steveknight
10-29-05, 01:21 AM
Well first I had the burley limbo the frame cracked and I got the hepcat for a replacement in nice bright yellow. I had already upgraded the limbo so it had about the same parts as the hepcat but for the cranks those I never upgraded. (Another story)
Ok about the only different things where the handle bars are more curved then the limbo. But that’s not really an issue. Plus the hepcat is disc brakes only. So I had to order a new wheelset and buy disc brakes. I bought the wheels from www.spinlitecycling.com I got aero heat rims all black with black spokes and velocity disc hubs. I think they were 320.00 shipping. I spent a bit extra to have him build them as last time I got them from velocity it took three weeks or more. I bought avid bb7 brakes from a guy off of eBay. Right after I order them he starts getting a bunch of negative feedbacks because he is out of stock and refunds the money. Well I am waiting on the money and I had to scrounge and order them from price point.
I work on the bike in my shop (work) and since I am there in the daytime I have everything shipped there. So all day yesterday I am waiting for my wheels and finally give up only to find them on my porch at home. So I had to strap them on my backpack and carry them to work on my back.
My first mistake is waiting till I was almost done to put the chain on. Well this does not sound like a problem but the thing is I have a meks suspension fork I had on the limbo. It was a little bit of a problem as my heels would just touch the top of it. I looked at the hepcat and see no way my feet are going to hit that’s cool. But the problem showed up when I put the chain on. The chain now hits the top of the fork. All the time to get the brake on the fork and it all setup till I put the chain on.
Well they sent me the aluminum fork and it is 2 pounds lighter then the suspension fork. Well I take the fender and brake off put it on the new fork screw around with the fender one bolt brakes off and so forth. I go to put the top plate into the top of the fork and no star nut installed and none shipped. Well I luck out and a bike shop 5 blocks away is open to 7pm so run over plunk down another 2.00 I had spent about 20.00 on new cable housing and 17.00 on new tuffies as I had to replace the rear tire as it had a patch of rubber missing and this new tire is not a armadillo (wanted to try something else) along with a couple of new tubes as mine had extra long valve stems (as I had the deep v in back) ok get the fork on and readjust the disc brakes. Well this is a first for me (with disc brakes) so extra time is needed.
Ok time for the shifting. The front was not bad but I forgot to mention the post for the fd was so large because of the thick paint burley uses I had to buy a longer screw)
Played aound with the rear after the battle of trying to get the cable out of the sram x9 shifter. I finally took it apart (second time I did that) the cable had a kink and that kept it from letting me push it out. But in doing so the little gear indicator slip is all goofed up and taking it apart and putting it together several times (after dropping pieces several times) I could not get the indicator to work and gave up on it.
Get it shifting ok (sram is sure easy to adjust) (I had a friend hold the bike so I could check the knee into the brake lever deal and it seemed fine) well of course on the test rides the bars were too low. Well all but the front brake housing was long enough. So if I push the bars forward the cable housing pops out. Part of that is there is still some slack in the cable I need to take care of. The front is a bit mushy and I have to fix that tomorrow. Plus the bars are a little crooked of course I don’t notice till I get going on the ride home.
Another fun thing because of thick paint is I have to chaise the threads for the rack and such. I had to cut the bars that make the rack fit and redrill them I also installed the speed struts.
Ok bike is together I put it on the floor and the kickstand is too long. Cut it twice and now it is ok. It is too much of a hassle to remove so I just use my angle grinder on it.
I hate tires that end up with humps or flat spots in them when you put them on. My front tire is bad about that and it took several inflation deflation and tire tugging’s to get it on right. Ok onto the computer time to make the wires longer. They are only about 2” too short. All I can find is some clear tape to put over them tonight. No time for the liquid tape to dry. I lost the little nut that is used on the light bar so I have to put my light on the handlebar right inline with my eyes. But it will work for tonight’s ride home.
I am waiting for the yellow reflective tape but I put some bands of black reflective tape around the frame to make it look like a bee (G)
Now the backpack problem. My limbo’s seat was pretty high so my backpack hung off the back ok. But now the rack/wheel is high enough my pack won’t hang and has to lay down. Well there is more money for some other solution.
Well after several short in the dark test rides I get some of the bugs worked out. Back brakes squeal like a tortured pig so a few squirts of brake cleaner fix that. Still got to get my knee’s clear of the brake levers only touch them once in awhile but the bar is as high or a bit higher then I like it. I guess I will tip them more forward. But that takes a longer bolt of course (G)
Overall I like the ride of this bike. Decent shock absorption too. It’s been about a month since I rode a bent so I have to get used to it again till I feel comfy on it.
