I'm generally not one to rave about "this year's model" of anything, especially when it's last year's model with a new paintjob. However, I saw this in my LBS and I have to admit it looks pretty good.
The folks at Specialized just realized that there isn't a lot they can do to differentiate their single speed from anyone else's (how wrong they are, but more on that in a mo). So this year's Langsters come in a few flavors: the Boston, the London, and the NYC (pictured).
The Boston looks a little dull (maybe that's the point, so it won't get nicked?) and it's only marginally different from the usual crop in that it has a brake lever on the flats. Woohoo.
Its polar opposite (in terms of flying under the radar) is the London. With an Austin Powers inspired paint job, I'm almost impressed...though I'm sure I'll change my mind for the worse when I see a local Fixed Gear Poser atop one, replete with a Freitag bag.
As an aside, I love Freitag bags, when they fit. Old and tattered, well used in all seasons: good. Shiny and new, on a vintage-cycling-capped, retro-band-t-shirted, heavy-metal-tight-jeans-wearing FGP: bad. I'd get one myself, but I've been sporting my Courier Ware bag for 17 years and counting, and I'm kind of attached to it. A mom we know recently moved to Switzerland and came back for a visit, sporting a Freitag bag that looks totally appropriate. My wife mentioned that I should get one, since my bag is so raggedy, and I had to explain why that just wouldn't fly.
Back to the subject at hand. The NYC model of the Langster is little more than a paint job, but it scores a few points. First of all, the straight bar is 40cm wide, which is pretty narrow for a production bike. The fact that the chainstay sports the message "Driver carries less than $20 in cash" really nails the courier entendre. (Never mind the fact that a real courier would lift the sticker from a cab, spraypaint an old peugeot canary yellow, and save $700.) It looks good, though I suspect it would wear thin if a crowd of FGPs show up on them. It's pretty damn flashy, so you'd better back it up by using that bar to cross up a power wheelie off the line.
Still, you have to give them points for trying. Why not more? A real NYC bike would be made to look like a '78 Sears Free Spirit, without any decals, and it would come with an 8 pound Kryptonite. The Chicago would have all weather tires and a 54x16 since there aren't any hills to speak of. The SanFran would have a psychedelic paint job and a 2:1 gear ratio. {Note: Apparently I was even ahead of the Web team at Specialized, who had not updated their site with the '08 models. It turns out there are Chicago (bullhorns) and a Seattle (fenders & mildly swept straight bar) models.}
I think there's really so much more to be tweaked on these bikes, since half the fun is personalizing them for yourself, gearwise. Someone ought to set up a flash-heavy web site where you can pick a frame (italian lugged steel or titanium), a paint scheme, some combination of bullhorn, straight bar, fg/fw/both, 0/1/2 brakes, velocity/hi-performance rims, clips/pedals, carbon fiber/retro campy....etc. You could sell bikes from $500-3,000 without worrying about distributing to bike shops.
You heard it hear first. Alas, I always have more ideas than time...
