The Official DMF Bicycle Thread

[Manny]

I just ordered a Salsa Moto Rapido frame. Should be here on friday. 

[matt922]

i ride a trek 7.5fx, wish i would've waited and got a c-dale six13 though. Oh well, quicker i can save for a 620/695/750/800 

[Fresh Pants]

I just ordered a Salsa Moto Rapido frame. Should be here on friday. 

Woo! Nice work.
Looks fast. Umm... 

[Manny]

Woo! Nice work.
Looks fast. Umm... 

YUM!

It looks light, accurate, and GOLD. Not so hot on the gold part, but it's the only colour it comes in.

I can use my wheels with the disc brakes on this one (no more horrid squeaking).

The measurements were all good for me: 71* head tube, 22.x top tube, virtual 18in frame. Good materials, good company.

Maybe I'll have it built up by saturday night... 

[KnightofNi]

my neighbor asked if he could use my tire pump the other day. i brought it to him and asked what was up.

apparently his nephew's bike needed a little work. being a ncie guy i said i would lend a hand since he knows practically nothing about bikes.

it was a mongoose BMX bike. i knew then and there that this wouldn't go well.
the headstem wouldn't stay put, the front brakes wouldn't grab, the tires were flat, and i am guessing they had been sitting flat for a while since i couldn't get the bead to seal. i swear, the bike was at least 50lbs. my mtn bike only weighs 30

he asked me how to best fix it. i told him not to buy the bike at k-mart, or to put it together himself. i seriously think that the tubes were an inch too big for the tires. i told him to go to the bike shop and get new tubes. a day later he says he has the tubes and is going to put them on. i stop in and he's using a screwdriver to fit the tire. the kickstand is also laying on the floor next to him. that had been welded on the last time i saw the bike. (at least the frame is steel)

the bike is now is half decent working order, and it fits his nephew. now if only i could convince him to spend the money to get the kid a good bike.

[Fresh Pants]

my neighbor asked if he could use my tire pump the other day. i brought it to him and asked what was up.

apparently his nephew's bike needed a little work. being a ncie guy i said i would lend a hand since he knows practically nothing about bikes.

it was a mongoose BMX bike. i knew then and there that this wouldn't go well.
the headstem wouldn't stay put, the front brakes wouldn't grab, the tires were flat, and i am guessing they had been sitting flat for a while since i couldn't get the bead to seal. i swear, the bike was at least 50lbs. my mtn bike only weighs 30

he asked me how to best fix it. i told him not to buy the bike at k-mart, or to put it together himself. i seriously think that the tubes were an inch too big for the tires. i told him to go to the bike shop and get new tubes. a day later he says he has the tubes and is going to put them on. i stop in and he's using a screwdriver to fit the tire. the kickstand is also laying on the floor next to him. that had been welded on the last time i saw the bike. (at least the frame is steel)

the bike is now is half decent working order, and it fits his nephew. now if only i could convince him to spend the money to get the kid a good bike.

Yikes.

Not all Mongoose bikes are bad though.
Good on you for helping. I like working on friends bikes. It's always more fun to work on nice bikes since the parts fit better and don't bend when you look at them funny, but a bike is a bike and I think if anyone is riding one (regardless of make/quality)  . That said, sometimes I wish I were still ignorant about bicycles (it'd have been a whole lot cheaper  ) Kidding. I'd never trade the fun I've had/am having with bikes.

[KnightofNi]

i'm not really a bike snob, i just pretend to be to make myself seem cooler 

actually, i'm not, but after riding better quality bikes, the lower ones astound me. mainly because of what i did on them knowing what i know now.

[Fresh Pants]

I know exactly what you mean.

Not only is the quality better, but it's easier to buy a more expensive good quality part once than a cheap part multiple times.   

[triangleforge]

Here's a good use for those department store bikes (and all those tweaked tubular rims I was saving for years for, well, I have no idea): A garden gate!



