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Picked up a frame a year ago. Added bits and pieces over the last year. Used mostly for commuting back and forth to class but recently been playing in the streets of downtown. Saddle is a brooks swift (still waiting on it to be broken in), bar grip is elkhide. wheels are velocity deep v’s and hubs are phil woods. rides so smoooth. Wanted to be a little different so I put the cranks on the left. Frame is a repainted specialized langster. I was trying to go for a little more of a classic look. I know the aluminum frame kinda ruins that but I still love it. I would love any feedback or thoughts you have.
Submitted by Wil Richardson
45 Comments Received
July 23rd, 2010 @12:26 pm
pictures got distorted a little :/
July 23rd, 2010 @12:27 pm
A fun, simple ride. This is what its all about. For me… I wouldn’t feel safe putting the crank on the opposite side lest I forget and it eats a left toe. Yup, not a fan of Aluminum but they wouldn’t makem’ if they didn’t work. Elk hide? cool. saddle? cool. Wheelset? very cool. Would have preferred more pictures of the bike instead of buildings and bridges.
July 23rd, 2010 @12:30 pm
a 10 for the best pictures with an artistic flare. also a 10 for the bike. I am surprised the saddle is not comfy from day one. My B 17 is very comfy. Nice suspension bridge in the background, what city ?
July 23rd, 2010 @12:38 pm
Interesting. Leftside crank is kinda weird.
July 23rd, 2010 @12:45 pm
@ Wooden saddle made me ache the first 2 times I rode it but since then it has been nice! also city is the beautiful Charleston, SC.
July 23rd, 2010 @12:49 pm
With left side cranks you run the risk of unscrewing things, such as the pedals themselves and the lockring for bottom bracket it seems unsafe and pointless.
July 23rd, 2010 @12:52 pm
Whoaa!!! That bridge is AWESOME! Can you ride across it?
July 23rd, 2010 @12:53 pm
Wooden – it must be a very slight risk, because Aug 28th will be 1 year with this set up and nothing has come loose yet… I have ridden this bike for 30 and 40 mile intervals many many times and not had a single problem.
July 23rd, 2010 @12:56 pm
ng – I was hoping you would comment on my bike. I see your comments everywhere! you certainly can cross that bridge. Its called the cooper river bridge and I would guess 500 people a day ride their bikes over it. Actually to get to where I was I had to cross it.
July 23rd, 2010 @1:06 pm
nice build,nicer pics.enjoy
July 23rd, 2010 @2:04 pm
Very nice picts and a nice utilitarian build. I don’t like aluminum frames but yours at least doesn’t have tubes that make it look like a mountain bike. And they do work quite well (as Luftie) so who am I to criticize. I think your scores are more for your picts than the build but more power to you! Well done.
July 23rd, 2010 @2:11 pm
I have the same saddle. I love it. I put up the $9 and bought the Brooks Proofide online….rubbed it in, let it sit and wiped it off….helped a lot! And the amount you get for your money to how often you’ll need it….you won’t need more for many years.
July 23rd, 2010 @2:18 pm
comment under moderation?
July 23rd, 2010 @4:47 pm
Love it. It looks like a fun around town bike. Nice wrap job on the tape.
July 23rd, 2010 @5:06 pm
It works. Riding an aluminium Ladies Globe frame with a Vitus Aluminium fork this week. 1st ally bike I’ve had. I can see the attraction. Goes uphill real easy.Not getting the fork buzz I’ve heard about. How does this one ride?
July 23rd, 2010 @5:19 pm
Alan – I can’t really compare to a steel bike because I have never owned one. But as far as this bike goes, I love it, I can run around town so quick. Frame is super light. before I added the brooks saddle people picked it up and were absolutely amazed how light it was.
CS – funny you say that about the bar tape. If you arent familiar with that elkhide wrap, it is actually sown on with a wax coated thread. I placed a leather shoe lace underneath the wrap for the added grip. The sew wasn’t as pretty as I hoped for but unless you look close its pretty good looking.
July 23rd, 2010 @11:48 pm
I don’t know agree with the high rating here but I love the saddle and the grips. Anyone know about the bar tape? Brooks?
Gotta love the bullhorn bars!
July 24th, 2010 @1:25 am
its nice…but not THAT nice hahaha
July 24th, 2010 @1:36 am
nice parts, nice pics, boring bike!
