So about a month or so ago, my mountain bike was stolen out of our apartment storage area. … Still, not happy about that.

Thanks to my brother though I have a new bike! Happy Birthday to me 🙂

Critical Cycles Fixed-Gear Single-Speed Bicycle – Matte Black
medium 53cm 5’6-5’9 31

Made a few adjustments to it that my brother suggested. The first change was switching the rear wheel hub to free spin. The whole fixed gear in reverse thing just isn’t for me yet. Tried it for a little bit yesterday and it made me a bit scared to go real fast.

This was easy to do. Simply remove the rear wheel and flip it around and then reattach. I’m not sure if I did it a 100% correct as I really don’t know how to use the fasteners to align the wheel completely straight. I’m planning on simply having a bike mechanic look at it soon. The videos I’ve watched on it still have me a little confused. I think I need to see it done in person. (Also need a new socket, all mine are too small.)

Took off the toe clips too. I had a bike with straps once, but its been a long while. And since I plan on using all sorts of footwear I don’t want to get tangled up in the straps and wiping out.

Easy to do as well. Unthread the straps first then simply unscrew the nuts holding the plastic toe clips in place. I used needle nose pliers to do this, as there wasn’t any space for a socket wrench.

A few things more I want to change, also at the suggestion of my brother: change the seat to something more comfortable as well as adding a front wheel break. Since I took the bike off the fixed gear hub I want to make sure I have enough stopping power when I need it. Also, I’m going to want a mechanic to just give it a once over in the process.

As far as a road review I don’t think I’m ready yet. Other than the look, which I love, I haven’t had much road time with it yet. Will probably update this soon. TBD