General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

So I just bought an electric bike this winter and rode it around a couple times in the snow/salt and tried my best to clean off the dirty **** after each ride.. well there's still caked on salt parts all over the bike.

Just took a close inspection at the gears and one of the gears has rust forming on it. It's not rusting on the spokes where the gears meet the chain, but rather on the inner disc portion..

Do bike shops do any maintenance where they'll clean the **** out of your bike? I'm rather disappointed because the bike shop that sold me this bike said that all the gears and everything are solidly rust-proof due to some silicone lubricant he sprayed on. He said to ride it in all conditions and it'd be fine.. Well, apparently not.

Any advice on how to get all this salt/dirt/minor rust off my bike?

thought I'd put this here... apparently mountain bike components brand race face is closing down. I built up 2 of my bikes around their cranks and cockpit control. they make superb products and are major ride and race sponsors and its a big surprise they're facing liquidity. this sucks.

I saw that the other day too. Very surprsing, I've been using their pads for a few seasons and like them a lot.

Originally Posted by acidboy

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thought I'd put this here...

apparently mountain bike components brand race face is closing down.

I built up 2 of my bikes around their cranks and cockpit control. they make superb products and are major ride and race sponsors and its a big surprise they're facing liquidity. this sucks.

glad to know, but sad that its happening. I was out of the loop for biking stuff for the last 10 years so when I stated that I wanted to have a custom made Merlin Titanium bike to some bike guys the other day they didn't have the heart to tell me that that company doesn't exists anymore.

it was funny because they were like: "I heard some of the guys from merlin moved on to Seven and Independent Fabrications..." but never said that merlin was gone...

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

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it was funny because they were like: "I heard some of the guys from merlin moved on to Seven and Independent Fabrications..." but never said that merlin was gone...

merlin's website says they're gonna have a rebirth, but knowing how slow the bike industry moves I bet that won't happen anytime soon. I'm out of the loop with seven and just know them for making mtm titanium frames, and was surprised while looking at their catalog that they're also doing carbon fiber for road. guess changes like this are inevitable..

Originally Posted by acidboy

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merlin's website says they're gonna have a rebirth, but knowing how slow the bike industry moves I bet that won't happen anytime soon. I'm out of the loop with seven and just know them for making mtm titanium frames, and was surprised while looking at their catalog that they're also doing carbon fiber for road. guess changes like this are inevitable..
There is also Honey Bikes. They are basically non-custom sevens. They have a pretty wide size run with small gaps in between sizes though which helps get to the fit and if you go through one of the dealers, you may be able to adjust the geometry a bit for a nominal fee (since I am pretty sure they don't actually build the frame until someone orders it). http://www.honeybikes.com/order-retailer.php

Anyone can comment on whether or not a Mercier Kilo TT is a good choice for a beginner bike?

Originally Posted by MarkI

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Anyone can comment on whether or not a Mercier Kilo TT is a good choice for a beginner bike?

No...go used instead.

Don't buy from bikesdirect unless you are going to strip and reassemble the entire bike yourself or pay a mechanic to do it (most won't want to and it will cost you more than the discount you get from buying on bikesdirect).

^ buying a built bike from an internet seller vs. a LBS is like buying a shirt from jantzen vs. a local tailor.

Originally Posted by acidboy

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^ buying a built bike from an internet seller vs. a LBS is like buying a shirt from jantzen vs. a local tailor.

some internet sellers are totally fine and you will get a mostly assembled bike that is good to go.

with bikesdirect you will get a mostly assembled bile that you should *really* take apart and put back together or at least loosen and retighten every bolt.

The Kilo TT is not a terrible bike...some of the parts are pretty shoddy but most people seem to upgrade bits of it quickly. You get an OK frame with a low-key paint job (no big crazy decals or anything) and parts that work but are nothing special. Notice how many times on their website they suggest you tighten everything before every ride?

Originally Posted by otc

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some internet sellers are totally fine and you will get a mostly assembled bike that is good to go. with bikesdirect you will get a mostly assembled bile that you should *really* take apart and put back together or at least loosen and retighten every bolt. The Kilo TT is not a terrible bike...some of the parts are pretty shoddy but most people seem to upgrade bits of it quickly. You get an OK frame with a low-key paint job (no big crazy decals or anything) and parts that work but are nothing special. Notice how many times on their website they suggest you tighten everything before every ride?
bikes direct has a ridiculously good deal on their SRAM Red equipped steel bike. It has the full sram group (8pc with ceramic BB even) and even nice mavic wheels. the cost of the wheels and SRam Red is worth more than the total price (less than $2k!). I almost bought that bike just to swap over the parts and wheels to my roadbike. The steel frame looks great and has been reviewed well too. I just didn't want another whole bike in the house, but its worth it just for those wheels and group.

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

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bikes direct has a ridiculously good deal on their SRAM Red equipped steel bike. It has the full sram group (8pc with ceramic BB even) and even nice mavic wheels. the cost of the wheels and SRam Red is worth more than the total price (less than $2k!). I almost bought that bike just to swap over the parts and wheels to my roadbike. The steel frame looks great and has been reviewed well too. I just didn't want another whole bike in the house, but its worth it just for those wheels and group.
Yeah, I have heard of people buying them for the groups (especially since you basically need to rebuild them when they arrive...no more work to rebuild them on a different frame). That Red equipped bike is sick (and they don't do the usual tricks of using cheap cranks/brakes/etc). I would take the components to a different frame (although for the price...you could just ride it), sell the mavics (why ride machine built junk? Could fund some handbuilt wheels with A23s and double butted spokes). Sell the frame or replace my commuter frame although it looks a bit steep and lacks eyelets (and I would need an ENO).

Originally Posted by otc

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Yeah, I have heard of people buying them for the groups (especially since you basically need to rebuild them when they arrive...no more work to rebuild them on a different frame). That Red equipped bike is sick (and they don't do the usual tricks of using cheap cranks/brakes/etc). I would take the components to a different frame (although for the price...you could just ride it), sell the mavics (why ride machine built junk? Could fund some handbuilt wheels with A23s and double butted spokes). Sell the frame or replace my commuter frame although it looks a bit steep and lacks eyelets (and I would need an ENO).
i almost bought it to just turn the steel frame into a fixie/single speed to go around the city. I've seen that frame go for $400-$500. Still even with older looking groupsets (something like shimano ultegra 6500 or dura ace 7700) it would look really retro and cool. Its unbelievable how they have the whole sram red group and those wheels on that bike for that price.

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

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i almost bought it to just turn the steel frame into a fixie/single speed to go around the city. I've seen that frame go for $400-$500. Still even with older looking groupsets (something like shimano ultegra 6500 or dura ace 7700) it would look really retro and cool.

Its unbelievable how they have the whole sram red group and those wheels on that bike for that price.
If I wanted to spend a little more money and if that thing had eyelets and fender clearance.... I would buy it, and move the group/appropriate parts to my new cross bike (the frame is being hand built as we speak), sell the wheels, and replace my commuter frame (which is straight gauge steel and has a bent seatstay...). I'd need to lace an eccentric ENO into a 700c rim to make it fixed/single compatible which adds another $100 though... Then I would be cruising around on a reynolds tubed commuter with Red brake calipers (realistically it would probably make sense to sell the brakes...but where is the fun in that) with some alex rims and lee-chi brake levers!