Gotta say, though, that I saw 30 Seconds to Mars live at Jannus Landing in St. Pete a few years ago…at the time, I had no idea that the heavily-mascaraed frontman was Jared Leto (they opened for another band that we were there to see), but they were pretty OK. Afterwards, when we found out it was him, I was actually more impressed.

I commute on 2 different bikes. One is a trek 520, and one is a “track bike.” It’s an IRO Mark V, so you might consider that a road bike with track dropouts, but it’s pretty close to track geometry. My commute is 7 miles one way. This is a completely reasonable distance on fixie. The bike is probably half the weight of my 520, which I really only ride if it’s raining, or if I feel lazy and want to coast.

I do agree that this bike is a bit expensive for the generic parts, but they’re selling an image, and not a particularly good on in my opinion. The fact is there are people out there who would gladly pay $599 for this bike, regardless of spelling errors or whatever other flaws you perceive. The only reason I wouldn’t consider it a commuter is because it seems more like a trick bike, with the flat bars and the 650 front wheel. Nobody sets up a track bike like that unless they’re trying to do bar spins and the like.

Having said all that, it’s good to see a fixed gear bike reviewed as a commuter, even if it’s one that’s not really setup as such. Because when it comes down to it, a bike is a bike. If it gets you from point A to point B it’s serving its purpose. To each his/her own.

I also understand that the name is Red You R Dead—-but why not fix it on the head tube? People are going to riding around with a glaring grammatical error on their bikes. My opinion? The bike makers didn’t realize their mistake until way after production started and the “Red You R Dead” is a way to cover. I think they, like many people, don’t know the difference between “you’re” and “your”.

At least it has a steel frame. You would get laughed at by any messengers in NYC while riding it, though.

Dodge your comment about the brakes? This is what you said, “No brakes (illegal in most states, of course)? Check.” That wasn’t even posed as a question.

So to answer your “question”, NO it does not have brakes.

Thanks for providing the CVC. But I was unclear on your non-factual sentiments-”(Oddly, section b bans ape-hanger bars, and section c forbids tallbikes… clearly, California has its priorities straight!)” What does that even mean?

Again, you did not read the review completely, if you’re going to quote me, get it straight.

“One of the things I’ve noticed with bikes is that aluminum frames tend to have a snappier feel when sprinting, but with steel, I can feel the rear end trying to catch up with the rest of the bike. But with the Masher I get that same snappy feel as aluminum.”

If you didn’t know, steel bikes tend to have a flex feel when you’re sprinting. Though the Masher is 4130 chromo, it felt like I was riding an alum bike when I would sprint.

I also notice you dodged my brake comments. Since I assume you’re in California, I’ll point you to California Vehicular Code, Division 11, Chapter 1, Article 4, Section 21201, subpart a: “No person shall operate a bicycle on a roadway unless it is equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement. ” A fixed hub is not a braking device, period, even if it accomplishes the “dry skid” result. (Oddly, section b bans ape-hanger bars, and section c forbids tallbikes… clearly, California has its priorities straight!)

For the record, 650c was, before it was stolen by triatheletes and turned all frenchy in this country, 26×1″ (not 26×1.00), among other 26xfraction variants.