General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

[flipstah]

Glad they arrived finally.

But Flip. Bro.
This build needs some help. when did you start making this "Gravel bike" into a road bike? Those pedals tho. come on man, you set out to restore a killer gravel bike to modern quality.

And besides, I custom refinished those brake levers for you on the build plan you wanted to do. What is the build plan?

Not grumpy,I'm confused. But tell me, they do look good, right?

Glad you got them. and the dope *******.

Keen to see this build hit the high notes.

Well, I can easily change it up again; remove the cables, add a flat bar, add your levers. This is temporary and just wanted to see how it would run.

it is not done and what you see won't be the final!

 

[otc]

Bike definitely looks odd right now

Nicely restored frame but mismatched drop bars with suicide levers, scratched up rack, and...that...seat????

Gotta do something about that saddle ASAP

 

[Thrift Vader]

Just don't be in a hurry. get it right. you will be happy when it is complete. trust me.

After the ride to get orange juice today, as i left the supermarket i could hear 2 lads talking about my bike. "Yo look at that. it's swag." (in japanese)

Do it right. even if it takes time.

 

[mhip]

I guess the front cassette is hooped because the middle gear skips when I up grades. Oh man, I’m mentally exhausted haha

time for a new saddle
View attachment 1468113 View attachment 1468114 View attachment 1468115 View attachment 1468116 View attachment 1468117

Ossu!!

I dub that, the "creamsicle"

 

[flipstah]

So I'll have a black flat bar ready to rock today. Should I do white saddle/orange grips or black everything and just let the frame be the 'colourful' one? The white brake levers will stand out more now too.

 

[imatlas]

I like the sound of white saddle / orange tape / white brake hoods

 

[Thrift Vader]

@flipstah As a spectator, What i'm hoping to see is a stylistic homage to it's era, with all modern components.
Making it a wicked gravel bike, and a lifer.

My thoughts? White pedals,black seat, and orange grips. with upgraded wheels/tires,and a decal set.

Honestly, it's your bike your way.
But like i said above, all of us in the peanut gallery want to see this bike come out sweet.
So use or ignore specific suggestions, i'm just bored. and a serious bike head.

 

[Thrift Vader]

You've seen my "black bike", now meet the "white bike".


















There you have it. The Black Pearl.

 

[otc]

I don't know enough about suspension parts, but I think my fork is blown. Might be fixable with a service/rebuild, but...hey it is like 2 months old so I submitted the warranty form.

It "tops out" when lifting off things. Go off a little drop or roller and you hear a metal on metal "clang". Also the rebound damper adjustment doesn't seem to be working at all. In fact the rebound actually seems to "clang" faster when the rebound is set to slow. Compression lockout isn't doing its job either...

I have been kind of hard on it (moab + a day as the only hardtail in the whitefish downhill park) and it is not a high-end fork, but it is also a brand new fork so this shouldn't be my problem yet.

 

[otc]

I also still kind of want to try to warranty my rear wheel because it started leaking sealent through the seam...but I subsequently dented it even more so I'm not sure they will be very willing to warranty a rim that has seen so much abuse. Still, I'll own the actual dents...but failure at the seam seems like fair game for a warranty.

That said, this rim is clearly not up to the job for a rider my size...even if they sent me a warranty replacement, I'd probably still want to just sell it and buy a better wheel.

 

[Thrift Vader]

@otc Sounds like you out rode your bike.
kudos

 

[flipstah]

I don't know enough about suspension parts, but I think my fork is blown. Might be fixable with a service/rebuild, but...hey it is like 2 months old so I submitted the warranty form.

It "tops out" when lifting off things. Go off a little drop or roller and you hear a metal on metal "clang". Also the rebound damper adjustment doesn't seem to be working at all. In fact the rebound actually seems to "clang" faster when the rebound is set to slow. Compression lockout isn't doing its job either...

I have been kind of hard on it (moab + a day as the only hardtail in the whitefish downhill park) and it is not a high-end fork, but it is also a brand new fork so this shouldn't be my problem yet.

sounds like a clunky suspension and may need servicing. It’s not dampening your impact. Maybe a blown strut?

do bikes have struts? Your symptoms sound exactly when my car had a blown strut

 

[otc]

sounds like a clunky suspension and may need servicing. It’s not dampening your impact. Maybe a blown strut?

do bikes have struts? Your symptoms sound exactly when my car had a blown strut

Opposite actually. It seems to still be dampening the impact just fine, but the rebound damping isn't functioning.

There are some weird effects happening. If I crank down the compression lockout (which should only effect compression), I can actually get it to do a VERY slow rebound. Like a full second to extend with audible oil rushing around. But if I turn off the lockout, rebound is instant (and ends with a clang) even with the rebound set to max slow.

Unfortunately diamondback just wrote back and said that fork warranty work needs to be handled by SRAM. Which means I need to take it to a dealer...which all probably still have long service backlogs (especially since I didn't buy the bike from them) and I probably need to take it out to a suburban shop since most of the city shops don't even sell MTBs.

Maybe I can figure out how to get it directly to SRAM since they are headquartered here (but the Rockshox team is in Colorado).

 

[Thrift Vader]

Just hit them up, I've found companies to be real nice when talking to an enthusiast consumer.

 

[Piobaire]

Found this website that rates helmet safety. I bought the Bontrager Specter WaveCel.

Bike Helmet Ratings

Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings - Bike helmets have been tested to evaluate their ability to reduce brain injury risk.

www.helmet.beam.vt.edu