July 24th, 2010 @4:46 am
I have to agree. Off the peg, high production frame. Nice part selection though (I have a soft spot for Phil Wood hubs)
July 24th, 2010 @7:22 am
@FabFive. Hey dude I didn’t ask for a newer aluminum frame it just sort of presented itself cheaply. I’d do anything for a steel frame these days but I feel I’ve done well with what I have considering I’m more critical of myself than of anyone else.
@Alan. I used to feel the buzz a ton with my cheap Alex rims but since going to the heavy and smooth (that’s what she said) b43s I don’t feel much buzz anymore.
July 24th, 2010 @8:06 am
i like the bike. nicely done, and nice that u kept it simple unlike alot of the people who ride fixed around here. giving it a 10 for the pics of the greatest city on the planet as well =D
July 24th, 2010 @8:20 am
great photography. the bike isnt bad..but its still a langster. you might do a little searching for a steel langster but if your going to spend the money, you could find something else that has a classic look for a better deal. im currently riding a steel alien and love it..ive only owned lugged (road/fixed)frames and as far as i can see in my future, i will always ride lugged constructed frames. anywho..you did great with what you have to work with.
July 24th, 2010 @11:43 am
there is a huge difference between a cheap,heavy aluminum frame made out of recycled cans and a properly engineered and made aluminum frame.The tales of buzzy feel were always greatly exagerated.They feel more lively(the good ones)and are indeed lighter.Vitus,Cannondale and Bianchi all made some nice frames.The crop of Langster type cheapos are another story.Aluminum that weighs more than a steel frame with poor quality control(though that seems to have gotten better)compounded by adding heavy wheels to dampen out “vibrations”seems to be a performance dead end.Fixies seem to be going two directions-heavy,cruisers that are good enough and performance oriented streeters.true trackers are a seperate niche.just my view.cheers
July 24th, 2010 @5:48 pm
It’s kind of crazy how easy it is for people to hate on your bike because you didn’t spend 5K building it or because it isn’t exactly how you would have built it. Doesn’t really matter to me. I love it, I ride it every day and it doesn’t get old. I don’t understand why people think that there is a single ideal way to build a bike. I built it the way I wanted to, not the way that I thought would please you or anybody for that matter. It reflects me, and its exactly what I wanted so it doesn’t really matter to me how ‘pointless’ you think my left side crank is, or how cheap or heavy you think my langster frame is. People break there necks turning around to look at it and it was a fun project and I really enjoy it. I appreciate all your comments!
July 24th, 2010 @5:52 pm
Wow sloman man you really don’t let up do you? Cheapo aluminum frames. Yeah, this langster doesn’t look so cheapo to me.
July 24th, 2010 @5:53 pm
Also the nearest velodrome to me is about 400 miles away so there is no need for me to have 16lb track bike that would break on the first pot hole. I have never even seen a velodrome.
July 24th, 2010 @6:08 pm
@russelr – Nice! I thought they were some special kind of wrap around wrap with a ridge. It makes more sense as a sew up. Do the shoe strings shift around at all under the wrap? It looks great. I may try to do that on a bike. I’m putting hoping to put together a touring bike soon and that would look pretty bad ass on it. I wonder if holding it for a century with those ridges under your plams would get annoying though. Hmm.
July 24th, 2010 @6:09 pm
like I said,some people don’t mind heavier frames and a well designed and built bike won’t break on a pot hole.A cheapo will.I’ve seen a lot of alum MTBs that didn’t break and cheapos that have.The quality of the older Langster frames was terrible(the blade type downtube broke away from the steerer).And they were heavier than comparable steel frames.They were only alum because it was cheaper.they had to be heavy to be strong.Still a servicable frame for the price.If you don’t mind the weight,fine.
July 24th, 2010 @11:29 pm
@cs – so far I have not had any problems with the shoes laces moving around. I have only had it on there for about 2 months now but have ridden probably 250 miles with them and honestly it seems to be getting more sturdy. what i did was i wrapped the shoe laces on the bare bar, then layered a coating of regular athletic sport tape around the shoes laces then put the elk hide wrap on there. It made it slightly larger grip but i like it better that way anyways. If you want to look at instructions and what not of the wrap I used go to http://www.velo-orange.com/. They have instructions and pictures.
