Redline 925
First update of 2007, sorry for the delay. If you TLDR me I will de-friend.
This one’s about the bike that I bought on EBay, received just before Christmas, and now ride to work. A while back I started looking at the Kansas City Craigslist site every day. I was keeping an eye out for an older road bike that I could clean up and get working wonderfully again. I had sort of decided that those new, gorgeous, awesome, fancy, expensive road bikes were great but maybe were not what I was really looking for.
Anyways, one day I ran across a bike that looked pretty decent. I didn’t buy it, but the guy posting it mentioned something about it being a good candidate for conversion to a “fixie.” At the time I didn’t know what that was, so I looked it up (yay for the internet). I found out that a fixie or fixed or fixed gear conversion or whatever you want to call it is a bike whose drive train has been simplified down to a direct connection between the pedals and the rear wheel. If the pedals are turning, so is the wheel, and vice versa.
This seemed sort of stupid but I was intrigued anyways, so I talked to my friend Boyd about it. He’d ridden fixed bikes before, and he was like “dude go for it.” I kept looking at Craigslist, but this time I was looking for a good candidate for conversion. I think I was sort of at the point where I’d done all kinds of biking and was looking for something new. I mean, I’ve done the whole mountain biking thing, the bike commuting thing (yay college), long distance road biking (yay RAGBRAI), and long distance idiocy (heavy suspension mountain bike 80+ miles in a day).
For whatever reason there are very few bikes on Craigslist here in KC. While I waited for the right one to appear I went to a local independent bike store downtown (Acme, it is awesome) and talked to the lady there for a while. They had all the parts I needed for a conversion, or even just to buy a converted bike outright. Then she showed me a new bike they had, the Redline 9-2-5. It’s a commuter bike, single speed freewheel or single speed fixed, depending on which way the rear wheel is installed. Had fenders and a chain guard, mustache handlebars, and was made of steel. It was definitely a bike for riding, and not for looking pretty. All the same, it did look pretty.
They wanted $600 for it, and I wasn’t ready to buy, but I was intrigued. Big time. Two days later I hit Buy it Now on an EBay auction for one. $400 shipped. OK, whatever. I can handle $400. A week and some later I get the bike, put it together, and promptly drive home for Christmas with the bike on top of my car.
On the Saturday before Christmas I took the bike out for a “short ride” that turned into a ride from my parents’ house at the south end of Ames to Stomping Grounds in Campustown. After having coffee and chatting with Jess, Kyle, and Kandice I realized it was about 4 and I needed to hurry home before it got dark (no lights, minimal reflectors, no helmet, etc). I made it home just as the sun was going down, made a 10 mile day after not riding at all for almost a year, and I was pretty much jelly after that.
For Christmas I got a headlight and taillight, and a floor pump that can handle the funky presta valves on the new bike. I started riding it to work shortly after I got back from break, and have now ridden it to work about 8 times since Christmas. It’s just about as fast as driving, is a better workout, and on the nicer mornings is just plain more enjoyable than driving. The only thing I don’t like is overheating for 20 minutes or so after I get from the cool outside to the warm inside of my building, but I can live with that.
TLDR
silver =\
omg defriended
omg JAN 20!!!!!!
stevebike.com woo
I miss riding my bike to work, it really is quite a pleasant way to start the morning.
EBay? i think you mean ‘ebay’. they don’t use caps, unless they caps the B, then it would be eBay, either way you are wrong
Is this going to be like nVidia vs NVIDIA vs stupid?
nice write-up. i love my 925, too!
Hello from Portland, Oregon, via The Internets– What size frame did you get? Looks like 58 or 60cm?
The frame is a 60cm. I should probably be riding a 58 but it has been pretty comfortable. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to ride in weeks, since the weather turned bad and hasn’t improved.
So how tall are you and what is your inseam. Just wondering as I too am getting the 60cm and I’m 6′1″ inseam 34.5.
Steve
Just shy of 6 feet, 32″ inseam. The 60cm is probably a hair on the big side (I should be riding a 56 or 58 in a perfect world) but a few adjustments of the seat and bars and the 60 is riding fine for me.
I should note that the bike I rode for 8 or 9 years before this was a 25″ (63cm) frame and I put several thousand miles on that without incident.
Just picked up my 925…love it. Thank you Redline for using clamps to put on the chain guard so we can easily remove it. They sure put a lot of tiny instructional/warning stickers on these bikes….glad to say they all peel off very easily. I have been practicing getting the rear wheel straight using the Redline adjusters in the back….it’s a bit tricky to get the wheel straight and the chain tension right. As I turn the cranks the chain gets tighter and looser as I pedal around. Sheldon Brown says it is because chainrings are not perfectly round. His website gives instructions on getting your chainring centered on the spyder to make for better…more even chain tension as you turn the cranks. Nice to see a name brand head set (Cane Creek) on the bike even though I’m sure it is a low end one. Seems like the 28 width tires are about as big as you can go in order to get the wheel off without first deflating the tires. If you put a rack on with the fenders you will probably have to buy longer bolts than what come with the rack. Now I just have to wait 4 more weeks to ride it since my hip fracture is still healing…..bummer.
