For Sale - 12 Items of Holiday offer / Group Buy -- now online

Kind of hard to miss with the DAILY reminders to pay the remaining balance.

If I was with in driving distance of the BikesDirect.com office I'd go find that woman that sends those payment reminder emails.

Just got my evoke frame and it is ridiculously awesome.

Yea.. just hope you dont have any problems with it.

Can someone post the telephone number? I sent emails and pm's with no response so I feel I need to call and try to get an idea of what's happening.

The payment receipts emailed to me from paypal listed a merchant contact phone number on them. Check yours, it might even work.

Yea.. just hope you dont have any problems with it.

JayC,

What problems did you have with yours? I saw you said you were 0 in 3 with BD...

Now I'm worried about the wheels I ordered...

DPN

JayC,

What problems did you have with yours? I saw you said you were 0 in 3 with BD...

Now I'm worried about the wheels I ordered...

DPN

On my frame, the front derailer will not stay in place. Every time you pull it on the big ring, the derailer just drops. Ive bought a different derailer, on Mike's suggestion, didnt help and Ive had a couple of shops look at it. No one wants to shim it.. That or return the frame is the only solution Mike has given me. I told him I didnt want to eat the labor for building the thing up and asked him a couple of times to send me a replacement frame before I returned this one and finally got an all in caps PM reply that IMO was not very professional in the tone of it so I told him I'd figure it out on my own and for him not to worry about it.

Tie that in with the Windsor I bought from him that the bottom bracket was siezed up in, the brifters were all scuffed up and the derailer hanger was mangled when I took it out of the box as well as the IF frame I bought from Bike Island (Which is owned by the same people) that also had a mangled derailer hanger out of the box and my experience has been overall poor with BD.

I'm glad its working out for everyone else tho.

On my frame, the front derailer will not stay in place. Every time you pull it on the big ring, the derailer just drops. Ive bought a different derailer, on Mike's suggestion, didnt help and Ive had a couple of shops look at it. No one wants to shim it.. That or return the frame is the only solution Mike has given me. I told him I didnt want to eat the labor for building the thing up and asked him a couple of times to send me a replacement frame before I returned this one and finally got an all in caps PM reply that IMO was not very professional in the tone of it so I told him I'd figure it out on my own and for him not to worry about it.

Tie that in with the Windsor I bought from him that the bottom bracket was siezed up in, the brifters were all scuffed up and the derailer hanger was mangled when I took it out of the box as well as the IF frame I bought from Bike Island (Which is owned by the same people) that also had a mangled derailer hanger out of the box and my experience has been overall poor with BD.

I'm glad its working out for everyone else tho.


Hey JayC,

Have you actually measured the OD of the tube?

Hey JayC,

Have you actually measured the OD of the tube?

Yea.. I posted about this elsewhere in this thread I think.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5994112&postcount=808

I asked Mike to measure one of the frames he had to see if I just happened to have gotten one that was undersized and he wouldn't/couldn't do it. Frames were located somewhere else.. I guess no one there knows how to use calipers.

Seems like it was ~34.9ish.. smaller than the other bikes I measured that had a 34.9 FD by a bit. I measured some Treks, a couple of mountain bikes and my LBS mechanic measured a Fuji for me and they were all 35.3-35.4.

Yea.. I posted about this elsewhere in this thread I think.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5994112&postcount=808

I asked Mike to measure one of the frames he had to see if I just happened to have gotten one that was undersized and he wouldn't/couldn't do it. Frames were located somewhere else.. I guess no one there knows how to use calipers.

Seems like it was ~34.9ish.. smaller than the other bikes I measured that had a 34.9 FD by a bit. I measured some Treks, a couple of mountain bikes and my LBS mechanic measured a Fuji for me and they were all 35.3-35.4.

Hey JayC, I measured mine and it's about 35.2-35.3

JayC have you thought about putting a THIN layer of 1 hour epoxy around the inside of the derailleur clamp and letting it set for a day then installing it? Heck it`s just a though>>> might work.

