Buying a Bicycle, question about crank

[QueBert]

I know there are some hardcore bike dudes on these forums, I'm pretty lacking on my knowledge so here's what I'd like to know. I'm buying a Klunker, and 2 people told me the 42t crank with 22t coaster style cog it comes with will be pretty slow. I know these aren't speed bikes, but I'd like to get what performance I can out of it. It's single speed with coaster brakes, I'm pretty sure that makes some difference. Also, the 2 people made no comparison to anything, they just said slow. Would it be beach cruiser slow, or slow compared to a normal street bike? It's a State Bicycle Co bike, if that matters. Here's the exact link

Linky to bike

I don't want a beach cruiser slow bike, but I also don't want to drop $200+ extra on a brand new $600 bike either. I'm hoping if it's going to be slow slow there's a crank I could get for a reasonable price ($100'ish) that will give me some extra pep. I know these aren't meant to be speed demons, but I've seen videos on YT of some builds that look to move pretty well.

 

[sdifox]

It's like 2:1 ratio, meaning when you pedal one revolution the wheel turns two revolutions. You probably want something closer to 3:1 ratio. Why are you buying a single speed bike?

Co-op Cycles CTY 1.1 Step-Through Bike | REI Co-op

Made for urban cruising, the Co-op Cycles CTY 1.1 Step-Through bike features a low crossbar for easy mounts and dismounts, a flat handlebar for a heads-up ride and a versatile 3x8 drivetrain.

www.rei.com

Single speed with two rear gear setting freewheel or fixed $300

https://www.amazon.com/6KU-Aluminum-Fixed-Single-Speed-Shadow/dp/B07VVGW8JD/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?crid=3OX18TTO185XA&keywords=Bicycles%2Bfor%2Bmen&qid=1676593497&sprefix=bicycles%2Bfor%2Bmen%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-19&th=1&psc=1

18" hybrid $315

https://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-Comfort-Aluminum-24-Speed-Shifters/dp/B06XWZ1ZTX/ref=mp_s_a_1_20?crid=3OX18TTO185XA&keywords=Bicycles%2Bfor%2Bmen&qid=1676592928&sprefix=bicycles%2Bfor%2Bmen%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-20&th=1&psc=1

<---- not a cyclenut.

 

[QueBert]

It's like 2:1 ratio, meaning when you pedal one revolution the wheel turns two revolutions. Why are you buying a single speed bike?

Good question, I had never even heard of a Klunker until a few days ago. I love how it looks and I'll be riding on flat roads so I think a single speed would be alright if I have a good sprocket on it. All the videos I watched and stuff I read on Reddit it seems Klunkers are fun bikes, and maybe a little impractical. But the one I ordered is unique with the Wu-Tang branding and bright yellow color really drew me to it.

 

[sdifox]

I would never buy a single speed bike lol. Especially if you are a casual rider. Cancel the order buy a cheaper bike and put a wu tang clan sticker on it. Fixed ratio gearing with backpedal brakes is not for beginners.

 

[WelshBloke]

I love how it looks and I'll be riding on flat roads so I think a single speed would be alright if I have a good sprocket on it.

I get the looks thing but if you are using it to get around a single speed is going to be a pain in the arse.

 

[QueBert]

I would never buy a single speed bike lol. Especially if you are a casual rider. Cancel the order buy a cheaper bike and put a wu tang clan sticker on it. Fixed ratio gearing with backpedal brakes is not for beginners.

I get the looks thing but if you are using it to get around a single speed is going to be a pain in the arse.

