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Big Dummy 2011: my build :)

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Big Dummy 2011: my build :)

Old 02-19-11, 04:22 AM
  #76  
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Nicely done Adam, I can't wait until I get to start on my own Big Dummy build.
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Old 02-19-11, 04:49 AM
  #77  
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So where did you get the downtube sticker? Did you order it from that company and just split the text? Or did you manage to find a person that will print out longer sheets? I think it looks great! I finally got my stickers yesterday from the links you provided earlier

Edit: Could you add the hazard tape to that frame next to the Planet Bike fender? You could go from those thing a ma jig collars up to the curve where the snap deck would eventually attach.
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Old 02-19-11, 11:04 AM
  #78  
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I got that sticker from here. I got stickers from before too. The letters come on a film, after application you wait a bit and peel the film slowly off and only individual letters remain. It' looks very good and it's weatherproof. The hazard tape doesn't work very well on small size tubes that curve even a little bit, it's stiff and creases easily. On my trailer I didn't care but on the BD I want it to look nice. Don't worry, I'll think of something.
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Old 02-24-11, 06:39 PM
  #79  
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I think I'm through the worst. I haven't been this sick in decades. Last few days are like a blur.

I've got all my parts. The wheels should be ready by Saturday. I had to supply my hubs! They couldn't find 36 hole XT hubs and that was holding them up My second Yuba bag should be here tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll have a test ride this weekend and lots of pictures. Unless it's cold and rainy, then I won't risk riding yet.
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Old 02-24-11, 07:30 PM
  #80  
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Still sick? Did you make an appt with a Dr?
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Old 02-24-11, 07:36 PM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by vXhanz
Still sick? Did you make an appt with a Dr?
Oh yeah. I saw my Dr last Thursday when it all started (I was alarmed by my high fever, over 103F) and followed up with him on Tuesday. I have been taking antibiotics for a week now. But it was something really nasty, could be some virus: I had 103F fever Thu-Sun. I slept most of the time. Tuesday was the first day I had a normal meal. I feel OK today, but really weak and still cough a lot. On a flipside, he gave me a note a told me to stay home the whole week. I worked like 30 minutes at a time cleaning old parts mainly, etc. before sweating so much I had to change clothes.
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Old 02-24-11, 08:02 PM
  #82  
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Well at least you're on the mend. I have a co-worker who experienced similar symptoms as you describe and went to see his Dr. as well. They basically came to the consensus that his lack of a Flu shot (over 10 years since his last one) was probably what did him in, and it was only a matter of time before his body picked up a strain that it couldn't fight easily. At least you had some stuff to do while you were sick. Hopefully you were dreaming about the build during your more feverish states Get well soon.
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Old 02-24-11, 08:12 PM
  #83  
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I don't take flu shots either. Their effectiveness is questionable at best since they only protect you against some known strains and new strains mutate almost monthly. All my coworkers take flu shots and most get flu anyway. I took it once and I was sick after that for over 3 months. I said, thanks, I'd rather rough it out once in a blue moon than risk being sick non-stop for few months again.

I know some doctors and researchers who are against the flu shots. They say they provide a false sense of protection for most people and there is little explanation of their effectiveness provided. There is a good chance that your coworker would get sick anyway, he just was unlucky to catch a rare strain of flu.

I get a lot less sick in the last few years than I started riding regularly, but when I do it's usually quite nasty. I no longer get those mild colds that go away by themselves in a week or so. I get these awful head infections (ears, throat, eyes, etc) that are very painful and last over a week. I haven't had any lungs or bronchi problems either, it's from the throat up. And I hardly ever get serious sinus infections since I had a surgery and they're all open wide for draining. But again, on the flipside: I used to get colds literally once a month throughout the year, now I get sick once, maybe twice a year at most.

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Old 02-25-11, 05:38 AM
  #84  
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I usually get a lot of minor colds throughout the year, but that's due to the nature of my work and the patients I come in contact with on a daily basis. As I tell all my patients, I would be happy to NOT see them... that would mean they are well

Well at least you'll be good to go soon... then we can get the thread back on topic and see the build pics again So any new ideas you're willing to share with us regarding the build?
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Old 02-25-11, 12:43 PM
  #85  
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LBS rant...

So I think I'm through dealing with bike shops. The shop I have been going to to is the best so far but still they're slow and they make mistakes that cost me time and money. This whole wheels saga is just too much.

I gave them few months to build those wheels. I gave them the specs, everything. After nagging them for the last few weeks it turned out they couldn't find 36-hole Shimano XT hubs. What the heck? Those are everywhere.

OK, so I ordered the hubs and dropped them off today. He showed me the rims. Wrong rims. They were supposed to be the latest Velocity Cliffhanger, all-black with reflective paint. He ordered ones with machined sidewalls. Wrong spokes too, not what I asked for: I wanted straight 2mm, he got me "comp" butted that costs twice as much.

