Ultimate Bike Thread....

[CurtEgerer]

LeavemealoneIknowwhatimdoing ...

[CurtEgerer]

[CurtEgerer]

[herr_oberst]

Kona Zing Deluxe

Bought this cheap on CL, has an interesting mix of components, CF crank with Microshift derailleurs and Bontrager wheels. I upgraded the tires, seat, seatpost and stem....

Spent about a week cleaning and adjusting, it was pretty much neglected.

The guy claims that he built it from a NOS 2008 frame about 2 years ago, and put about 1000 miles on it...That could be accurate, the frame is pretty much immaculate, the only blemishes are a little cable rub on the headtube...

I've never had a plastic bike so this will be fun... (Never used Microshift either, so that will be interesting.)

I know Kona never made a lot of noise in road bikes, so there ain't a lot of info on this one, but the frame was made by Dedacciai, and like I said, it looks pretty much pristine, so I feel fairly confident...

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I've never had a plastic bike so this will be fun... (Never used Microshift either, so that will be interesting.)

I'd be interested to hear your impressions after the first ride or 2!

[stuartj]

New steed. Ive never had a plastic bike either, or a Campy bike.

This is one of the most drop dead sexy machines Ive ever seen and I couldn't resist.

[sc_rufctr]

That looks like a quality bike Stuart. Enjoy!

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Here's your chance! ($40,000 ????????? At least 2 too many zeros on that price).

FS: Costner's American Flyer Allez

I'm curious what ever happened to the 'other' Kevin bikes in Quicksilver

[intakexhaust]

This - Is - One - Awesome - Custom - Tandem - by Mister T.R.

For start:
Steel- with unspecified secret TR Logic tubes. Dismantles for air friendly travel (splined inside tubes / front section) - (rear section folds). Gates cog belt drive - Di2 (bonus no cables to hassle with for travel). Accepts wheelsets depending on ones use - fatty 650B or 700C, disc brakes, etc.

[CurtEgerer]

Is the whole hipster fixie thing still trending


Proper Gitanes ....

[look 171]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

This - Is - One - Awesome - Custom - Tandem - by Mister T.R.

For start:
Steel- with unspecified secret TR Logic tubes. Dismantles for air friendly travel (splined inside tubes / front section) - (rear section folds). Gates cog belt drive - Di2 (bonus no cables to hassle with for travel). Accepts wheelsets depending on ones use - fatty 650B or 700C, disc brakes, etc.

WOW, that's a really cool tandem. Do those belt stretch or jump out on really rough road? Are they tensioned?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Is the whole hipster fixie thing still trending


Proper Gitanes ....

I threw up a little weeing that pic. Too bad what's been done to it

[herr_oberst]

At least they didn't wreck the bike; it's just incomplete.

(Pet peeve - all that attention to detail, and they can't clock the stems with the labels?)

[look 171]

The Renault jerseys | GREG LEMOND FANS


I always like the black jerseys but just didn't know they were for the rain.

[look 171]

tight rear brake cables and front skewers drives me nuts. I am over the label thing long ago. Now I do it just to drive my friends nuts. Especially when I go out with one carbon wheel up front and a standard rear wheel due to my laziness from replacing a tube from a flat. faster to just pop another wheel in there and go. Oh let not forget that large spacer on the headset. Drives me nuts.

[David]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

(pet peeve - all that attention to detail, and they can't clock the stems with the labels?)
]

+9

[porsche930dude]

[intakexhaust]

^ diggn' that Nishiki! That seat stay wrap is wild.

Originally Posted by look 171

WOW, that's a really cool tandem. Do those belt stretch or jump out on really rough road? Are they tensioned?

Have no experience with the belt drives but haven't heard any neg's either. The belts don't stretch to an extreme but sure would like to see them under stress and in a slo-mo. Quite sure this frameset has the front bottom bracket eccentric. The owner is experimenting with it 'a first for this frameset' and something about incompatible or not yet offered tandem front left side crankset. (Check out the crank logo telltale.)

Our chain driven Santana has that design using a Bullseye cartridge bb.
The eccentric bb is clever by doing two things. I prefer first to set-up with basic knee drop line, along with saddle fore-aft. Just to get it in the ballpark (pun, eh?) The chain length is set by whatever links are needed and then fine tension with the eccentric bb. Final saddle adjustments are then done.

[intakexhaust]

Old school tandem front crank set-up-

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I'd be interested to hear your impressions after the first ride or 2!

I haven't had a chance to give it the beans until today, so here's an update.

After an hour long bed-in ride, I can tell you that I need to work on fine tuning the cockpit. I think I may even go 20mm shorter on the stem...

The thing accelerates like nothing I've ever ridden, even with somewhat heavy wheels. Really, this thing eats up miles....

The shifters aren't as smooth as DooRahChe' - they sort of clunk into gear, especially when downshifting, plus, they aren't that intuitive yet. I'm still trying to downshift with the long lever, not the button. I'll get used to it, and I'll fine tune the barrel adjustment as time goes by. Brifters are always better than downtube shifters, as far as I am concerned, so these aren't bad, just not jewels.

I'll give it a 7, 7.5 out of ten for now. With some fine tuning in the cockpit and the shifting, I think I can make this budget bike a solid 8, 8.5 out of ten, so that's not bad. Plus, I don't have to use the Basso as a slop bike, so that is a "win" right there!