is grand.

A 140-150 cadence downhill can still get some speed up

Andy-Pandy

Look at the size of the dudes legs in the pic on that site.

Killgore Trout

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Look at the size of the dudes legs in the pic on that site.

Makes it vaguely dodgy to look at in work. If only from people asking me why i'm looking at pics of a mutant boy in his undies - Damn my gay mutie fetish.

blorg

tunney wrote: »

9.5kg for the whole bike? 1.4kg for the frame?

Very very heavy.

I've seen 9.5kg region quoted for both the Specialized Langster and Giant Bowery.

niceonetom

blorg wrote: »

I've seen 9.5kg region quoted for both the Specialized Langster and Giant Bowery.

my langster weighs 8.2kg. it's missing a brake and has an all carbon fork though .

weight wouldn't be my main issue with the 'alta' -it would be the total lack of detail on their site.

Mr. Grieves

I wouldn't say Dublin is that hilly relative to many places. Not the city centre anyway. Where are you based? I use 42:16 and it's perfect. I'm going up and down all the (admittedly gentle) hills much faster than on a geared bike.

crowbar188

Im based in South Dublin. I know Dublin's not extremely hilly, but recently ive been trying to get some kind of idea what a single speed would be like so ive been staying in one gear going up hills and seeing how i go. It can be pretty tough but then again i guess when you know you can change gear maybe you dont push yourself as much.

Are you saying single speeds are faster going up hills because theyre lighter or just because people who ride them get fitter by not having gears?

Mr. Grieves

crowbar188 wrote: »

Are you saying single speeds are faster going up hills because theyre lighter or just because people who ride them get fitter by not having gears?

There's a bit of that, but it's more that you'll power up hills faster, just to keep a comfortable cadence. Can't say you're really using less effort, but it's fun. When you have a gear ratio that suits, and you're really used to it, you'll be fast. It takes a little bit of adjustment at first, of course.

Harrybelafonte

researched these before. 800euro makes it a bit of a no-no. Bowery from cyclesuperstore better and cheaper and a Fuji would be even better, Langster too comes in cheaper

blorg

Besides the weight advantage, a fixed gear is mechanically more efficient than a freewheel derailleur bike; it should be marginally easier to push a given gear on a fixie than it would be to push the same gear on a derailleur bike.

I'd like to see a few fixies included in the legendary "triple chainring challenge" though.

Canis Lupus

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Look at the size of the dudes legs in the pic on that site.

You do realise that it's a photoshopped pic right?

Andy-Pandy

Canis Lupus wrote: »

You do realise that it's a photoshopped pic right?

Yea, i figured that one out. I can be a bit slow sometimes.

crowbar188

I might buy a single speed and use it for exercise/pleasure cycling and then still keep my geared bike for commuting. I dont know if id fancy having to really push myself to make it up a hill while im on my way into or home from work or with a bag on my back. But i would like to do it in my spare time.

To take this thread off topic yet again, has anyone got any experience of IRO bikes? Anyone bought one?

They look pretty nice and ive heard nothing but good things about them and their customer service but im not sure if it'd be worth shipping a bike over from the US.