My kid wants a hipster bike!

[Lifelover]

I have an 18 y/o going off to college this fall. He has a job about a mile off campus where he can keep his car 24/7. His main transportation in day light and fair weather will be his long board. At night and lousy weather he needs a bike.

I had always assumed I would just pimp out his GT MTB he used prior to driving to take to college. I mentioned it the other day and he declared that he really needs a hipster bike.

Having 7+ bikes in the garage for myself, I'm hard pressed to tell him he has to ride what he's got.

My only SS compatible bike is my Aegis Aro Svelt and I'll be damned if I'm sending him off to school with that. Not that it is even hipster anyway.

I have an Ariborne Zeppelin geared but already set up with flat bars or a lugged Curtlo half paint stripped that I would be willing to donate to the cause. Problem is, both have vertical drops so I need a Eno rear wheel.

For the price of the Eno and other misc. equipment I would need, I could easily buy him cheap hipster ready bike from Nashbar, Performance or Bikesdirect. $300-$400 get you a full blown, suitable to be stolen from college ride.

So what do I do, send him to school in true hipster fashion or as a hipster poser? He really doesn't care. Just no MTB.

[bicycletricycle]

buy cheap hipster complete bike, he will most likely thrash it or get it stolen anyways.

[allenwhy]

a) insanely adorable he calls it a hipster bike

b) get him a surly steamroller comlete (though replace those bizarre bars the new ones come with with some cheap risers)

steamroller is the best steel complete fixed gear bike on the market.

make sure he keeps the brake though.

[WickedWheels]

Felt Brougham
http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2011/Fixie/Fixie-Series/BROUGHAM.aspx

Great bike for the money. Let me know if you need one. I have a few in my shop.

[xjahx]

Support his developing interest. I agree that the steamroller is a great option; he may get more interested in the components and start switching them out. Thus starts the habit that his father already has.

[jimsantos]

College campuses are known roving grounds for bike thieves.

Also, I give it about 1-3 months before he'll inevitably want something different, given that the leading edge trends of "hipster bikes" are constantly changing.

[Louis]

Cool dude! The tattoos and piercings can't be far behind.

[cat6]

+2 on the steamroller...or a cross-check SS setup, which has more flexibility should he choose to want to add gears, racks, etc.

[Olmo]

Get him a vintage Olmo.


A vintage one will have a nice head badge, and the panto'd components can be removed, and the double crank reduced to a single. Change the freewheel for a single cog. Hipsters won't know what it is, so they won't steal it (maybe?).

[cromo900]

So many options - but if it were my money I'd be sending him off with one of these: Torker KB2 (http://www.torkerusa.com/bikes/commuter-life/2011-kb2-) Coaster brake and two speeds but still looks like what he's asking for.

[cat6]

So many options - but if it were my money I'd be sending him off with one of these: Torker KB2 (http://www.torkerusa.com/bikes/commuter-life/2011-kb2-) Coaster brake and two speeds but still looks like what he's asking for.

No coaster brake! You've gotta get him something with some street cred, he's 18 not 13...plus at any real speed I think a coaster brake is dangerous...especially since he might be riding this in the rain. Used surly!

[staggerwing]

None of the (wannabe) hipsters would be caught dead on a 100% new ride, plus it will scream steal me in among the cadre of mishmash rigs.

For the tweed hipster, find an old, preferably English, 3 speed, with a decent layer of patina/grunge.

Otherwise, let him pick a suitable donor from Craigslist, or something from IRO would build up fine.

[Aaron O]

I'm not sure what your cash situation is, but I'd go the BD route...it's just a lot of usable bike for the buck, and as you said - the odds he has it by the end of college are probably not so good.

[rugbysecondrow]

Make it a project, scour CL, Ebay or elsewhere. Cheap frame, functional parts, have him help build it so he knows how to fix it at school. Set a budget for the project and work with him to build it on budget.

-Get Bike
-Get building experience
-get project/budget experience
-better appreciation for the bike while at school.

Just my two cents.

[AngryScientist]

I'm not sure what your cash situation is, but I'd go the BD route...it's just a lot of usable bike for the buck, and as you said - the odds he has it by the end of college are probably not so good.

yea, i vote for this too. he'll have to see what the situation is at school, and how well he is able to take care of the bike. if after the first year he feels like he needs/wants something nicer and can handle the responsibility of looking after it, they upgrade.

