# 08 specialized langster green/white; any thoughts, opinions?



## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

Not too long ago maybe a week or two i decided to get a dedicated commuter ride instead of another wheelset with slicks for my sussy. I headed down to my lbs and checked out a few rides and stumbled upon the specailized langster "leftover" from 08. Its a fixie/singlespeed 700c's ect looks sharp. Plan to install some fenders and other odds and ends. just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this bike or one like it.
thanks,
heres a pic!


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## Gary the No-Trash Cougar (Oct 14, 2008)

Sweet ride. Flip-flop hub? Diggin' the dark green, looks black!


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

Yeah the rear is a flip-flop style.
The dark green is what i really like about it, the white panels are nice as well.
I have been reading a bunch today and some people find that the rear cog gets worn pretty fast and needs to be upgraded soon after to a surly or what have you and i guess the wheels dont like to be true and the stock tires suck. I dont mind changing out tires and what not but i dont want to have a bike that i have to fix daily fk that 

But im still going to check it out some at my shop and see what they have to say.


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## maelgwn (Dec 18, 2008)

Tis a cool bike, but is it what suits?

Drop bars are only really worth it if your commute is long. Tire clearance is limited? If the wheels are a problem your LBS should look after you, there should be a warranty of some sort?


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## Gary the No-Trash Cougar (Oct 14, 2008)

You might end up wanting to change out the rear cog anyway, for a larger one.


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

They mentioned that i may need a larger cog if im doing any kind of hills.

Tires should be standard 700x23ish not too worried about that.

About the bars.....yeah more than likley they will be swapped for something flat or semi-rise. I wouldnt mind putting some caron bars on it for some added comfort.


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## maelgwn (Dec 18, 2008)

Is it steel?


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

aluminum with carbon fork


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## Gary the No-Trash Cougar (Oct 14, 2008)

Carbon fork and bars should help balance out some of the harshness from the aluminum frame. Not sure how much frame clearance you have, but you could try fitting tires as wide as is possible. The lower PSI would smooth things out a bit as well.


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## jjcools (Apr 13, 2006)

I just went through the same deal, ended up with a Gian Bowery with no regrets, I love the look and feel so far. I do not get to ride it as much as I wanted to though. 

You should look into Swobo and SE if you want a steel, smoother ride.


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

Yeah i was looking at some of the se lager and draft lite's.
They have a leftover 08 lager brown singlespeed/fixie for 450 not a bad deal.The specialized is 600 i cant think of any reason why the specialized would be worth the extra money.


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## jjcools (Apr 13, 2006)

I really like the Lager, I almost got one instead of the Bowery. I just loved the modern look of the bowery with no badging.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*Gears are nice*

in the case you see to use the bike for something other them commuting. After 8 years of commuting with drop bars im really liking the freegle bar on my CX beater.

You could probably find a redline conquest for the price of a langster.


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing most fixed gear bikes new are pretty much road bikes in terms of geometry, so I don't get why more people aren't picking up older steel road bikes. It isn't a hard conversion to turn it into a fixed gear and usually you end up with a lighter bike.


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## newaccount (Jan 3, 2007)

Road bike conversions look stupid without the track dropouts when you have to introduce a chain tensioner or have a slack chain. Get the right frame for the purpose you are using it for. Track bikes are for the track.

Redline has a variety of flip-flop bikes that are in your price range. The 9-2-5 comes to mind. It has fenders and is steel. Besides, the Langster would look weird with fenders.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*surly*



newaccount said:


> Road bike conversions look stupid without the track dropouts when you have to introduce a chain tensioner or have a slack chain. Get the right frame for the purpose you are using it for. Track bikes are for the track.
> 
> Redline has a variety of flip-flop bikes that are in your price range. The 9-2-5 comes to mind. It has fenders and is steel. Besides, the Langster would look weird with fenders.


cross check can be ran fixed or with gears


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

newaccount said:


> Road bike conversions look stupid without the track dropouts when you have to introduce a chain tensioner or have a slack chain. Get the right frame for the purpose you are using it for. Track bikes are for the track.


I think that they're fine if they have the old-school horizontal dropouts.










Supposedly you can yank the wheel forward out of the dropout if you sprint hard enough, but I never had a problem with that, even using a quick release wheel. I'm not a big guy, though - 140lbs at the time.


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## Skooks (Dec 24, 2008)

Sweet looking ride! I have to ask though, what is the appeal of a single-speed? What is the down-side of having gears? Deraileurs have been around a long time and they do their job pretty well. I value my knees, and where I commute the hills would be impossible without a very low gear.


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## Renovatio (Nov 22, 2007)

tryallrider said:


> Yeah i was looking at some of the se lager and draft lite's.
> They have a leftover 08 lager brown singlespeed/fixie for 450 not a bad deal.The specialized is 600 i cant think of any reason why the specialized would be worth the extra money.


I hate bullhorns with brake levers, the point of bullhorns is the have something similar hand position like on brake hoods. :madman:

Langster is a good looking bike, but I've seen a lot of wana-bes riding them, don't want to be considered a "hip" biker. 

IMO single speed is the way to go for a commuter if you don't have to many hills. Not much to steal and replacement factor is low.


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## Onoroian (Dec 12, 2008)

I bought a 09 New York(Taxi theme) Langster in November.
flipped the hub to freecoaster for a few months and recently flipped it back to fixed.
I use it to commute to work(about 7.5 miles each way)
I like the bike a lot,as far as the rims/wheels go,they seem really strong,I have hit my share of potholes etc and theyre both as true(the rims) as when I bought it.