Bummer that you have to wait.
I keep the chain guard on since I primarily ride to work in my business casual work clothes (that might change as it gets warmer). With that and the fenders my clothes don’t get dirty, as long as I keep the bike clean.
You’re right about needing longer bolts if you install a rack with the finders. Thankfully Home Depot had exactly what I needed for something like 39 cents.
This is what is currently looks like.
Hey Steve,
It’s crazy that I came across this website while looking for 925 reviews and learned that not only do I also frequent Stomping Grounds here in Ames, but I have also lived in K.C. on 42nd st and Stateline Rd. Anyway, I found a 925 in Des Moines for $400 and will take delivery tomorrow. Before I do, I want to ask if there are any drawbacks to the 925. This will be my first bikestore cycle and am looking for something to help me shed some lbs. Do you think that this will help? The salesperson seems to think that it would be perfect, but I would also like to get an unbiased opinion as well. Thanks for the reply in advance…and for a great meal, check out Mama’s on Bell.
Albert, nice. My friend Boyd lived a block north of 42nd on State Line before he moved to Bellingham, WA.
As far as the bike goes, I thoroughly enjoy it. The only complaint I have is that on longer rides my hands tend to cramp up. I’ve had similar issues with pretty much all bikes, but with drop bars I found that riding on the hoods helps quite a bit. That’s not really possible with the mustache bars. I may get new bars, but I haven’t changed any of the stock components yet.
For the 2.5 mile round trip to work the bike is awesome.
As for shedding pounds, I’ve had the most luck running and counting calories, neither of which I have ever kept up for more than a few months. I generally just bike because I enjoy it.
You never get to stop pedaling if you ride the fixed side, but I don’t think the overall effort changes much. I mean, the total amount of energy it takes to move you and a bike down the road a certain distance really shouldn’t depend much on whether or not your feet are moving.
I find I ride slightly faster on level pavement than with a geared bike, but not much, and it’s been so long since I rode RAGBRAI that I couldn’t tell you if my 13-15 mile rides are more or less work than my 25 mile training rides used to be. I’m fatter than I was then.
Well I finally got to ride my 925 and it is a great bike. The 42 x 16 gearing is perfect for flats and some hills. There is a strange sounds from the rear hub when pedaling, but I havn’t figure it out yet. With only 25 miles on it I can surely say those moustache handlebars are terrible. When my hand is in a comfortable position the bar rests right where all the nerves to my hand pass.
Today I purchased some Performance flat MTB bars, brake levers and Ritchey grips to replace the terrible moustache bars. Once I get them on I will report back. My only concern is the stock stem may be too short. Great bike otherwise.
Anybody remove the 925 seat post yet….man it is a yard long. I didn’t even realize there where marks on the post to adjust seat height. All the numbers on my post are in the seat tube….who puts their seat high enough to use the number marks?????
I reassembled my old Raleigh MTB yesterday. I noticed a few things. The first is that it is in extremely bad shape, though some of that can be fixed. The second is how weird it is to ride a fat tired beast after getting used to the narrower tires of the 925. The third is how weird it is to coast.
I plan to assemble the 925 before the weekend. It sounds like I’ll be going to Ft Collins on Saturday, but if I’m still alive on Sunday I hope to get over to the Cherry Creek Trail and ride the Redline to downtown Denver. Still haven’t done anything about the bars but I’ll wear gloves and see how I manage.
How is the 60cm frame working out for you now that you’ve been on it for a while?
Jeff, I’ve noticed on longer rides that I’m too far extended. I end up putting a lot of weight on my hands and it ends up being hard on my wrists. The top tube is too long by about 3 cm. I’ve tried adjusting the saddle and bars to compensate but I eventually came to the conclusion that it’s too big. It’s still in the garage, but I plan to sell it in stock condition soon. It’s really too bad, because it’s a great-looking bike that is a lot of fun to ride.
I’m in the process of building up a replacement based around an old Schwinn road bike that is the right size. It’s mostly there but the saddle is awful and so are the brakes.
How tall are you if you don’t mind my asking? I’m about 6′1″ 34.5″ cycling inseam and I’m on the fence as to whether mine is too big as well.
disregard the last question…forgot that you already offered that info above. Thanks..
Hi Steve,
I’m researching Fixies at the moment.
I’ve pretty much resigned myself to buying another bike instead of converting my current one. Cost would be about equal!
One quick note though. There is a conversion thingie that will let you fill your tires with a standard (gas station) pump.
You unscrew the valve stem, screw this thing onto the stem, and it turns the Presta into a Schraeder valve. It’s nice to have in case you need to fill your tires in the wild.
/Alan Whittle