[itsflantastic]

Build up a Single Speed (not fixed) Cross Bike.
He can ride that all winter, not have to worry about broken components, be one step ahead of the curve in hipster territory, and if they have a cycling team, he could potentially even race that in the fall should he so choose to. In my opinion, it's the most versatile simple option.

Here's one that looks pretty OK - http://www.konaworld.co/bike.cfm?content=majorone

The problem with a lot of the 400 dollar "hipster" bikes is that they come with such junk components that to get one to a point of being solid usually costs another couple hundred. I once had an IRO that they built up and sent me...It was the least satisfying bike I've ever ridden. I think...

So if you want to go the fixie route, building one up from an old frame is probably the coolest/best way to go on a few counts.

That said, there isn't much wrong with a Surly

[LesMiner]

Lots of suggestions but bike theft on college campuses is real. If you get the chance take a look at what other students are riding. For the most part the bikes look like something out of a garage sale. Enough to be serviceable but next to nothing in value. Anything that is clean and shines is attractive to a thief. A new clean bike on a campus bike rack will stand out like a sore thumb.

[rugbysecondrow]

Lots of suggestions but bike theft on college campuses is real. If you get the chance take a look at what other students are riding. For the most part the bikes look like something out of a garage sale. Enough to be serviceable but next to nothing in value. Anything that is clean and shines is attractive to a thief. A new clean bike on a campus bike rack will stand out like a sore thumb.


Agreed. I really like surly bikes, but those are too nice for college. Something functional enough to ride, but crappy enough nobody would think to steal it.

[avalonracing]

Tell him to start with a Hipster girlfriend.

Actually I think it was Tony Montana who said "First you get the hipster bike, then you get the hipster power, then you get the hipster women"

[oldpotatoe]

I have an 18 y/o going off to college this fall. He has a job about a mile off campus where he can keep his car 24/7. His main transportation in day light and fair weather will be his long board. At night and lousy weather he needs a bike.

I had always assumed I would just pimp out his GT MTB he used prior to driving to take to college. I mentioned it the other day and he declared that he really needs a hipster bike.

Having 7+ bikes in the garage for myself, I'm hard pressed to tell him he has to ride what he's got.

My only SS compatible bike is my Aegis Aro Svelt and I'll be damned if I'm sending him off to school with that. Not that it is even hipster anyway.

I have an Ariborne Zeppelin geared but already set up with flat bars or a lugged Curtlo half paint stripped that I would be willing to donate to the cause. Problem is, both have vertical drops so I need a Eno rear wheel.

For the price of the Eno and other misc. equipment I would need, I could easily buy him cheap hipster ready bike from Nashbar, Performance or Bikesdirect. $300-$400 get you a full blown, suitable to be stolen from college ride.

So what do I do, send him to school in true hipster fashion or as a hipster poser? He really doesn't care. Just no MTB.

Tell him to get a job and buy his own bike.

He has a CAR as a freshman??

Sell the car and buy a bike. Va. Beach? Where is he going to school?

[cdn_bacon]

powder coated and remove all decals

and a seat/post that can easily be removed.

Don't care if it's hip or not...at least its a bike.

[bigflax925]

BD was mentioned up above. Good choice. I don't think a college kid could go wrong with a SS cross bike. I know I would've loved one.

Price is right: $400 shipped CONUS, and it's available in orange, too!

Uno (http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/uno.htm)

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/images/uno_blk_dropbrk600.jpg

[Charles M]

State Bicycle .COM (http://www.statebicycle.com/category_s/3.htm)

http://www.statebicycle.com/v/vspfiles/photos/blueprint-1.jpg


And others...

Under 500 bucks including FedEx to your door...

[rustychain]

No offense but asking THIS forum about a hipster bike? Groovy man :)

Any college town has lots of what you looking for cheap. Kids graduate and the bike stay.

[William]

When I was in college I had a decent Mtb that I would ride to classes if I wasn't riding my board. Two Kryptonite locks, front wheel to frame and rear wheel/frame to bike rack. Quick release on the seat post which I would pop out and take to class with me. If someone really wanted it they could take it but I figured I would make it as difficult as possible to persuade them to move on to easier pickins.




William

[Blue Jays]

I rode a shiny new full-Campy equipped bicycle when I was in school.
This was managed by being extremely careful with day-to-day storage plus otherwise keeping it in my dorm room at other times.
Nice bicycles and the college experience can coexist with planning.

