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hey thanks dogsballs. i went to holloway and they were really helpful: got LCC membership so got a discount, basically am getting the fillmore with a new set of handlebars and brakes. will be ready by 5pm friday, just in time for critical mass :-)

haha, no rum's more my tipple :)

if i got my bike by then, i'd love to come... (and i'm a real beginner!)

d0cA

damn, i'm gonna do my best to be there! i'm getting a bike tomorrow (i hope): i've been on nyc ones a few times and london as well in the past, although not recently. it's usually a great time, apart from the one mass that was hounded through the streets of nyc by the cops, but that's another story...

update: so i went south on saturday and found brixton bikes very helpful. test rode the fillmore again, as well as the langster. not really that much difference (to me - being a newbie) but the fillmore frame definitely seemed to be what i wanted (including the rackmount points in case i want them later). one thing i was surprised at was the guy said it only came with the freewheel sprocket but they could put a fixed one on for me (it's a flipflop hub), plus a few other small changes like short, straight handlebars and toe clips would probably take the price up to about 500quid (sorry, no pounds sign on this keyboard, and i'm doing my best to keep the exclamation marks out). i decided to come home again and phoned around a few places/checked out a few websites. going rate is 450 and brixton definitely have the best deal in terms of support afterwards (and seemed to be most honest, not pushing me to get a more expensive bike than i need or anything) but brixton is a long way to go when i'm north london based.... so dogsballs, that tip about holloway is appreciated: i'd kinda overlooked them.

i'll let you all know. i'm going to phone around again a bit this afternoon when i have a bit of time (work!) and will try to get one either today or tomorrow. can't wait - except for the miserable weather i see outside this morning, i better start getting everyone's advice about wet weather gear soon as well!

thanks for all the help,

d0cA

hey all, just wanted to say thanks for the advice: here's my story....

i am a total newbie when it comes to single-speed bikes, although when i was cycling around town last year on my an old crappy mountain bike from back in the day, i mostly only used one gear. so, why not? i'm also sure that i'll be in london for the next year, and leaving cheap, so i think investing in a bike is a good idea transportation wise. my basic quandry was similar to wappingwarrior's: do i get a off-the-shelf bike like a fuji, langster, paddy wagon, etc, with the intention of working on it over the next year, or do i spend a bit more at the outset and get some kind of custom made bike.

anyway, went down to BLB yesterday to see what they had. gotta say they were really quite helpful and i testrode quite a few bikes. but then the friend who was with me spotted a really nice, blue ciocci (i think) that also rode extremely well and was about 750quid. we ended up discussing that bike for a bit and the girl working there suggested all these improvements - changing wheels and trims around, essentially making it look prettier. "if it looks like that, everyone on the street will turn their heads as you cycle past to see the bike!"

then i came back home and found this particular thread and made me realise that yes, i was being totally ripped off. glad i decided to sleep on it! and i'm back to my original dilemma:

• langster, with it's aluminium frame?
  
• kona paddy wagon - my impression is that this is a bit heavier and i wasn't taken with this bike, but i haven't been for a test ride
  
• fuji track bike - seemed like a nice ride when i tried at BLB, but i stupidly didn't note down what year/model it was: does anyone know what it was that i tried out?
  
• lemond filmore - this was also nice ride, but maybe i'm confusing it with the fuji?
  
  

i know there's a few others out there in the same price bracket, but i'm trying to cut down choices here, not increase them. i've decided that i 'm not gonna build a bike to start with as i want it now - to be riding - rather than a month or two when i've got my act together.

any advice truly appreciated,

thanks,

d0cA