The payment receipts emailed to me from paypal listed a merchant contact phone number on them. Check yours, it might even work.

Thanks. It wasn't on the emails but it was on the paypal confirmation page.:o

Ya know, now that I think about it. I may have confused the people at BD by paying for the aero seat post at the same time as the frame. Perhaps it thought sending the seat post was the same as sending the bike?

I know, I know, but I like to be naive until it's time not to be...

Hey JayC, I measured mine and it's about 35.2-35.3

Thanks.. I kinda figured I got an undersized one since Mike said he'd never heard of anyone having to shim a FD on this frame before. Your measurements jive up with most of the bikes I measured. Mine is just too small, thus the FD not staying in place.

I wish things would have worked out different but Im just not willing to eat the cost of labor, cables, etc to do a frame swap when it's clearly a "defective" part even tho Mike doesnt feel it is.

Thanks.. I kinda figured I got an undersized one since Mike said he'd never heard of anyone having to shim a FD on this frame before. Your measurements jive up with most of the bikes I measured. Mine is just too small, thus the FD not staying in place.

I wish things would have worked out different but Im just not willing to eat the cost of labor, cables, etc to do a frame swap when it's clearly a "defective" part even tho Mike doesnt feel it is.

Makes you wonder how thick the carbon fiber is. I am sure your not and i wouldn`t be very happy.

Makes you wonder how thick the carbon fiber is. I am sure your not and i wouldn`t be very happy.


Nope.. Im not.. I havent even bothered to figure out how Im going to ghetto it up with a shim.

I am assuming it is to late to buy anything at the group buy prices but I cant find the information on the VUELTA CUSTOM CARBON FIBER CLINCHER WHEELSET. I am looking for weight, rim depth ect...

Nope.. Im not.. I havent even bothered to figure out how Im going to ghetto it up with a shim.

I'd probably start with one of those rubber shims that come with the bar mounts for a head light. That's probably just enough thickness and won't allow slipping.

Nope.. Im not.. I havent even bothered to figure out how Im going to ghetto it up with a shim.

Just a idea,
Mix up some fiberglass resin and with a paint brush apply a couple thin coats of resin to the inside of your front derailluer clamp. Once dry sand it smooth and reinstall the FD.

Yea.. I posted about this elsewhere in this thread I think.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5994112&postcount=808

I asked Mike to measure one of the frames he had to see if I just happened to have gotten one that was undersized and he wouldn't/couldn't do it. Frames were located somewhere else.. I guess no one there knows how to use calipers.

Seems like it was ~34.9ish.. smaller than the other bikes I measured that had a 34.9 FD by a bit. I measured some Treks, a couple of mountain bikes and my LBS mechanic measured a Fuji for me and they were all 35.3-35.4.

That's a bunch of crap. I'd be thinking about calling my credit card.

That's a bunch of crap. I'd be thinking about calling my credit card.

Well.. Mike told me I could return it. He actually encouraged me to return it but that puts me out a couple hundred $$$$ for labor, cables, etc, not to mention the $70.00 front derailer Im having to eat now after buying another one per his recommendation. I asked him to measure the other frames he had, he wouldn't. I asked him to send me a replacement in advance and thats when he sent me the last PM and I told him to forget it. If al the 58s are small, there's no point in going through all this so without measuring one to see, I'm not gonna bother. I'll figure something out.

There's more to the story.. but I can say short of sending the frame back, I did everything he told me to do short of shimming the front derailer. I took it to another shop, I bought another derailer, I had multiple people try to fix it.. no one wants to shim it.. they look at me like Im nuts when I suggest it. I guess in the old days they did that.. My LBS guy said Fuji's used to have to be shimmed and usually it made the problem worse.. thats why he doesnt want to do it.

If I was with in driving distance of the BikesDirect.com office I'd go find that woman that sends those payment reminder emails.

what would you do when you found her? :D

Thanks.. I kinda figured I got an undersized one since Mike said he'd never heard of anyone having to shim a FD on this frame before. Your measurements jive up with most of the bikes I measured. Mine is just too small, thus the FD not staying in place.