Ok about the only different things where the handle bars are more curved then the limbo. But that’s not really an issue. Plus the hepcat is disc brakes only. So I had to order a new wheelset and buy disc brakes. I bought the wheels from www.spinlitecycling.com I got aero heat rims all black with black spokes and velocity disc hubs. I think they were 320.00 shipping. I spent a bit extra to have him build them as last time I got them from velocity it took three weeks or more. I bought avid bb7 brakes from a guy off of eBay. Right after I order them he starts getting a bunch of negative feedbacks because he is out of stock and refunds the money. Well I am waiting on the money and I had to scrounge and order them from price point.
I work on the bike in my shop (work) and since I am there in the daytime I have everything shipped there. So all day yesterday I am waiting for my wheels and finally give up only to find them on my porch at home. So I had to strap them on my backpack and carry them to work on my back.
My first mistake is waiting till I was almost done to put the chain on. Well this does not sound like a problem but the thing is I have a meks suspension fork I had on the limbo. It was a little bit of a problem as my heels would just touch the top of it. I looked at the hepcat and see no way my feet are going to hit that’s cool. But the problem showed up when I put the chain on. The chain now hits the top of the fork. All the time to get the brake on the fork and it all setup till I put the chain on.
Well they sent me the aluminum fork and it is 2 pounds lighter then the suspension fork. Well I take the fender and brake off put it on the new fork screw around with the fender one bolt brakes off and so forth. I go to put the top plate into the top of the fork and no star nut installed and none shipped. Well I luck out and a bike shop 5 blocks away is open to 7pm so run over plunk down another 2.00 I had spent about 20.00 on new cable housing and 17.00 on new tuffies as I had to replace the rear tire as it had a patch of rubber missing and this new tire is not a armadillo (wanted to try something else) along with a couple of new tubes as mine had extra long valve stems (as I had the deep v in back) ok get the fork on and readjust the disc brakes. Well this is a first for me (with disc brakes) so extra time is needed.
Ok time for the shifting. The front was not bad but I forgot to mention the post for the fd was so large because of the thick paint burley uses I had to buy a longer screw)
Played aound with the rear after the battle of trying to get the cable out of the sram x9 shifter. I finally took it apart (second time I did that) the cable had a kink and that kept it from letting me push it out. But in doing so the little gear indicator slip is all goofed up and taking it apart and putting it together several times (after dropping pieces several times) I could not get the indicator to work and gave up on it.
Get it shifting ok (sram is sure easy to adjust) (I had a friend hold the bike so I could check the knee into the brake lever deal and it seemed fine) well of course on the test rides the bars were too low. Well all but the front brake housing was long enough. So if I push the bars forward the cable housing pops out. Part of that is there is still some slack in the cable I need to take care of. The front is a bit mushy and I have to fix that tomorrow. Plus the bars are a little crooked of course I don’t notice till I get going on the ride home.
Another fun thing because of thick paint is I have to chaise the threads for the rack and such. I had to cut the bars that make the rack fit and redrill them I also installed the speed struts.
Ok bike is together I put it on the floor and the kickstand is too long. Cut it twice and now it is ok. It is too much of a hassle to remove so I just use my angle grinder on it.
I hate tires that end up with humps or flat spots in them when you put them on. My front tire is bad about that and it took several inflation deflation and tire tugging’s to get it on right. Ok onto the computer time to make the wires longer. They are only about 2” too short. All I can find is some clear tape to put over them tonight. No time for the liquid tape to dry. I lost the little nut that is used on the light bar so I have to put my light on the handlebar right inline with my eyes. But it will work for tonight’s ride home.
I am waiting for the yellow reflective tape but I put some bands of black reflective tape around the frame to make it look like a bee (G)
Now the backpack problem. My limbo’s seat was pretty high so my backpack hung off the back ok. But now the rack/wheel is high enough my pack won’t hang and has to lay down. Well there is more money for some other solution.
Well after several short in the dark test rides I get some of the bugs worked out. Back brakes squeal like a tortured pig so a few squirts of brake cleaner fix that. Still got to get my knee’s clear of the brake levers only touch them once in awhile but the bar is as high or a bit higher then I like it. I guess I will tip them more forward. But that takes a longer bolt of course (G)
Overall I like the ride of this bike. Decent shock absorption too. It’s been about a month since I rode a bent so I have to get used to it again till I feel comfy on it.