State 4130 Review

 Well I have now had my State Bicycle Co 4130 frame for like a year. I feel I can now offer a meaningful review of the frame since I just hit 2,000 miles on it. The frame is very sturdy, if a little heavy. I am a very utilitarian type and do not care about shaving grams. So the heft of the frame is of little consequence to me. I enjoy the fact that if I drop the bike, hit some rough terrain, or whatever, I take comfort in the fact the frame is very likely to survive. This frame is fast enough for me, honestly I doubt I would be any faster riding a carbon or aluminum bike.

First I will cover the pros, which there are several key points that make this frame well worth the purchase and worthy of riding a lot. One of the first things that caught my eye on this frame was the price. I think I paid like $200 for this thing. Granted my Eigthinch Scrambler was only $100 and it will always be my favorite bike. But inflation has apparently reached the bike world along with everything else. So it seems $200 is about the cheapest frame one can find these days. The second thing that drew me to this frame was the design. 

That wishbone seatstay setup is just freaking awesome looking. You can get the same thing for more than triple the cost of the State 4130 with the Squid SO-EZ. And I really was so close to pulling the trigger on one of those. But it has that cool spacing (130 mm)in the rear which would require me buying a new wheel, so no. The fork that comes with the frameset also resembles the Squid's. So basically you're getting a clone of the Squid SO-EZ for $200 and don't need to invest in another rear wheel. So the price and looks totally reeled me in right out of the gate. 

Then I noticed it had clearance for pretty beefy tires. I currently have 38s on it and I think there's room for bigger if I wanted to size up. The only thing I ever wished I could change about my Scrambler was increased clearance. Though most of my riding doesn't require big tires and most of the time I'm running a 25 thickslick on the rear with a 32 gatorskin up front. I threw the 38 schwalbe marathon plus tires on for the Croatan Buck Fifty Those tires are super heavy and slow, but they are very puncture resistant so far. 

There are plenty of bosses on the frame for fenders, bottle cages, you name it. I don't run fenders on my fixed gear setups, but it's nice to know I have the option. The only place State forgot to put bosses is on the fork, but it is not an issue for me. I do run a front rack most of the time, but it's an Origin8 rack which just uses the front brake hole and front axle nuts for mounting. 

The State 4130 has also been a lot more durable than my last frame, the Weapon TC01. Man what a let-down that one was. I think it cost me twice as much as the State 4130 and only got a quarter of the miles on it before the chainstay cracked. I would probably have went with another Kilo WT but they were out of stock when I found myself in need of a new frame. Besides the cool design, I was also stoked to see the cool paint jobs on the State 4130. I almost got the purple colorway, but decided on the silver one. The color is kind of irrelevant for me. Because as soon as I see rust, I plan on just sanding it down to bare metal and embrace the patina that will inevitably come as it ages. 

I guess all I really want to say about the frame is that it is possibly the best bang for the buck you can find as far as singlespeed/fixed gear bikes go at this time.