July 25th, 2010 @7:27 am
Thanks for the reply Russ, it took some time for your posts to appear. I was thinking of when someone else unscrews the pedals from the cranks that they may not be aware of the direction of removal. Not much risk as you said after using them for a year. it would be unlikely that the bearings freeze up and bind. It is a novel idea and that was my only point i.e. no mechanical advantage hence pointless. Love the bridge and would like to ride it one day. I have a couple fixie conversions without the lockring on converted cassette 10 speed axles and have not had any unscrewing ( no locked up skids for me ) more risk than your cranks. Thanks.
July 27th, 2010 @1:27 pm
Damn right Russel!! You tell’m!! I’m dedicating this one to you and your bike…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ya7ZRlrEo
July 27th, 2010 @4:24 pm
@russelr – cool thanks for the info. Yeah, the more I look at the bars the more I like them. I LOVE velo orange stuff. I just wish I could afford to buy more of it
July 27th, 2010 @6:04 pm
ng, I have never been a Sinatra fan until you introduced me! couldn’t have said it any better. thanks for the encouragement!
cs, glad I could help. it really is great stuff and I get more of a homey bike shop feel with them. they sell really good reliable stuff.
July 27th, 2010 @6:45 pm
Slo dude, I don’t mind heavy or well built—I mean, look at the logic of the preceding sentence—who would? My bike is insanely light for thick alum tubing and I have never had a problem with it’s structural integrity. Is it well built? That’s debatable. It’s commuter designed and doesn’t fail at that, so I’d say it’s purposefully and well built for the price. Is it designed with track geometry or Reynolds 531? Well no, not with the price, material or time period. So to lump most modern road frames into the adjectives “cheapo” and “poorly built” is greatly generalizing and not entirely factual, unless of course I’m missing some important facts. I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything but hearing you put down modern aluminum frames is disheartening. You like lugged frames and drops, we get it, who doesn’t like a quality lugged frame?, but that doesn’t make everything else garbage by subjective comparison, and we’re all guilty of this at some point and in some way, myself included (to a great extent). Cheers brother.
July 27th, 2010 @8:48 pm
I never said “most modern aluminum frames are cheapo garbage”.In fact I am a huge fan of aluminum frames.I merely said that some of them could be better,lighter,stronger,instead of cheaper-heavy.Mongrel is a good example of what I feel is a high quality aluminum ride.Fuji A2 that is now right at 17 lbs,(minus the rack ).Don’t go putting words in my mouth like “everything else is garbage!Never said it,would not say it!Don’t tell me what is or isn’t factual!I’m not the one who insists Aluminum is heavier than steel.Again,some trendy aluminum frames are too heavy because thet are overbuilt from cheaper grades of material to be strong enough .Yes lugs are cool,but well built frames of any kind-CF included-are cool too.and I’m not “guilty” of anything-except maybe liking Power grips.cheers
July 27th, 2010 @9:52 pm
There are great aluminum bikes, there are shitty aluminum bikes
There are great steel bikes and there are shitty steel bikes
Life is relative and thats not news
July 28th, 2010 @12:35 am
thats what I thought I said.I wonder what Lufty heard?
July 28th, 2010 @3:03 am
Don’t know dude. It’s the impression I got from you: aluminum = bad. That’s cool though. No worries. Didn’t realize mongrel was aluminum. Good point fab. There’s always a top and bottom to every food chain. Cheers and beers.
July 28th, 2010 @7:22 am
And my long gone Stolen 1976 Schwinn Varsity 10 speed was a shitty steel frame at about 36 lbs. The Raleigh Twenty fully accessorized as a 3 speed is 37 pounds. Have not owned aluminum other than the Giant tag a long which is lite but ugly alum. welds but functional. You were up late last night Luftie, work nights ?
July 28th, 2010 @10:35 am
didn’t get that impression from me.comprehension problem maybe?good is good,bad is bad,doesn’t seem so hard to me.
July 28th, 2010 @2:07 pm
HAHAHA!!! Jenny… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhlhl5oxew
July 29th, 2010 @4:02 am
nice ng… i like the first video much better though
July 30th, 2010 @11:24 am
Yea…Sorry russel. I found it too funny to resist. I’m glad you dig Frank though.
November 20th, 2011 @9:47 pm
Nice bike. Good color. Simple theme. Aluminum, steel, whichever.
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