Hummm I might have made a semi-bad to a potentially terrible decision here, which sounds about right for me. I was on the Klunker Reddit forum and a couple spoke very highly of them as an everyday bike. One just replied to me

I’ve kept up with track bikes on mine when it still had the coaster brake. For a single speed mtb they really aren’t bad. I upgraded to a 30x12 though.

and some other random person I don't know said he uses his for doing Door Dash deliveries and loves it. It's either this or a beach cruiser I was looking at. And unless these are on a whole different level, it should be a far more friendly bike to ride than a beach cruiser no? And maybe I'm just oversimplifying things because I don't know much, but couldn't a 7 speed Shimano shifter be swapped in? I don't expect a 1:1 drop in place and work, but I'd think it would be doable without a crazy amount of modification.

Any ways, both of you who replied said I should rethink, so I should probably at the very least put a lot of thought into this lol.

 

[WelshBloke]

I mean you might love it! I ust know that it would annoy the piss out of me.

Can you borrow or rent a few bikes to try them out? Fixies are a bit more of a fashion statement than a mode of transport. You can get round on them but you are sacrificing a lot of things that make riding a bike easy.

$500 isn't a lot for a nice bike but it's a lot for a bike that doesn't suit you!

 

[sdifox]

Other than couriers, only hipsters ride fixies. Why buy a bike with fixed gears then add gears? Just buy a bike with multiple speeds to start with. Also the bike you linked doesn't have the fittings for the brake cables nor shifter cables.

My eight year olds have bikes with shifters for crying out loud.

 

[deadlyapp]

The only people I know who have bought fixies are because they are wannabe gangsters or horrible hipsters. No honest biker would ever use one.

 

[QueBert]

The only people I know who have bought fixies are because they are wannabe gangsters or horrible hipsters. No honest biker would ever use one.

I just went to the local bike shop, the guy helping me was a little older and told me the whole story about where the term Klunker originated from. We talked about them for about 5 minutes and I found it pretty fascinating. He grew up in the part of Nor Cal where some of the Klunkers OG's were from. He suggested I watch the documentary Klunkerz to learn more. What he schooled me on was pretty cool, the name now makes sense and I really gotta go watch the movie. We ended up talking about 15 minutes about various bikes. I ended up buying a Kryptonite lock, he actually recommended I buy the $50 cheaper one. Not many business owners will tell you to buy a cheaper product, so I appreciate his honesty. Whatever bike I get that'll definitely be my shop.

Unfortunately, I thought the hipster thing too before deadlyapp mentioned it lol. But I'm a west coast kid at heart and think it makes sense now why these bikes caught my attention like they did. I'm sure I use to see them growing up in the late 70's and 80s along with all the beach cruisers I'd see. He said he digs how they look because they remind him of his childhood. When I asked what he thought about me having ordered one, his take was neutral. He said they won't be that bad of a ride around here with a 16t cog, but the single speed will give my knees a decent workout. His shop sells uber high end road bikes and some 29" mountain bikes and I told him my budget so he had no motives to get me to buy one of his. I think the cheapest in-store is well over a grand. I showed him the website for the bike I ordered, he said if I don't send it back to bring it in because he'd love to check it out. And if I keep it to put a 16t on it as that would make it a totally different bike peddling wise.

I don't want to be a dirty hipster, and I don't want to destroy my knees, but god damn I'm struggling now. I won't be here the day the bike's being delivered. And they charge $50 for returns. So if I return it I'll be out $50 which sucks. But would be what I deserve for using my heart instead of my head for deciding to buy it in the 1st place. And it doesn't help I did half my research on the Klunker Reddit, of course, the people there are going to love them lol.

With how I'm thinking, maybe I gotta keep it for a fun bike and buy a 2nd more rideable one to use when I need to seriously get around. I did talk to him about other larger non mountain or road bikes. He said if I want a 27" BMX or something similar it will be single-speed. And the 2nd bike I was looking at was the DK General Lee 27" BMX. Which would probably not be super great to ride more than short trips here and there.

And deadlyapp, your view on who rides these is kinda closeminded, there happens to be a 3rd type who would 100% ride these, at least around here. And that would be the tweakers. But they are bad bad bad news and maybe worse than the Hipsters lol. Also in So Cal some of the Jeff Spicoli surfer/stoner types would ride these in Venice. I'm none of the 4 though so I don't fit the rider criteria.

