Mad Honk 

Mooch,
Just wait until you see what I am going to do to this frame! Needless to say some modifications that should make it even faster. Just don't tape my feet to the pedals. Smiles, Dave

Mad Honk 

The most recent score:

Early '80's Trek 720. Compact touring geometry with some old skool Helicomatic hubs. Most parts are showing some wear possibly from age. Was supposedly a garage queen but still some good parts left.

Looks like it was fully loaded when the crash happened.

I don't think this dent will roll out!

And low mileage if the computer can be believed. Looks like a basket case of parts to be harvested.
Smiles, MH

SurferRosa

For my grocery getter, a Brooks Pro from @hazetguy.

jamesdak 

I got in the free replacement Varia RTL515 from Garmin. My original one died a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately it was a month out of warranty. I contacted Garmin via chat after troubleshooting with info I found online provided no answers. The unit went from working fine one day to not turning on the next day. Anyway, Garmin did some troubleshooting, then asked when I bought it, and then offered a free replacment. I sent in the old one and within a few days of them getting it I got this new one back. That's customer service in my book. Too many companies tell to too bad once you're a day past the warranty period. Hat's off to Garmin.

smontanaro 

I didn't pay attention to my warranty. Maybe I should. Mine's still going strong (less than a year old I believe), but I always worry after I get home from a ride and find it has schmutz from road spray that fluid will have snuck past whatever seals the unit has.

jamesdak 

From online searching it seems that had a batch of bad power switches, Not sure it that's what got mine or not. The Edge unit showed a critical battery issue and it just wouldn't turn on. I tried charging multiple times but it wasn't taking. When I hooked it up to the computer it wasn't recognized, etc.

When I sent it back I was told they were on backorder until the end of July. So I bought a second one because it's the one piece of safety gear I really rely on now. Pleasantly surprised to get the replacement so soon but glad I now have a spare. Those couple of rides without one had me feeling naked.

merziac

Lights, cameras front and rear, GPS and helmet 24/7, period.

You or your people will not win the $10 million lawsuit without them no matter the laws in your state.

jamesdak 

Yesterday I got in a new set of Handlebars. I've plenty of vintage 26.0 clamp size but the couple of 31.8's I have are 44cm wide, too wide for me.


Couldn't justify the cost of C.F. ones as this won't be that light of a build.

This is at the LBS getting a King Headset installed. Still need to find DT housing stops for a flat surface for this to build it. I've got plenty of concave ones.

I also got in this nice crankset and BB. It will be going on the Team USA I built up as a road bike and then converted to gravel use. The 48/34 will be much nicer off road than the 53/39 on it. Should be an easy fix as I can swap this in and then just lower the endless band FD to make it all work.



I think the black cranks will look just fine with all the other black bits on this.

merziac

Looks like a treepost holding that seat up.

Fully agree on the crank and I'm not usually a fan of all black or most VO stuff.

BlueMeldon82

I'm "old skool" and retro-fitting with Velox cloth rim tape and Cork bar tape........niiiiiice !

sjanzeir

It's been a while since I had anything bike-related come in the post for me! So I'm extra excited!

These just got delivered in 10 days - a record in my Aliexpress history!

First, the necessities:

Necessity #1: Friction pads for Dahon's stupidly designed handleposts:



These will crack out of sheer spite if you so much as mention them in passing in a completely innocuous forum post:


The one on my Hemingway...


.... and the absolutely terrible one on my Jetstream!
​​​​​
I wanted to go all out for a better designed Litepro handlepost with an reliable, easy to adjust, all-metal locking mechanism...



... but with the work situation and income being so stale this summer, I decided to just make do with the replacement pads for now.

Necessity #2: Some 700x25c inner tubes...


... because of course I did!

Second, the egregious frivolities:

Egregious frivolity #1: Some awesome B-type and BB5 ceramic brake pads of the Soocent brand, the best on Aliexpress (don't ask me how I know!)



And now, for the grand prize, the main event, the star of the show, the one and only tag team... pair of Zoom DB-680 dual-piston mechanical brake calipaaaaa...



Compared to the Meroca D201 I'm running now, these things are huge!





Slightly cheaper, too, at $17.29 for the pair, delivered to my door via Aliexpress Direct, compared to $18.88 for the Merocas earlier this year. The weird thing about the Zooms is that, instead of moving in one smooth arc, the actuating arm moves a couple of degrees into what feels like an indent - sort of a "click" position - pushing the pads slightly inward, and then continues on through the rest of its stroke, pushing the pads the rest of the way in against considerably harder spring tension. Not sure what kind of design choice that was all about, but I hope they perform even better than the already excellent, single-piston Merocas.