[xjahx]

As for bike theft on a college campus, take 10 minutes to teach him what he needs to do to avoid it:

1. No cable locks.
2. No locking just the front.
3. Get a locking skewer for the front wheel.
4. Lock the bike with the u-lock attached to the rear wheel within the rear triangle. (Sheldon Brown's technique)
5. If it is a geared bike or a SS with sliders, have a locking skewer in the rear as well.

My Moots Psychlo-X survived 12 years on urban campuses with stigmata of stolen bikes surrounding her on every rack. Your bike only has to be more difficult to steal than the bike next to it to survive...unless the thief is actually familiar with or in the bike industry.

The fear or reputation of theft on campus is no reason to ride crap to work/school unless you so desire.

[charliedid]

Come to terms on a budget and let him buy whatever the heck he wants...

It's just a bike.

[eltonbalch]

Come to terms on a budget and let him buy whatever the heck he wants...

It's just a bike.

You beat me to it ;) .

[19wisconsin64]

i agree 100% with what rugbysecondrow wrote......

and maybe instead of fixie a single speed...just a thought.

and my addtional 2 cents is to get a good bike lock for him.

most, most important....congrats on your kid getting into college!

cheers

[scho74]

BD bikes get no hipster cred. "real hipsters" ride vintage 80's bikes :cool:

[Lifelover]

Thanks for all the replies and a little more info.


He will be going to Old Dominion in Downtown Norfolk which is just 15-20 miles from home. No question bike theft is a concern and I do not think he would want to keep a bike in the dorm room. We have toured the rooms and they are small effeciency shared by 2 people. If they both had a bike in there is would be a problem.

He is not overly picky and really will not care what I give him. He is just asking that it not be a MTB. If that is what I stuck him with, he would deal with it.

My original thought is that I would slap somehting togeather with parts out of my collection. My collection is not high end by this forum's standards. However, as I started to inventory parts I realized I would end up spending at least a few hundred bucks to finish off the project.

The biggest expense being EBB or an ecentric hub. I might be able to get lucky with a half link but I really don't not have a clue and for some reason just shy from that idea.

Ideally I would spend as little as possible and certianly sub $400.

I do love the idea of a Surly. I think it mingles the best of true cyclist and hipster poser.

[henry14]

I wouldn't put any "decent" parts on as well. I remembered some college buddies getting their bikes stripped of their parts while locked outside during class.

My other roommate even had his Costco sold Motiv bike stolen.

[chromopromo]

BD bikes get no hipster cred. "real hipsters" ride vintage 80's bikes :cool:


1+ - if you like to mess around with old parts. All you need is a flip-flop hub for the rear wheel, cheap chain ring, and maybe a new bottom bracket.

[EricEstlund]

Get him some ironic Heelies and call it a day.

http://www.seattlepi.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=676467&width=628&height=471

[Charles M]

What ever you do, tell him not to buy a bike from a pawn shop near campus...

From personal Knowledge, it's a great way to have the past owner stake out his old bike and try and blind side you after you climb on. :D

[maunahaole]

Dutch city bike with fenders, rear wheel lock, roller brakes, and some cargo hauling capability.

[miguel]

1. get a mercier kilo tt
2. replace parts as necessary
3. ???
4. profit

[oldfatslow]

When I was at Florida I had an old Ross cruiser which weighed about 50lbs. It was a POS but worked fine to get me upto and back from my slightly off-campus place.

Long story short, one of the pedal broke so I put on a nice pair of Suntour Supre Pro pedals I had in my parts staff. About a week later I came out to the bike rack and there was the Ross sans pedals.

If the purpose is transportion around campus go to Goodwill or something similar and buy a cheap but working Walmart beater. Lock it but never worry about theft.

My two cents.

[trangalang]

BD Mercier Kilo TT = best hipster bike bang for the buck.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/images/ktblk_600.jpg

[Louis]

BD Mercier Kilo TT

Brakes? Might be a good idea for college-use.

[Fixed]

No offense but asking THIS forum about a hipster bike? Groovy man :)

Any college town has lots of what you looking for cheap. Kids graduate and the bike stay.
+1 cheers

[Lifelover]

No offense but asking THIS forum about a hipster bike? Groovy man :)

Any college town has lots of what you looking for cheap. Kids graduate and the bike stay.