I gotta sleep on this one, I'm glad I posted my question I have a lot to think about. Anyways thanks to everyone who replied. I got a lot to sleep on tonight.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Bicycle Gear Speed Cadence Table | BikeCalc

Calculate cycling speeds at a specified cadence given chainring, sprocket, tire and wheel sizes.

www.bikecalc.com

You can play around with that and figure out your speeds based on gearing. With that gearing and at a comfortable 80-90 cadence you are looking at 13-14mph. With that style of bike you aren't going to go super fast anyway unless you are in insanely good biking shape. Nothing about that bike equals speed on pavement.

 

[Pohemi]

I second/third/fourth/etc the suggestion to get something with at least a few gears. Hell, you can get beach cruiser bikes with a 3 speed rear hub (harder to do maintenance on though).

IF you stick with a single speed like that and want to change the gear ratio...I recommend looking at the rear cog/freewheel before the front chainring/crank. It'd be a cheaper swap. I use to run a 46x16 or 15 on my BMX bikes...the more teeth in front, or the less teeth in the rear, the harder it gets to pedal but the higher the top speed.

Edit: yep, I missed your comment about the 16t cog. You're already on top of it.

 

[QueBert]

Bicycle Gear Speed Cadence Table | BikeCalc

Calculate cycling speeds at a specified cadence given chainring, sprocket, tire and wheel sizes.

www.bikecalc.com

You can play around with that and figure out your speeds based on gearing. With that gearing and at a comfortable 80-90 cadence you are looking at 13-14mph. With that style of bike you aren't going to go super fast anyway unless you are in insanely good biking shape. Nothing about that bike equals speed on pavement.

I know I brought up making it faster, but I didn't mention what kind of pace I was hoping to hit in my OP. I don't want to or expect to go fast, 13-14mph would be fantastic for me. With my old beach cruiser 13 was never gonna happen. I never had a method to measure my speed, but I'm doubtful it was over 10 with me peddling with some force. That bike was slow
That link's interesting, thank you, I think 70 is a doable cadence and that would be 14.75 with a 16t cog. That sounds about the speed I'd want to go, and don't think 60 would be too taxing on my old out of shape body.

I second/third/fourth/etc the suggestion to get something with at least a few gears. Hell, you can get beach cruiser bikes with a 3 speed rear hub (harder to do maintenance on though).

IF you stick with a single speed like that and want to change the gear ratio...I recommend looking at the rear cog/freewheel before the front chainring/crank. It'd be a cheaper swap. I use to run a 46x16 or 15 on my BMX bikes...the more teeth in front, or the less teeth in the rear, the harder it gets to pedal but the higher the top speed.

I am looking at 3 speed beach cruisers right now, and found a few weird hybrid 27" BMX thingies that have multiple speeds. But if I could get the one I linked to go to 14 without having to peddle so hard my HR would hit a consistent 160+ I think I'd be happy. I like to cruise around anyways, so maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea I've had this year. If I hadn't ordered it yet I probably wouldn't have ordered after this thread. And the $50 return fee I'll incur will suck. I haven't found another bike I like the looks of as much, but I'll keep looking tonight and if I find something I'll order it in a few day and eat the $50 and send this back. But if I find nothing then I'll sleep on it and when I wake up maybe ask the Magic 8 Ball what I should do. Sometimes you gotta put it in faith's hands and see what happens.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I would never buy a single speed bike lol. Especially if you are a casual rider. Cancel the order buy a cheaper bike and put a wu tang clan sticker on it. Fixed ratio gearing with backpedal brakes is not for beginners.

That’s what my “bmx’s” were though 😉

 

[sdifox]

That’s what my “bmx’s” were though 😉

BMXes are not for beginners

 

[ch33zw1z]

The only people I know who have bought fixies are because they are wannabe gangsters or horrible hipsters. No honest biker would ever use one.

