al-fresco
Growing older but not up...
- Location
- Shropshire
Specialized Langster 2011 - clearance price £399.99.
I'd had a hankering to try a single speed bike for a while. I was watching ebay and put a bid in on a couple of 2010 Langsters but they went for more than I thought reasonable - particularly when you factored in the cost of travelling to pick them up. When a 2010 Langster went for £330 I thought I might as well consider buying new. So I ended up buying a 2011 Langster for £399 with free delivery from J.E. James.
Sizing can be a problem when buying over the internet but I measured my Surly Cross Check and decided that I needed the a 54cm Langster. They had the same length seat tube (even though the Surly's is described as 50cm) and the Langster had a slightly longer cross tube - 54.8cm compared to 54cm on the Surly.
There was a slight delay in delivery - low stocks meant that James had to ship a bike from one of their shops to their mail order centre before sending it on to me but even so it was delivered just 5 days after the order was placed.
After opening the box I had to cut a few cable ties, attach the front wheel, the handlebars and the seat. Pedals and toe-clips were supplied but I took some Shimano M520s off the Surly and put them on the Langster. I didn't bother with the bell, chainguard or the front and rear reflectors.
A quick visual check and everything seemed to be in order - brakes pre-installed and correctly adjusted, tyres inflated. The chain was a bit tight so I slackened it off a touch.
So, what had I got for my £400? A nice light aluminium frame with carbon forks, cantilever brakes and 31.8mm aluminium handlebars. It had a flip flop rear wheel with a 16 tooth freewheel on one side and a 16 tooth fixed cog on the other. The saddle was a comfy looking Body Geometry Riva Road, with steel rails. Ahh, there was a snag - the 2 bolt seat post had to be adjusted with an allen key through the seat - so any after market seat would need to have a hole through it or I'd need to change the seat post as well. Fortunately the standard saddle has proved to be perfectly comfortable so far.
The tyres were Specialized's own "all condition" kevlar protected 700x23c. The clearances were pretty narrow. I believe it's possible to go up to 25c on the rear but that's your limit. There's no provision for mudguards though there are bosses for a rear rack and 2 bottle cages.
The paint work and bar tape is black and I think it looks very nice in an understated way.
I bought this bike to ride in the winter, thinking it might be suitable for short-ish 20-30 mile trips on the undulating roads of North Shropshire. I was wrong - it's way better than that.
The bike is set up in "freewheel" mode by default and, for the first week, I acclimatised myself to a new style of riding. Forgetting about gears and concentrating on momentum. To my surprise I found hills weren't nearly as bad as I expected - on a single speed it's either get up or get off. And when the wind blows you get down on the drops. I surprised to find my legs were getting stronger by the day and I was soon spending more and more time out of the saddle. Before the week was out I was tackling 60 mile rides and 14% gradients.
So it was time to flip the back wheel to the fixed cog. Now that was scary. I just didn't realise how much I tended to freewheel. The first problem to be overcome was that my brain wanted me to stop pedalling before I applied the brakes, braking while your legs are spinning at 130rpm took a bit of coming to terms with.
Then there were those lapses of concentration - you wonder if the pubs are open so you stop pedalling to look at your watch, there's a brief nanosecond before the bike grabs your legs and whirls them around. You learn to get your bum off the saddle while still pedalling across a level crossing. You know you've got it when you don't even stop pedalling to fart.
I thought I'd probably give it 2 weeks as a fixie before reverting to the freewheel but it's amazingly addictive. Every time you go out you can see the improvement. You attack every slope and incline, covet every ounce of momentum and then, going downhill, get those legs spinning as fast as you can manage. It's fantastic fun!
Some reviewers have said that the standard brakes aren't very good but I've not had a problem with them - and I live in a hilly area. A couple of days ago a car overtook me and then stopped suddenly while I was still doing 20+mph I nailed the front brake and, with back pressure on the pedals, felt the back end skitter lightly over the tarmac as the bike stopped in a gratifyingly short distance.
I've had the Langster 3 and 1/2 weeks and done 370 miles on it, the last 230 fixed. My Surly hasn't been out of the garage since the Langster was delivered. For a 2 mile trip to the gym, a 10 mile ride to town, a 30 mile sprint or a 60 mile cruise I've chosen the Langster every time.
