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My Windsor The Hour

20K views 24 replies 10 participants last post by  bikebum1975 
#1 ·
I posted about this over on the other forum that I visit, so my apologies for those that visit both sites. Due to a little misunderstanding, I ended up with two new fixed gear bikes for my birthday. I'm running the other one mostly as a single speed, but this one is staying fixed for now.

It's a Windsor The Hour, from Bikesdirect. I just added Eighth Inch cranks, Profile bullorns, DiaCompe TT levers, and Tektro brakes.

The bars arrived late yesterday, and it was all together last night, but I was still pretty stoked when the FedEx guy showed up this morning, in a Budget Rent A Truck, with a package from Wheel & Sprocket (Eighth Inch) that included my new cranks and their axle nut, bottle opener tool.

Here's it is, waiting on pedals. I'll whack some old ones on if it doesn't snow today, and take it for a ride.
 

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#8 ·
Sorry to dredge up an older post, but although i am for the most part a mountain biker i was considering a fixed gear for the endurance building benefits i'd get from not being able to coast while riding. Any thoughts on the Windsor Clockwork? Ever since i saw an orange one at a small race here in Tampa i've been lusting after one.
 
#9 ·
Sorry to dredge up an older post, but although i am for the most part a mountain biker i was considering a fixed gear for the endurance building benefits i'd get from not being able to coast while riding. Any thoughts on the Windsor Clockwork? Ever since i saw an orange one at a small race here in Tampa i've been lusting after one.
Get one! I have the Motobecane Messenger which is similar to the Clockwork and I've been nothing but happy with mine.

Absolute worst case scenario, you buy the bike, ride it for a bit and decide fixed gear riding isn't for you (although I have a hard time imagining someone not having fun on a fixed gear) you can sell the bike on craigslist for most of what you paid for it. With very little "opportunity cost" there's no reason not to try one out.
 
#12 ·
I never understood the whole fixie craze. I'd flip to the flop and use the single gear.
Fixed has its place, like on the track, but I'm with you, Nigal. I prefer single-speed on the open road. It's safer for new riders and it allows easier seat position changes and nursing of any nagging leg injuries. For me it's single-speed on roads, fixed on the track. What I like best about the whole fixed/single-speed scene is the spartan look of the bikes. Less is better in my mind.
 
#15 ·
I thought you did but then took them down.

Have you got many miles on the Wabi yet or not with it being Winter?
The Windsor is for winter riding, the Wabi is for nice weather. Sadly, even though it's warmed up into the mid 30s, we've been told to avoid outdoors due to the inversion layer causing really bad smog. The majority of my winter miles lately have been on my new trainer.
 
#18 ·
Fixed has its place, like on the track, but I'm with you, Nigal. I prefer single-speed on the open road. It's safer for new riders and it allows easier seat position changes and nursing of any nagging leg injuries. For me it's single-speed on roads, fixed on the track. What I like best about the whole fixed/single-speed scene is the spartan look of the bikes. Less is better in my mind.
I too love the simple looks of the fixies. It's funny because whenever i see someone on a bike the first thing I look for is a rear derailleur. LOL!

I think the big point of irony about the whole hipster/fixie craze is the fact they show their coolness by wearing...girl's skinny jeans? Bahawhawhaw!
 
#19 ·
I too love the simple looks of the fixies. It's funny because whenever i see someone on a bike the first thing I look for is a rear derailleur. LOL!

I think the big point of irony about the whole hipster/fixie craze is the fact they show their coolness by wearing...girl's skinny jeans? Bahawhawhaw!
Careful. I made fun of them once, and things got ugly quickly. Do a Google search for brianforums.net.
 
#20 ·
Get one! I have the Motobecane Messenger which is similar to the Clockwork and I've been nothing but happy with mine.

Absolute worst case scenario, you buy the bike, ride it for a bit and decide fixed gear riding isn't for you (although I have a hard time imagining someone not having fun on a fixed gear) you can sell the bike on craigslist for most of what you paid for it. With very little "opportunity cost" there's no reason not to try one out.
The Hour comes with a flip flop hub so you can change it to a regular free-wheel pretty quick. If anyone's interested, you can read my in-depth windsor the hour review.
 
#21 ·
The Hour comes with a flip flop hub so you can change it to a regular free-wheel pretty quick. If anyone's interested, you can read my in-depth windsor the hour review.
Just curious about this comment in your review:

"I don’t know a lot about this, but apparently most cheap, off-brand bikes (the ones I was looking to buy at this point) use weird parts that are hard to replace if they break. While BikesDirect bikes use older parts to keep their costs down, they’re still fairly standard."

Um, what?
 
#22 ·
Hmmmm, maybe he's referring to the fact that alot of the fixie crowd are into taking them very, very old road/touring bikes and converting them to fixies. Even then, with all the fixed craze going on, there is internet access to just about any conversion possible - perhaps just some more difficult than others. The fixed/SS bikes coming out today are more gear swapping friendly, but I agree with Industry Hack that these days just about anything is possible.
 
#25 ·
Cool bike Mate. Toying around with doing up a fixie someday but the roads around here are killer with the hills
 
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