Cell Bikes fixie/singlespeed at Nudgee Beach — a beautiful day for a roll. According to Strava, 73.4 km at an average speed of 28.1 km/h.
Beautiful day for a 73 km ride to Nudgee
Tag Archives: Cell Bikes
Coffee stop at Anesis, Yeronga
I love a late morning roll down to a local café for a long black coffee. I was riding my Cell Bikes fixie/singlespeed, Wonder Woman. Perfect weather, sweet bike and great coffee. What is there not to love?
Cell Bikes fixie at Anesis in Yeronga
Cell Bikes fixie frame makeover — before and after photos
I have had this bike for a while — see the Wonder Woman tag. I built the bike up from a Cell Bikes fixie frame along with many parts that I had in a box from other bike projects. The intent of the bike was to use it around town to run down to the shops, post office and local cafes. The bike was a parts bin special that I had built for less than $200 that I could happily leave at the front of a store without worrying too much if it was stolen.
The bike has a 46 tooth chainring and a 17 tooth freewheel — that actually makes it a singlespeed, not a fixie. In this configuration — but with Shimano SPD pedals, not the flats in the following photo — I have riden the bike around the Brisbane River Loop at an average speed of more than 29 km/h.
With the next Brisbane Style Over Speed ride fast approaching, I decided it was time to modify the bike to make it more of a sit-up bike — a bit more style and a little less speed. The main change was the Velo Orange Milan handlebars. I decided the deep V rim wheels of the original build did not go with the stylish look, so purchased a set of Marvinator wheels from Gear Shop Brisbane. The final change was a set of VP Components VP-X92 double sided SPD-compatible/platform pedals. I reused the handlebar grips, brake levers, freewheel, tubes and tyres from the original bike build.
Nudgee Beach by bicycle
I took a ride out to Nudgee Beach today — a 76 km round trip from Yeronga, including a couple of laps of the Nundah Criterium Circuit — on my Cell Bikes singlespeed.
Nudgee Beach seems to be a very popular destination for cyclists, mainly because of the extensive offroad sealed bikeways that can be used to get there. It has taken me three exploratory rides to work out the best way to get from the Brisbane River Loop on to the Kedron-Brook Bikeway, which then links to the Jim Soorley Bikeway and the Moreton Bay Cycleway, before following the Nudgee Road bikeway to Nudgee Beach.
You can explore Brisbane’s bikeways using the cycling layer at Google Maps.
Start of the Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge
I rode my Cell Bikes custom fixie (set up as a singlespeed) in the 100 km Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge. My total distance in the saddle for the day was 125 km, including riding to and from the ride. I averaged 30.9 km/h for the 100 km Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge part of the ride.
This particular Cell Bikes custom fixie was purchased in 2011 and has 4130 cromoly frame and forks. I have fitted my Cell Bikes singlespeed with Shimano PD-R540 SPD-SL pedals, Halo Aerorage track wheels, Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres, a Selle Italia SLS Kit Carbonio Flow saddle, and an extra water bottle cage on the down tube using Elite VIP bottle cage clamps. I also carry a Top Peak saddle bag and a Maxxis Compressor micro pump mounted under the bottle cage. Otherwise, the bike is pretty standard including 46/16 gearing.
Cell Bikes singlespeed just before leaving home for a 125 km day in the saddle
Waiting for the start of the Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge
Cell Bikes singlespeed just before starting the 100 km Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge
Mostly road bikes as far as the eye can see before the start
Mostly road bikes as far as the eye can see before the start
Cell Bikes singlespeed in endurance mode
I am riding the Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 100 km ride on my Cell Bikes singlespeed this weekend. I was planning to ride non-stop, so one of the challenges was getting enough fluid on the bike to stay hydrated. I stopped at Bikeway Coffee Juice Bar and took a few photos of my setup.
The Cell Bikes fixie frame has one set of braze-ons for a water bottle cage on the down tube. It does not have a second set on the seat tube like most road bikes. The solution was a set of Elite VIP Bottle Cage Clamps with a stealth black Elite Custom Race Resin Cage purchased from Wiggle. I have read that sometimes these mounts can slide down the frame tube. Because I have only had it on the bike for a couple of rides, I have tied a piece of spectra line around the top tube as an insurance measure. Over the last 70 km of riding, the cage clamps have not moved, so I may remove the spectra line after the Brisbane to Gold Coast ride.
The cage at the back of the saddle is less successful. This is a Tacx bottle cage saddle mount with a stealth black Elite Custom Race Resin Cage. The Tacx saddle mount can be set up with one bottle cage or two. I originally set it up with two cages, but even with bottles only half full, unfortunately it sagged. I set it up with only one cage for this ride, and the first bump going out of our street, it sagged again. I continued riding to see whether it would eject the bottle. Sure enough, halfway down Highgate Hill at about 50 km/h, the bottle launched from the cage. I can’t blame the Elite cage. They were not designed for saddle mounting and have performed faultlessly on my frame mounts for thousands of kilometres. The Tacx saddle mount, on the other hand, should not move from the position that I mounted it in.
The upshot is, I will be removing the Tacx saddle mount and just riding with two bottles mounted in the frame. It looks like it will be at least one stop on the Brisbane to Gold Coast ride for me this year.
Cell Bikes singlespeed at Bikeway Coffee Juice Bar
Three bottle cages on my Cell Bikes singlespeed
This is the position I wanted the Tacx bottle cage saddle mount to be in — an upright position would minimise the chances of the bottle being ejected
No matter how tight I did up the bolt on the Tacx bottle cage saddle mount, the bottle kept sagging
Elite VIP bottle cage clamps — the spectra line is my insurance policy against the clamps slipping
Elite VIP bottle cage clamps
Enjoying the view of the Brisbane River and CBD
Blackboard art at Bikeway Coffee Juice Bar
Bike art? — my two Cell Bikes singlespeeds
Bike art? — my two Cell Bikes singlespeeds
Bike art? My two Cell Bikes singlespeeds.
With a casual glance you would think that Wonder Woman (orange bike) is the faster bike. In fact Bumblebee (yellow bike) has a higher spec list and is the faster bike.
Wonder Woman has been built up as my cafe/commuter bike around a Cell Bikes fixie frame mostly with parts that I had lying around. For some of these parts, this is the third bike that they have been on.
Bumblebee started out two years ago as a Cell Bikes custom fixie, but has had numerous parts upgraded, many of which are now on Wonder Woman. Bumblebee is one of my fitness/training bikes and I often ride it 40+ km.