I'm too tired to continue this so I said "OK, just build these wheels for tomorrow". I really want this over with. So after waiting for a long time and paying $450 for wheels I could have gotten from Universal Cycles for $350 weeks ago I will end up with something I do not like. I would give him hard time and make him eat the cost or the rims, but first, I don't want to wait another two weeks for the rims, second, I don't want to burn bridges, I may still need them.

But I'm not happy. Getting stuff custom built is about getting stuff built the way you want.
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Old 02-25-11, 01:14 PM
  #86  
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I'm having a hard time understanding why the LBS had difficulty sourcing something so common. I ran a bike shop for a few years, and sometimes we'd have supply issues around late July and August when the distributors were getting low on stock, but this time of year, the warehouses should be well stocked.
May be that your LBS has a strained relationship with their suppliers, not a good sign.
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Old 02-25-11, 01:23 PM
  #87  
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This is not a typical LBS. They don't sell any brand name bikes, they make their own. I think they have a bad relationship with QBP and they source a lot of wheels and frames from Sun Bicycles in Florida actually. Custom bikes are their bread-and-butter and since they cater to the urban crowd my wheels were kind of out of ordinary for them. Still, Shimano XT hubs?!? Right?
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Old 02-25-11, 02:04 PM
  #88  
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Red flags everywhere... but like you said, don't burn those bridges. Maybe you can pawn the wheels off? I'd love to buy them from you, but I just got a set myself.

Deep breaths, man.... just ride the bike. Maybe it won't be so bad.
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Old 02-25-11, 02:09 PM
  #89  
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Ah. I had accounts with a couple of multi line distributors that I could get Shimano hubs (and other Shimano stuff) from, but some of them did not carry all models. I also had an account directly with Shimano so I could source anything I couldn't get elsewhere.
Any reputable LBS that pays their bills can do this.
That was usually the second choice though, because while the distributors could have the product in your hands the next day, direct from Shimano could take a couple of weeks, and the price was about the same.
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Old 02-25-11, 02:28 PM
  #90  
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I'll ride those wheels for now. They'll be good wheels, but I just wanted everything to be black. I made an extra effort to have most accessories black so these will stick out a bit. You know, this is like a dream build But I'm not really THAT bummed. They'll be covered by bags most of the time anyway. That's why I didn't make a huge deal out of this, no the end of the world. And if I really don't like them, I'll get something else.

Adam
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Old 02-25-11, 04:14 PM
  #91  
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Burn those bridges to the ground man! Give in to the dark side!!! Muah ha ha ha... eh he... ok, maybe not such a great idea. I think Funkystickman has the right idea.
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Old 02-26-11, 09:44 AM
  #92  
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Those wheels are cursed! Seriosuly, this is starting to look like a bad comedy

So I dropped off the hubs yesterday morning and he had the spokes and the rims and the wheels were supposed to be done by the end of the day so I can pick them up when they open this morning. I just go the following email from him:

"I spent three hours last night and two this morning trying to find your spokes. I had thrown them away of course. Just to say they won't be ready first thing, but shortly afterward."

How the heck do you "throw away" ~$100 worth of brand new DT Swiss Comp spokes you have ordered for a customer?

So looks like I won't have my wheels at 11:00 as I was hoping. If they don't finish them today, I will have to draw a line and perhaps burn the bridges down and ask for my deposit back and take my hubs back (I hope he won't throw those away...) and order the wheels somewhere else. That's too much.

PS.: He indeed found the spokes in the trash bag.

Last edited by AdamDZ; 02-26-11 at 09:58 AM.
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Old 02-26-11, 09:57 AM
  #93  
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Yikes! Sounds to me like you've been more than patient with this crew. I think I'd have moved on by now. Good luck.
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Old 02-26-11, 10:00 AM
  #94  
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Originally Posted by Dan Burkhart
Yikes! Sounds to me like you've been more than patient with this crew. I think I'd have moved on by now. Good luck.
Yup. Seriously. This is it. If I don't have the wheels today, I take my business somewhere else. He found the spokes in a trash bag that was ready to be taken out.
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Old 02-26-11, 11:08 AM
  #95  
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Good for you, using recycled spokes.
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Old 02-26-11, 01:09 PM
  #96  
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Originally Posted by busted knuckles
Good for you, using recycled spokes.
Ha ha ha! True! They've been pulled out of the trash, right?

So while waiting for the miracle to happen (the suspense is killing me...) I wrapped the handlebars with black cork tape. If the handlebars work out I might treat them with Brooks leather tape later on. But for now this will do.

The white "thingy" is AirZound bracket

I've also installed the shifters and pulled all the cables. I used Gore Ride-On sealed cables for both brakes and derailleurs. I've never used these before, we'll see.


