Urban Trail Milano Fixie - Review

The Urban Trail Milano Fixie is built on a Chromoly Steel frame. Chromoly or Cro-Mo for short, which is alloyed steel, it offers superior strength properties when compared to Hi-Ten steel and so can be butted and made thinner/lighter. This frame is exceptionally durable, highly resistant to fatigue, easily repaired and easy to work with. For a commuter bicycle like the Milano Fixie, steel is a good choice of material. The frames were welded neatly and had more material at the joints and lesser in between to reduce the overall frame weight. The Cro-Mo steel fork is also both thin and strong.

As the name suggests this bicycle is a fixie. Which means it comes with a single-speed fixed drivetrain. What makes it special is the flip/flop hub at the rear wheel. This wheel can be flipped and can be made a free wheel, which like any normal single speed bicycle, the pedal can freely rotate backwards. The fixed wheel mode is the one in which, if you pedal backwards the bicycle will go backwards. This mode is what makes this bicycle a fixie. Fixie mode riding requires a bit of practice as it requires one to get used to not taking the foot of the pedal without braking completely. This fixed gear mode was fast to ride and flipping the wheel was easy and takes hardly a few minutes to change.

All fixie bicycles are generally commuter specific bicycles and the designs are pretty good. The Milano Fixie from UT which I test rode came in a full white frame with yellow and green colour in a few places. There is a funky colour pattern which has been followed on this bicycle. The green can be seen on the stem, chainring, crank arms and the back wheel. The yellow can be seen on the saddle and the front wheel. This matte finish white frame is top quality and this will also help reduce corrosion to an extent.

The UT Milano Fixie comes equipped with a pair of V-brakes at the front and back. These brakes worked efficiently during the test ride on flat roads. Brakes were both balanced and responded quickly which helped manoeuver through traffic easily. The brake levers can only be operated from the straight bars and not from the bull horn extensions.This bicycle comes with a bull horn shaped handlebar. The upward slanting extensions on both ends make for a good riding position on flat straight roads. The bar tape was soft and cushioned.

This fixie rolls on a pair of 7C x 28C Kenda road tires. These tires were well supported by the alloy double walled rims, which made the wheelset lightweight and rolled fast on tar roads. The treading was sufficient to handle the minimal rubble on urban roads. This bicycle came with a stock saddle which wasn’t the most ergonomically designed but had the right amount of padding. The material of the saddle was a little too smooth which can be slippery. The overall ride quality was fast on urban roads.