Two trash-bin rescue bicycles (that weren't worth saving) make a nice, functional gate, with a bunch of trashed wheels & rims used for the fence. The one bit of bling: a Campagnolo Nuovo Record hi-flange hub used for a hinge in the gate latch (a Roadmaster fork) that has followed me around for decades, waiting for just this moment:



I do a lot of wrenching at kids bike rodeos on bikes like this, and the one thing that really bugs me -- most, though not alll, can be made rideable, but not all of them can be made safe. Those stamped sheetmetal caliper brakes ought to be against the law...

[Manny]

my neighbor asked if he could use my tire pump the other day. i brought it to him and asked what was up.

apparently his nephew's bike needed a little work. being a ncie guy i said i would lend a hand since he knows practically nothing about bikes.

it was a mongoose BMX bike. i knew then and there that this wouldn't go well.
the headstem wouldn't stay put, the front brakes wouldn't grab, the tires were flat, and i am guessing they had been sitting flat for a while since i couldn't get the bead to seal. i swear, the bike was at least 50lbs. my mtn bike only weighs 30

he asked me how to best fix it. i told him not to buy the bike at k-mart, or to put it together himself. i seriously think that the tubes were an inch too big for the tires. i told him to go to the bike shop and get new tubes. a day later he says he has the tubes and is going to put them on. i stop in and he's using a screwdriver to fit the tire. the kickstand is also laying on the floor next to him. that had been welded on the last time i saw the bike. (at least the frame is steel)

the bike is now is half decent working order, and it fits his nephew. now if only i could convince him to spend the money to get the kid a good bike.

Yep. Good on ya for helping out. When I lived in Durango all the neighborhood kids (mostly Hispanic, Southern Ute, or Navajo kids) knew that my roomate and I had bikes and worked on them, so we got alot of knocks on our door to fix things. We always did and so our parking lots was always full of kids riding circles and being silly. 

[somegirl]

Here's a good use for those department store bikes (and all those tweaked tubular rims I was saving for years for, well, I have no idea): A garden gate!

Very creative!

[triangleforge]

Monster sighting in the online version of my favorite bicycle mag -- Dirt Rag Magazine:



It's a profile interview with Sarah Hansing, a wicked-fast singlespeeder from the Mid-Atlantic. Don't know her, but she rides in my old stomping (and crashing) grounds around the DC area like Patapsco State Park.  Fun read!

http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/sarah-motorcycle.jpg

[Got Duc]

Mine

[FatguyRacer]

Monster sighting in the online version of my favorite bicycle mag -- Dirt Rag Magazine:

It's a profile interview with Sarah Hansing, a wicked-fast singlespeeder from the Mid-Atlantic. Don't know her, but she rides in my old stomping (and crashing) grounds around the DC area like Patapsco State Park.  Fun read!

http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/sarah-motorcycle.jpg

I wonder if she knows about the GTGs at the Rhodeside every Wednesday?

Oh and my IF is kaput. Broke on a ride last thursday. I am very sad. Like losing a friend.

[triangleforge]

^^ That photo makes my heart hurt. So sorry for your loss!

Fitting ends for beautiful bikes that will ride no more -- hang it on the wall as art (I had a couple of busted frames and a defunct Spinergy CF wheel on my office walls back when I, um, had an office), or cut it up to make bike race trophies, a la Boston Cross:

http://www.bostoncross.com/trophy_party.html

It's the answer to the oft-posed question: What happens when you mix bike geeks, powertools and alcohol?



BTW, I noticed you were ruminating about repair on another thread; sad to say, that one's terminal. Not only will you need to replace the seat & downtubes and the BB shell (so you're re-doing ALL of the primary welds), but it's a TIG welded frame so won't sweat apart the way a soldered, lugged steel frame would. Basically, you'd have to find a builder who'd be willing to mill & miter off everything that's bad along with every convex joint it's attached to, so your head tube disappears as well, and at that point the top tube with it. By the time you're finished, all you'd have left of your old IF would be the seat stays, chainstays and the dropouts. It's time to let go.