I wish things would have worked out different but Im just not willing to eat the cost of labor, cables, etc to do a frame swap when it's clearly a "defective" part even tho Mike doesnt feel it is.
1) Sorry to hear about BD's crappy offer to you. Not to be an ass, but after your somewhat similar less than satisfying experience(s) with Pedal Force and that wheel builder (Mike Garcia?), one would think why not buy/deal with a LBS from now on?

2) IF shimming is really not possible on the frame as per your mechanic's opinion, and BD absolutely still refuses to refund ALL your expense and troubles to-date... Wouldn't it be better to eat SOME of the loss (labor, FD) and go for BD-Mike's frame swap offer, than have a useless BD frame lying around and losing out on everything you've payed to-date?

Weenie Alert!
Got my scale today and started weighing my parts. Here's what I found:

RT700 55cm (still in protective wrapping) 1370 g
RT700 fork with crown race (untrimmed) 540g
ControlTech Scored 99 Stem, 100mm, advertised 99g actual 90g
Schwalbe Ultremo Pro, advertised 195g each actual 180g, 190g
Selle Italia SLR, advertised 135g actual 130g
ControlTech iPost, 27.2 x 350 untrimmed, advertised 161g actual 160g
Forte Lunarlight tubes, (long stem, no ring or cap) advertised 49 g actual 50g
Old Speedplay X/1's, (pair) advertised 150g actual 160g

If the rest of my components come in as advertised I'm looking at a hair over 14 lbs (or possibly a shade under)

time will tell

Weenie Alert!
...
If the rest of my components come in as advertised I'm looking at a hair over 14 lbs (or possibly a shade under)

time will tell

Nope. Won't work like that.
Due to a well known but little understood phenomenon, the sum of lightweight parts, when assembled, is greater than the parts weighed separately.
Scientists argue over the cause. It could be that low mass items actual increase their response to gravity when clustered. But that's only one of several working theories.

The practical outcome is that your bike will end up right about 15.46 pounds (if not more) when you actually weigh it as whole.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I felt it was important you be able to prepare yourself for the eventual disappointment you are destined to face.

Nope. Won't work like that.
Due to a well known but little understood phenomenon, the sum of lightweight parts, when assembled, is greater than the parts weighed separately.
Scientists argue over the cause. It could be that low mass items actual increase their response to gravity when clustered. But that's only one of several working theories.

The practical outcome is that your bike will end up right about 15.46 pounds (if not more) when you actually weigh it as whole.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I felt it was important you be able to prepare yourself for the eventual disappointment you are destined to face.

:beer::roflmao:

Ain't that the truth!

Damn. Gotta order that zero gravity grease!

1) Sorry to hear about BD's crappy offer to you. Not to be an ass, but after your somewhat similar less than satisfying experience(s) with Pedal Force and that wheel builder (Mike Garcia?), one would think why not buy/deal with a LBS from now on?

2) IF shimming is really not possible on the frame as per your mechanic's opinion, and BD absolutely still refuses to refund ALL your expense and troubles to-date... Wouldn't it be better to eat SOME of the loss (labor, FD) and go for BD-Mike's frame swap offer, than have a useless BD frame lying around and losing out on everything you've payed to-date?



Exactly, just swap the frame out. What more do you really expect from BD? They are after all offering to give you a brand new frame in exchange. That's all I would expect. You bought a dirt cheap frame from a place with a mixed history of customer service. Sometimes you get what you pay for! (btw, I've got some wheels on order from them... but the price was worth taking the chance for me)

I also don't understand about your couple hundreds of dollars for cables, etc that you are out??? Just take the bike apart, cables included, and save them. The frame is the same size, so everything will just go right back on. When the new frame comes in, just built it back up with the same stuff. Nothing should be wasted... you'd just be out a couple hours of your time to put it back together.

