The Official DMF Bicycle Thread

[d3vi@nt]

Got a new jersey today.

And I've been prepping for an actual race in September.

That's awesome. On both counts. 

[Stella]

Got a new jersey today.

And I've been prepping for an actual race in September.

 

Which race?  Inquiring minds may want to track you.   

[kopfjäger]

http://www.babaali.co/

[triangleforge]

I should make up some more of these stickers; it was fun rolling around rural Virginia with this on the car, and I can only imagine how much more entertaining it'd be here in Arizona...

20140630_133312 by triangleforge, on Flickr

[Grampa]

https://procyclegear.com/ducati/?sort=oldest




For ya'll that love to advertise.

[DarkMonster620]

My new set of wheels, nothing fancy, just hope it lasts at least 9 months . . . Got it as a gift when we purchased a mattress . . . it came in a box, I had to put it together . . .

[Oldfisti]

29er?


Looks like a fun little whip.


The disc brakes will come in handy down in monsoon country where you live.

[DRKWNG]

Forks are on backwards

[kopfjäger]

Forks are on backwards

  WTF

[DarkMonster620]

29er?


Looks like a fun little whip.


The disc brakes will come in handy down in monsoon country where you live.

26"

Forks are on backwards

that's how they came installed in frame . . . Thanks, gonna flip em around

[triangleforge]

Forks are on backwards

Nah, that much trail works just fine on grocery carts.

JK - you'll notice a huge difference when you re-orient them.

Saw a guy with a brand new fat-tire MTB the other day, with the fork backwards. I have to imagine there are '50s era Farmall tractors that handle better...

[DarkMonster620]

Forks are on backwards

fixed them . . now, I've got a whole lotta head shake going on . . . since it is a "NO BRAND" bike, and was a bonus gift, gonna ask a friend to lend me his rollers to set up the bike and ride in place . . . NOT gonna risk doing street riding on it . . . Spent about 2 hours trying to eliminate this head shake but, NO avail, still have about 2mm gap at bottom of head stock . . It is a NON threaded headstock

, forks on the right way

, gap, supposed to be "flush"

Since we're here, Ben, would Strava work if I use the bike in a fixed position? Or do I need to ride it outside?

[triangleforge]

Looks like the crown race isn't seated properly on the fork crown; there's a special crown race tool for that, but with a free, promo bike I wouldn't be too upset if you just found a section of pipe with a nice, square-cut end that fit tightly enough to slide freely over the steerer tube  and used it like a slide hammer to set the race. When you try to set it, make sure you're bracing the actual fork crown, not the slider tubes or bridge on the fork; that way you're not fighting the shock absorbing fork when you smack the race. These days, the crown race usually isn't even a bearing race in the literal sense of the word - often, it's just there to give a solid interface between the fork crown and a sealed bearing cartridge. Did you see loose ball bearings in there when you removed the fork, or a sealed bearing?

One big caveat - from the photos, it looks like there's a pretty large thickness of paint on the place where the fork crown is supposed to go, which may be why the race didn't install properly in the first place - you may need to remove that first. And despite lots of pleading from those of us who work on bikes, you'll still sometimes encounter a non-standard fork crown, which is simply too large (or too small) for the snug, press fit that the crown race is supposed to have.

If you get that race in the proper spot (flush onto the top of the fork crown), it's possible you'll discover that the steerer tube is now too long to get the whole fork snugged down correctly, so that it turns freely but doesn't move AT ALL when you engage the front brake and rock the bike forward and back. If so, you may need to pick up an additional spacer or two so that the top of the steerer tube is below the spacers by a 4-5 millimeters, or cut the steerer tube a bit shorter.

Good luck!

[triangleforge]

Oh, and Strava is GPS based, so if you're not traveling over ground, it won't show any "mileage."

[Oldfisti]

I fully agree with what triangleforce said. 

I will add that assuming there is nothing wrong with your bike you could have tightened the stem in the wrong order.  Loosen the top cap and then stem bolts.  With the front wheel on the ground, tighten the cap.  That should take up the bearing p!ay assuming you have enough stem spacers.  Tighten your stem bolts last.