Takara Kabuto Single Speed Road Bike
The Kabuto single speed road bike looks like a million bucks but is shockingly friendly to your wallet. The Kabuto single speed is a light weight single speed with a flippable rear hub that quickly converts it to a fixie. A burly steel frame makes it both responsive and tough enough for urban settings. If you are looking for a bike that looks like it cost a fortune but didn’t, then the reviews are in, and the Kabuta single speed is one of the best buys on the street.
The frame comes in two sizes 54 and 57cm, so, unfortunately if you are under about 5’8″, the top tube is a bit of a stretch. The alloy wheels come standard with burly cyclocross style tires that can take whatever the streets can throw at them. The tires are quite a bit heavier than those found on standard road bikes. The advantages of this, in conjunction with their lower psi (80 compared with the 110-120 seen on standard road bike tires) is better handling. Lower psi and wider tires means more rubber on the road. In wet or slushy conditions this gives the bike exceptional handling and added safety. The trade off to this is speed. So, depending on your climate and the bike’s intended use, you may want to replace the original tires with standard road bike tires. The good news is that if you want to add some speed to your steed, the rims take the standard 700×25 tires used on most road bikes.
A flippable rear hub means that you can ride the bike as either a fixed gear or a single speed. The great thing about this hub is that you are not commited to a fixed gear. If you’ve always wanted to try out a fixed gear but have been unwilling to commit, this is the perfect buy for you.
Most reviewers liked the gear ratio, which is set up for riding flat urban streets. There was enough slack in the gearing to get up small inclines without excessive effort. Gear ratios are a personal thing and can be changed easily to fit your needs depending on terrain. If you are unfamiliar with gear ratios, ride the bike for a couple of weeks before ordering a different cassette online, or better yet, consult with a local bike shop mechanic and buy one from them, it will save you time and money in the long run.
Every reviewer loved the flashy yellow and black paint job. Additionally the yellow tires seem to stay bright far longer than most reviewers expected. The one drawback seems to be an overabundance of stickers, but all those who wished to remove them did so with no problems. Another minor drawback of the color scheme is that the yellow bar tape gets dirty fast. Luckily, bar tape is something that needs replacing with some regularity on all bikes and can be had inexpensively in any number of styles and colors.
The seat that comes standard on the bike was loved by some, loathed by others. This is to be expected. Any review of any seat from a cheap one to one that costs more than this bike is going to cause some people to cheer and others to cry out in horror. That is the nature of seats. Never trust a review of a seat’s comfort, only your own tush can tell you that.
Those who bought the bike raved about it’s handling and comfort. The most common comment in all of the reviews was a disbelief that so many high quality details could be had for so little money. Obviously with so many excellent details and a ridiculously low price point, something has to give, and the one repeated negative review concerns the brakes. They were considered by many reviewers to be cheap and somewhat unresponsive. Brakes are not as inexpensive to replace as bar tape. If you do not like the brakes you are going to have to buy new ones, and that isn’t always cheap. Even adding in the cost of new brakes, the bike is a good deal, but it is best to go into any purchase informed.
Even with the small negative points discussed in this review, its hard to imagine that you can buy this bike for as little as you can. All those who ordered this bike online said that assembly was surprisingly easy. So whether you buy this bike through a local bike shop or order it online it will be a snap to go from box to road. And once on the road, that is where it will really shine.
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Category: Road Bikes, Takara