Click here for a large image


Click here for a large image

The Ortlieb bag is mounted to a Thorn Accessory Bracket, a very handy little gadget holder that mounts on the steerer tube. The simplicity and effectiveness of the Ortlieb mounting mechanism is truly mind-blowing. No more sagging handlebar bag! When I took the bag out I though at first that half of the mounting bracket was missing. Then I looked at the instruction and "no way!". But it works amazingly well.

Keep in mind that the steerer tube is still uncut. Most likely I'll cut it a little bit, but I need to ride and fit the bike first.

The reason I went with the Thorn accessory bar is that I wanted more free space on the handlebar itself. With a handlebar bag mounted on the... eh... handlebar directly the top bar of the handlebar was useless, even a GPS mount wouldn't fit properly, the bag was resting against the bar effectively preventing me from mounting anything up there. Now I have plenty of space for the GPS and it won't conflict with the bag, plus I have space for another gadget or two and a couple of small gadgets will also fit lower on the Thorn bar.


Click here for a large image


Click here for a large image


Click here for a large image

The lights will be mounted on the fork as seen a few posts before.



I had to put the XTR RD back. My commuter needed a new RD, so the used Deore went to my commuter.


Click here for a large image

Gore cabling. On the surface looks like any other cable but it has a separate lining that is supposed to help seal the cable inside and prevent dust and water from getting inside.


Click here for a large image
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Old 02-26-11, 01:13 PM
  #97  
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Sounds like you have some of my LBS woes, I have one LBS that opened a couple of blocks away from me that looked good, talked a good talk, but cut a steerer tube when I told them not to, add some mis-ordered parts that they tried to charge me for. Now I'm taking my business to the other one, which is 2.5 miles away (limited public transit) but they actually do a good job, so far. Hopefully you'll get your wheels and be done with them. I hope that you're feeling better as well.
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Old 02-26-11, 01:21 PM
  #98  
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Originally Posted by lucienrau
Sounds like you have some of my LBS woes, I have one LBS that opened a couple of blocks away from me that looked good, talked a good talk, but cut a steerer tube when I told them not to, add some mis-ordered parts that they tried to charge me for. Now I'm taking my business to the other one, which is 2.5 miles away (limited public transit) but they actually do a good job, so far. Hopefully you'll get your wheels and be done with them. I hope that you're feeling better as well.
This is the best LBS I've dealt with so far I think I just stay away from bike shops, the way I stay away from most local businesses. I don't know if this is NYC thing but small business cry that they're suffering but I haven't seen one yet that treats the customer properly or has done a job well and most of them have bad attitude to add to the mix. I've been getting much better service from large stores like Home Depot or Lowe's than small hardware shops for example.
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Old 02-26-11, 01:51 PM
  #99  
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Originally Posted by AdamDZ
This is the best LBS I've dealt with so far I think I just stay away from bike shops, the way I stay away from most local businesses. I don't know if this is NYC thing but small business cry that they're suffering but I haven't seen one yet that treats the customer properly or has done a job well and most of them have bad attitude to add to the mix. I've been getting much better service from large stores like Home Depot or Lowe's than small hardware shops for example.
Here in RI, it's a hit or miss thing, much the same as when I lived in Boston. Some local businesses are amazing. There's a hardware store here that's an institution and is about the only place to get decent contractor recommendations, most times it's easier to go to Home Depot. There's a chain of bike shops in Boston where two of them are great, the other two are absolutely awful. The LBS I currently go to, almost got me away from biking when it was under old ownership. Very much a fixie/hipster place that was only open three days a week. They were the initiative for me learn how to do my own wrenching. New owner, now they do lots of outreach, give very good advice, won't charge for small things and are welcoming to utility/family cycling. They helped me get the right sizing on my last bike even though I wasn't ordering thru them since they're not a Salsa dealer. They're quite tolerant of my 2-year-old whirlwind, which helps. Of course, these days it's easier for me to order online and to do the work in the basement when I have time.
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Old 02-26-11, 07:48 PM
  #100  
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Local bike shops in NYC were "the initiative for me learn how to do my own wrenching" too. Had issues with shifting, the shop mechanic told me "you're not supposed to shift when going uphill!" That's the one that stuck in my mind, but there were other situations too that made it clear that the people in the shop hardly rode bikes.

Interestingly though, doing my own wrenching got me more into bikes more. One huge thing for me is that I can build and repair the bikes, I feel more independent and secure. When I went on my first tour, mechanical problems were the last things on my mind.

Over the last year I have accumulated most needed tools that short of welding my own frame I can do anything with my bikes. Oh, and I don't like building wheels, or I would have built those myself.

I guess I should be grateful for those s****y bike shops after all

The one that made those wheels has really good mechanics, they don't bull**** too much but as you know by now, they have some other issues going on. But I want to keep my relationship in good standing, they are pretty good at fixing wheels, so I might need them for that.

Last edited by AdamDZ; 02-26-11 at 08:00 PM.
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