I wouldn't mind having a single speed, not really interested in a fixie. A single speed could be a nice fun throw-it-on-the-rack day trip bike.

 

[QueBert]

So my choices are questionable for things at times, I woke up without having found another bike that caught my eye. So I downloaded a Magic 8 Ball app and asked the higher power if should I keep the bike. *shake shake*

All signs point to yes

Now that does say yes, but I've always thought the response sounded like a kind of shaky unsure yes. And only a fool would make a decision based on being told the answer looks like it should be yes.

The only sensible thing to do was wait a minute, ask the phone again, and give it another shake to be sure. A no, or vague answer means the signs were pointing incorrectly.

So I reasked the question *shake shake*

yes


Well, that settles this quandary, I did read up on gearing and cadence, I should be able to go 13-17mph without much trouble if I drop in a $20 16t freewheel cog. And it'll give me a decent workout *a plus* According to the cadence calculator, 44x16 @ 100 one could get to a hair over 20mph. Apparently, 100's doable if a person's in shape (I am not...) But if I get into shape by riding, I'm assuming a cadence of 100 to be obtainable. But maybe 100 with a 44x16 isn't the same as 100 on a street bike. It also said 100 with a 44x12 you could go 28mph. But I think there has to be more to it than that. I guess I'll find out in a week. Maybe I'm wrong but in my head peddling one of these at 100RPM's seems unrealistic lol. But even 15mph would be alright with me.

As for people seeing me and thinking I'm a hipster, or tweaker maybe that'll make them all leave me alone? Which would be a bonus for me lol.

So I did take the advice here to heart and I'm gonna find a 3-speed bike to buy also. So I'm not a complete dumb ass.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I'm in decent biking shape. I have two mountain bikes that are used as mountain bikes and a gravel/road drop bar bike. Road bikes are all about aerodynamics #1 most important thing, #2 is rolling resistance(tires). That bike is bad on both, really bad for aero. There is a good reason road riders ride the bikes they do and wear those goofy clothes. On the road bike with the goofy clothes and narrow smooth tires on a flat road my moderate effort pace is around 20mph. When I have to ride one of my mtn bikes on the pavement to get to another trail, same effort maybe 14mph. What I'm saying is unless you are riding down hill you really don't need to worry about 20 mph. Rather than bothering with gearing save the money for a new set of narrower smoother tread tires when those wear out.

 

[IronWing]

I would never buy a single speed bike lol. Especially if you are a casual rider. Cancel the order buy a cheaper bike and put a wu tang clan sticker on it. Fixed ratio gearing with backpedal brakes is not for beginners.

That's exactly what I learned on. Hand brakes and gears were fancy pants back then.

 

[sdifox]

That's exactly what I learned on. Hand brakes and gears were fancy pants back then.

Fine for kid bikes going at pedestrian pace. Not so if you are going to go on the road.

 

[QueBert]

That's exactly what I learned on. Hand brakes and gears were fancy pants back then.

I'm reading all over how coaster breaks are not for beginners, I get what they're saying. But as a kid me and my boys rode our BMXs like bats out of hell everywhere, including any and all bike lanes we could find and none of us ever died or got hit by a car or some shits. I would think it would have to be far less dangerous to do this as an grown up seeing how a normal adult won't be riding with the natural recklessness of a young boy. But what do I know? lol. Thinking back it's probably by the grace of God we all survived the way we use to ride around. I mean full speed ahead chicken on a bike with coaster breaks was a really poor idea but as a kid it was just something we did.

 

[Pohemi]

I wasn't quite sure if he was referring to a coaster brake, or a 'fixie' aka track bike where it's a fixed cog. "Experienced" bikers will ride track bikes on the road with no brakes, so the only speed control or braking you have is by stopping the crank spinning, which takes a lot of strength, not just in the legs, but in your core/upper body as well.