A bikes a bike. I don't think the answers would have been much better elsewhere. Good advise all around.

[rwsaunders]

Plenty of ideas on this site...

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com

[Pandergosk]

Send him in on your most expensive road frame with horizontal dropouts then lace your ugly velocity deep v rims with the adjustable hubs so he can tension his chain. :bike:


On a serious note though, I'd go bikesdirect. The Mercier's or Motobecane sell sub 300 bikes with butted 520 or 4130. Not bad deals.

[LiteFM]

It must be a retired race bike from the 80's. Preferably Columbus or 531. The kids are even liking Oria lately becuase of the "rad shredder font decal". It must be beat... but not too beat. Beat enough to lock with 2 mini U-Locks on your way to 2 dollar Pabst/free mini-pizza night. It must have a 1x7 setup with one DT shifter. The groupset must be Campagnolo Victory or lesser (Record is too common and played). First gen black DA would make most jealous. The cockpit should consist of a set of Cinelli Priest or similar handlebar (VO/Soma) with horizontal road levers with gum hoods and one low profile basket in the front. The cables must match the decals or completely not match. It must have platform pedals with no foot retention... who wants their 400.00 Jil Sander trainers to get scuffed? The saddle should be a classic 80's saddle (Turbo/Concor) in a slightly uncommon color (fluorescents score extra points). Planet Bike fenders (Honjo's are too nice). Finish it off with some Ruffy Tuffy's or Jack Brown's to make Grant happy and call it a day.

/end projection.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4458349402_ba93a0b1f2_o.jpg

[allenwhy]

Dig that you posted that John! Can't believe you sold it, such a great nyc/hipster bike.

Here's mine:
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k284/allenwhy/fb0737bd.jpg?t=1311127528

[LiteFM]

That trumps mine by 1000x. It's a Dutch CX bike! You instantly beat me...

[Lifelover]

Maybe a change in our plans.

After sitting down and watching a few stages of the Tour together, we are now thinking that Hunter needs a Carbon Fiber, hipster poser bike.

I think I'm going to inventory my parts and see what I would need to scrap together a beat up looking, Carbon, SS.

The idea is an old CF frame like one of Lance's early Treks, rattle can painted a solid color, SS with cheap chain tensioner (maybe just old derailer) and whaterver bars, post, stems and saddle I have around.

[Julian Brooklyn]

Looks like primetime hilpsters Allen & JohnLiteFM are all over this thread, so I'll weigh in. I second John's "Steel & Beat" analysis (also the name of my new favorite bar).

[charliedid]

Just make sure it's Hipster and not Fredster ;-)

[Acotts]

THat Torker BK2 is pretty damned awesome.

I cant seem to find a price anywhere.

[gaozilla]

Lots of suggestions but bike theft on college campuses is real. If you get the chance take a look at what other students are riding. For the most part the bikes look like something out of a garage sale. Enough to be serviceable but next to nothing in value. Anything that is clean and shines is attractive to a thief. A new clean bike on a campus bike rack will stand out like a sore thumb.

this is great advice. im going to be a junior this coming fall and i've realized that riding anything new or anything that has value to it is not worth it. the risk of having it stolen is just too high (though it hasn't happened to me yet *knock on wood*). I rode a cheapo fuji track on campus my freshmen year, and over the summer i found myself a nice vintage bianchi pista. after upgrading everything on the bike i became really paranoid about riding it on campus my sophomore year. this summer i opted to build something as cheap as possible without the constant fear of having it being stolen. my friend gave me a cheap columbia cruiser frame that his neighbors gave him, i bought a cheap sears women's cruiser off craigslist for $20, salvaged the parts on it and swapped it to the columbia frame to have a rideable bike. so far i am very happy with what i have riding around campus.

what i suggest you to do is find your son a cheap road frame that would be a suitable candidate for conversion. build it up with as many cheap parts-bin parts as you can so that your son has something rideable that can give him some hipster fixie cred, but you won't feel horrible if it gets stolen because it cost you close to nothing.

[killacks]

[QUOTE=Lifelover]I have an 18 y/o going off to college this fall... he declared that he really needs a hipster bike.

So what do I do, send him to school in true hipster fashion or as a hipster poser? QUOTE]

Dad... the original hipster. (http://dadsaretheoriginalhipster.tumblr.com/) What would you have wanted waaaaay back then??

PS. Apologies for the complete lack of helpfulness :D