RCMoeur 

Today: rolls of 10-yard (9.1 m) x 1" (25 mm) wide Type I glass bead retroreflective sheeting in each of four different colors. Much of this may end on bicycles or components depending on how inspired I get or how many scratches I need to cover.

sjanzeir

These arrived Tuesday morning:



I had completely forgotten that I had placed the order for this MT401 and the adapter (see below,) but it was just what I needed to revive a pair of MT420 brakes that I had decommissioned earlier because the threads of the bleed ports and clamps of the accompanying M4100 levers were just too easy to strip (just don't buy those! They're junk!) So I reassembled the front brake with the new lever (I had already done the rear one months ago) and a pump bleed was enough to drive most of the air out of the system. I'll check again for leftover air in a few weeks' time.

The point of this is that putting the genuine Shimano brakes (which I thought were leaky but really weren't) back into service allowed me to get rid of the chintzy Chinese junk (see earlier post in this thread) that I had to deal with over Monday and Tuesday (writeup coming soon.)



This was a totally unnecessary buy because, being the dumbass that I am, I forgot to check if I actually had the adapter that I needed already bolted to the caliper I was putting back into service! Still, a three-stripe, 90-type adapter for 66 riyals delivered is nothing to sniff at (the shipping alone for a regular two-stripe adapter would've been more than that!) I thought about initiating a return, but Amazon Saudi Arabia would've charged me 50 riyals to take back a 66-riyal item, so, that was the end of that!

jamesdak 

Yesterday I got in a beautiful pair of custom wheels. Velocity Fusion rims polished up and laced to a set of mint 126mm Dura Ace hubs from my stash. Had them made to kick up the 41 year old Krapf bike a notch or two.


Wheels are a little over 1800 grams and lighter than what I had on this.

I also got in some red Crank Brother flat Pedals for the Team USA I have set up as gravel bike. I was riding it clipped in but feel safer with flat pedals. These are some big pedals with plenty of surface space.

Classtime 

A pretty nice 14/21 to replace the original 14/21 on my PA-10E

merziac

Care to share where to get this?

RCMoeur 

Although I am acquainted with most of the major sheeting manufacturers in the US market, my personal needs are so meager that it makes much more sense to order through retail channels like most other small-volume users.

Recently I've been using Tape Jungle for a good balance of item cost, shipping fees, and selection.

Beaded Type I Engineer Grade (5 colors + white):
https://www.tapejungle.com/products/...ape-77066.html
(Don't let the initial selection of 50 yards of 2" scare you off - you can choose any width from 1/2" to 6" and 10 or 50 yard lengths.)
This Avery material works well for tight radii and good durability, especially for vehicle & bicycle applications.

Prismatic Type III/IV High Intensity Grade (5 colors + white):
https://www.tapejungle.com/products/...ape-hxref.html
This material has notably higher retroreflection (and is slightly less expensive per unit length), but doesn't like tight radii (such as bicycle frame tubing) or multi-curved surfaces. Also, dual-layer sheetings can be more easily damaged by abrasion or impact - the outer layer can crush, crack or peel.

merziac

@RCMoeur

Tx!

EJM73

Needed new tires! Good deal from Biketiresdirect.

Kabuki12

Not exciting but necessary, I got 12 patch kits and four new tubes . The patch kits are the German ones in the green box that my LBS quit carrying and the tubes have the short presta stems that are NLA at bike shops. With a few , ahem, bikes , it is prudent to stock up . I live in the land where goat heads go to reproduce .

smontanaro 

Three items yesterday and today:

1. Omni Racer bottom bracket for my new bike
2. Compass Stampede Pass tires (700Cx32) for the same
3. Practice tubing for brazing practice from cudak888

Brad L 

What could it be? Is it Christmas?!





It’s a 1987 De Rosa Professional with Columbus SLX tubing. Now to find a Super Record group.

jamesdak 

Well, they didn't come in the post today but the seller did make about a 2 hour round trip to bring them too me. We had been trying to meet up for over a week but kept having issues. I was sure someone else would nab them before we were able to meet up. Got them with some GP 4000 s that seem to be in good shape and a 10 speed cassette. Pretty stoked!



And for now I put them on the Colnago to see if they do kick the ride up a notch. Put some new GP 5000 700 x 25 tires on with latex tubes before installing. Dropped this down to 16 lbs and 13 ozs with the change.

jadmt

EJM73

Set of wheel stickers.