Hope you enjoy it


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

Skooks said:


> Sweet looking ride! I have to ask though, what is the appeal of a single-speed? What is the down-side of having gears? Deraileurs have been around a long time and they do their job pretty well. I value my knees, and where I commute the hills would be impossible without a very low gear.


I dont know to be perfectly honest. I do believe however having derailleur's makes me lazy instead of using my body to get up a hill I rely on gear ratio's and in the end I will be stronger, there's no doubt about it.

I know derailleur's have been around since the 60's and that's fine but from what i understand the first touring races were done on fixies i dont see why it cant be done today with having knee problems i know myself i out of shape of if any knee problems arise its probably my own fault.


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## Gary the No-Trash Cougar (Oct 14, 2008)

Skooks said:


> Sweet looking ride! I have to ask though, what is the appeal of a single-speed? What is the down-side of having gears? Deraileurs have been around a long time and they do their job pretty well. I value my knees, and where I commute the hills would be impossible without a very low gear.


Well that's just the thing. SS/FG is fine if you live in the flatlands and don't have to fight headwinds daily. You save weight, mechanical woes and the straight chainline makes for more efficient pedaling. I live in the hills though and have some steep climbs, no matter what direction I head in. I rely heavily on my geared bike to get around. At some point though I plan on picking or building up an SS/FG flip-flop bike (probably based on an MTB frame) in case I start to plateau and/or am feeling particularly masochistic. The folks over on the Single Speed forum espouse all sorts of benefits to riding SS both on and off the road. I can see both sides.


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## newaccount (Jan 3, 2007)

Gears help many people get to work without breaking a crazy sweat. Isn't that one of the biggest reasons why people don't bike to work?


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## Skooks (Dec 24, 2008)

*why single-speed/fixe ?*

I still don't understand why anyone would not want multiple gears on their bike. I guess if I lived in a flatter area with no head-winds I might but hey, whatever turns your crank. As long as you are out riding that is a good thing.

=Don


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Derailleurs are expensive and kind of fragile. They're also kind of heavy, as are extra chainrings and cassettes with multiple cogs. The jockey wheels in the rear derailleur can be a source of additional friction. Some freewheels have play in them. A singlespeed has none of these problems.

So for me it wasn't that I didn't want multiple gears on my utility bike. It was that I found that for getting around in the flat city I lived in at the time, they weren't very useful and they diminished the performance of the bike. If I could have magically had multiple gears without the bike gaining weight and mechanical complication, I'd totally have done it.


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

So i puled the trigger on the specialized and pretty happy about it. im going down there to get it tomorrow and gonna add some lighting front and rear.


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## tryallrider (Aug 28, 2007)

tryallrider said:


> So i puled the trigger on the specialized and pretty happy about it. im going down there to get it tomorrow and gonna add some lighting front and rear.


edit:didnt buy the specialized. Bought a giant ssek 2 with gears.....i couldnt resist


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## stillkeen (Mar 22, 2005)

Three friends have bought Langsters (Green 08, Silver 09 and 08 London). I almost bought a 09 Monaco, but ended up going for a Cotic RoadRat (steel and can run bigger tires, fenders and gears later).

Why ss/fixie? Where to start:

Lighter.
Easy to clean.
Quiet.
Cheaper than equiv gears.
Lasts for ages, the amount of tooth/chain wear you need before it skips is a lot.
Something different to ride (diff than my other bikes, not different than the fixie/hipster crowd).

If your commute is in traffic, stop start and more of a city cruise, then it can make it a lot more fun. Of course hills, winds and long stretches of road that you just want to 'get along', and then gears appeal. This year i've been single speeding the winter, and in another few weeks I'll be fitting gears for the summer. I'll probably go fixed for next winter (all this on the Roadrat ... jack of all trades bike that it is).

Enjoy the Langster, my mates love theirs.


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## shmrcksean (Jun 15, 2004)

I have that exact same bike and love it. I commute once a week 32 miles R/T with about 1200 elevatin gain on the way home. I ran it as a fixie full time until I tore my ACL and have been since been running it freewheel post op. I've been finding that freewheel you spin out quite easy on my way in (1200 ft. elevation loss) but it was a nice workout when in the fixed gear.

It rides great and although it feels a little harsh of a ride, but I'm not too used to running an fully rigid aluminum frame with 120 psi in the tires. I'm more of a 5" travel trail bike rider but overall, it's not punishing. I take it on 50 mile road rides and I'm none the worse for wear.

Speaking of tires, the ones that come on it are relatively worthless. No flat resistance at all. I would say I averaged a flat once every couple rides. I've since replaced the tires with Vittorias and no flats in a month. The only other components I've swapped out are the pedals for Crank Bros. Candies and the saddle (which I found to be some sort of medievel torture device) to a beautiful Brooks 17 in British racing green. It looks awesome and is very comfortable.

I would recommend the bike 100%.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

shmrcksean said:


> It rides great and although it feels a little harsh of a ride, but I'm not too used to running an fully rigid aluminum frame with 120 psi in the tires.


Experiment some, and see if you need to run 120psi. It's a lot like finding the right pressure for a mountain bike tire - pretty personal, dependent on your weight, and rarely what the manufacturer recommends. On my road bike, with 23mm tires, I have 90psi in front and 100 in the rear. I weigh 140lbs, so ymmv.


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