Or he just meant a coaster brake, I don't know, lol.

 

[QueBert]

I wasn't quite sure if he was referring to a coaster brake, or a 'fixie' aka track bike where it's a fixed cog. "Experienced" bikers will ride track bikes on the road with no brakes, so the only speed control or braking you have is by stopping the crank spinning, which takes a lot of strength, not just in the legs, but in your core/upper body as well.

Or he just meant a coaster brake, I don't know, lol.

I've never seen a fixie bike in person, I did watch a few YT videos and they look incredibly uncomfortable to ride and I'm not a fan of how they look at all. Also, the breaking thing you described sounds harrowing and that could be what the "not for beginners!" is I've been reading a lot on t3h Googles. While it's been ages since I've ridden a BMX, I have very fond memories of trying to go max speed and then slamming the crank backward to engage the brakes to do a badass slide into a skid. Skid outs on coaster brake bikes were a big part of my growing up, hell I don't even think I knew hand brakes existed until I was probably in 8th grade. My 1st free wheel bike was a revolution to me lol.

I've been reading a lot of Klunker reviews and it seems that the older reviewers remember similar bikes from their childhood and in spite of the downsides of them, riding took them back to their childhoods. Also, they were able to get on and just start riding, the simplicity is something I like. I know I miss my old BMXs a lot so the nostalgia thing's probably one of the main reason I wanted one of these. It's not practical, it's not that quick, it's not suited for longer rides, and will probably wreak complete havoc on my out of shape body and 48yo knees. Or, it might get me into the best shape of my life, who knows?

The day I get it I'm going to initiate it by doing a sick skid out and hope I don't eat shit in the process.

 

[sdifox]

I've never seen a fixie bike in person, I did watch a few YT videos and they look incredibly uncomfortable to ride and I'm not a fan of how they look at all. Also, the breaking thing you described sounds harrowing and that could be what the "not for beginners!" is I've been reading a lot on t3h Googles. While it's been ages since I've ridden a BMX, I have very fond memories of trying to go max speed and then slamming the crank backward to engage the brakes to do a badass slide into a skid. Skid outs on coaster brake bikes were a big part of my growing up, hell I don't even think I knew hand brakes existed until I was probably in 8th grade. My 1st free wheel bike was a revolution to me lol.

I've been reading a lot of Klunker reviews and it seems that the older reviewers remember similar bikes from their childhood and in spite of the downsides of them, riding took them back to their childhoods. Also, they were able to get on and just start riding, the simplicity is something I like. I know I miss my old BMXs a lot so the nostalgia thing's probably one of the main reason I wanted one of these. It's not practical, it's not that quick, it's not suited for longer rides, and will probably wreak complete havoc on my out of shape body and 48yo knees. Or, it might get me into the best shape of my life, who knows?

The day I get it I'm going to initiate it by doing a sick skid out and hope I don't eat shit in the process.

Can I have your stuff?

 

[QueBert]

Can I have your stuff?

I'm not going to die, at worst I'll eat shit and get some real nasty road rash because outside of a helmet I don't have proper riding gear. Or maybe a broken bone or 2, but knock on wood because I've never broken anything. Besides would you even want the stuff of a guy who's buying a Klunker bike? You made it very clear how you feel about these bikes and made it sound like it's one of the poorest choices I could make for a bike. So I doubt you'd want my stuff because poor choices are right up my alley. And you are sensible and logical and other good quality things.

And all I'll be attempting is a powerslide, and I probably won't even do it more than once because I'm 200lbs and I'm sure they would destroy the tires in no time lol. And it's not I'ma go do something crazy like try to jump the aqueduct thingy up the street. Well, that's unless the punk ass 12 year old bike gang kids call me out, then I'll have no choice but to have to show those lil fuckers how we did shit in the 80s! But I got a helmet at least, I doubt it's aqueduct jump rated, but it would be better than no protection.