At the clearance price I think it's a bargain.
I'd had a hankering to try a single speed bike for a while. I was watching ebay and put a bid in on a couple of 2010 Langsters but they went for more than I thought reasonable - particularly when you factored in the cost of travelling to pick them up. When a 2010 Langster went for £330 I thought I might as well consider buying new. So I ended up buying a 2011 Langster for £399 with free delivery from J.E. James.
Sizing can be a problem when buying over the internet but I measured my Surly Cross Check and decided that I needed the a 54cm Langster. They had the same length seat tube (even though the Surly's is described as 50cm) and the Langster had a slightly longer cross tube - 54.8cm compared to 54cm on the Surly.
There was a slight delay in delivery - low stocks meant that James had to ship a bike from one of their shops to their mail order centre before sending it on to me but even so it was delivered just 5 days after the order was placed.
After opening the box I had to cut a few cable ties, attach the front wheel, the handlebars and the seat. Pedals and toe-clips were supplied but I took some Shimano M520s off the Surly and put them on the Langster. I didn't bother with the bell, chainguard or the front and rear reflectors.
A quick visual check and everything seemed to be in order - brakes pre-installed and correctly adjusted, tyres inflated. The chain was a bit tight so I slackened it off a touch.
So, what had I got for my £400? A nice light aluminium frame with carbon forks, cantilever brakes and 31.8mm aluminium handlebars. It had a flip flop rear wheel with a 16 tooth freewheel on one side and a 16 tooth fixed cog on the other. The saddle was a comfy looking Body Geometry Riva Road, with steel rails. Ahh, there was a snag - the 2 bolt seat post had to be adjusted with an allen key through the seat - so any after market seat would need to have a hole through it or I'd need to change the seat post as well. Fortunately the standard saddle has proved to be perfectly comfortable so far.
The tyres were Specialized's own "all condition" kevlar protected 700x23c. The clearances were pretty narrow. I believe it's possible to go up to 25c on the rear but that's your limit. There's no provision for mudguards though there are bosses for a rear rack and 2 bottle cages.
The paint work and bar tape is black and I think it looks very nice in an understated way.
I bought this bike to ride in the winter, thinking it might be suitable for short-ish 20-30 mile trips on the undulating roads of North Shropshire. I was wrong - it's way better than that.
The bike is set up in "freewheel" mode by default and, for the first week, I acclimatised myself to a new style of riding. Forgetting about gears and concentrating on momentum. To my surprise I found hills weren't nearly as bad as I expected - on a single speed it's either get up or get off. And when the wind blows you get down on the drops. I surprised to find my legs were getting stronger by the day and I was soon spending more and more time out of the saddle. Before the week was out I was tackling 60 mile rides and 14% gradients.
So it was time to flip the back wheel to the fixed cog. Now that was scary. I just didn't realise how much I tended to freewheel. The first problem to be overcome was that my brain wanted me to stop pedalling before I applied the brakes, braking while your legs are spinning at 130rpm took a bit of coming to terms with.
Then there were those lapses of concentration - you wonder if the pubs are open so you stop pedalling to look at your watch, there's a brief nanosecond before the bike grabs your legs and whirls them around. You learn to get your bum off the saddle while still pedalling across a level crossing. You know you've got it when you don't even stop pedalling to fart.
I thought I'd probably give it 2 weeks as a fixie before reverting to the freewheel but it's amazingly addictive. Every time you go out you can see the improvement. You attack every slope and incline, covet every ounce of momentum and then, going downhill, get those legs spinning as fast as you can manage. It's fantastic fun!
Some reviewers have said that the standard brakes aren't very good but I've not had a problem with them - and I live in a hilly area. A couple of days ago a car overtook me and then stopped suddenly while I was still doing 20+mph I nailed the front brake and, with back pressure on the pedals, felt the back end skitter lightly over the tarmac as the bike stopped in a gratifyingly short distance.
I've had the Langster 3 and 1/2 weeks and done 370 miles on it, the last 230 fixed. My Surly hasn't been out of the garage since the Langster was delivered. For a 2 mile trip to the gym, a 10 mile ride to town, a 30 mile sprint or a 60 mile cruise I've chosen the Langster every time.
At the clearance price I think it's a bargain.