Sell that front der you bought on Ebay and get some of the money back for that too. Then you can stop complaining :D

Weenie Alert!
Got my scale today and started weighing my parts. Here's what I found:

RT700 55cm (still in protective wrapping) 1370 g
RT700 fork with crown race (untrimmed) 540g
ControlTech Scored 99 Stem, 100mm, advertised 99g actual 90g
Schwalbe Ultremo Pro, advertised 195g each actual 180g, 190g
Selle Italia SLR, advertised 135g actual 130g
ControlTech iPost, 27.2 x 350 untrimmed, advertised 161g actual 160g
Forte Lunarlight tubes, (long stem, no ring or cap) advertised 49 g actual 50g
Old Speedplay X/1's, (pair) advertised 150g actual 160g

If the rest of my components come in as advertised I'm looking at a hair over 14 lbs (or possibly a shade under)

time will tell

You can't get a 1370 gram frame and 540 gram fork to build up into a 14 lb bike. My guess is closer to 16.5 unless you put a $4000/1000 gram wheelset on the bike. Even then you're closer to 16 than 14 lbs.

Weigh it after it is built. Spreadsheet weights are bullsiht. 14lb bikes generally require sub 1000 gram frame sets and sub 350 gram forks, Zipps, lightweight this and titanium that. My Cdale Six13 with mostly light parts and Zipp 404 tubies still weighs 16lbs. Getting a bike under 15 lbs isn't easy.

Pcad's right.... like always....

You can't get a 1370 gram frame and 540 gram fork to build up into a 14 lb bike. My guess is closer to 16.5 unless you put a $4000/1000 gram wheelset on the bike. Even then you're closer to 16 than 14 lbs.

Yes. Seems like it would be very difficult to build a 14 lb RT700. Rdolson reported his RT700 build (cm?) with 9 speed, DA triple and Ksyrium SL3 tubular wheels, Look Keo carbon pedals at 17.4lbs. MadCowMoo reported his 57cm RT700 with mixture of Force, Ultegra, Speedplays, K ES tubular wheels, at "just under 17 lbs". Demand222 reported his 55cm RT700 without pedals and cages (he didn't name the wheels or components) at 16.02lbs.

The RT700 looks to be a nice stiff, responsive, relatively aero racing frame, but not really a weight weenie frame and fork per se. Very nice looking bike imo.

Yak, when you get it all together, please give us the weight.

1) Sorry to hear about BD's crappy offer to you. Not to be an ass, but after your somewhat similar less than satisfying experience(s) with Pedal Force and that wheel builder (Mike Garcia?), one would think why not buy/deal with a LBS from now on?

Do you really think they are any better? Most of the ones around here suck. I do deal with an LBS but he's over an hour away, thats where my Blue came from almost 100%. Same mechanic that builds all my bikes.. great guy, gives me good deals but some stuff he cant get.

2) IF shimming is really not possible on the frame as per your mechanic's opinion, and BD absolutely still refuses to refund ALL your expense and troubles to-date... Wouldn't it be better to eat SOME of the loss (labor, FD) and go for BD-Mike's frame swap offer, than have a useless BD frame lying around and losing out on everything you've payed to-date?

Well.. the problem with sending the frame back is I dont have a box to send it in. I used the box that frame came in to ship another frame. What I asked for, repeatedly was an advanced replacement. I offered to give Mike a CC# to assure the frame would be returned and not messed up somehow on my behalf and I kept asking and asking and Mike just basically kept ignoring my request. Finally, he said, "Well what do you want?" and I told him. I then got the all caps PM back lamenting me for wanting an advanced replacement.

No big deal.. Ill shim it or something. I've been doing mail order online for well over 10 years. I guess I expect to be treated like I treat my customers. I guess I should stop expecting that.

Do you really think they are any better? Most of the ones around here suck. I do deal with an LBS but he's over an hour away, thats where my Blue came from almost 100%. Same mechanic that builds all my bikes.. great guy, gives me good deals but some stuff he cant get.



Well.. the problem with sending the frame back is I dont have a box to send it in. I used the box that frame came in to ship another frame. What I asked for, repeatedly was an advanced replacement. I offered to give Mike a CC# to assure the frame would be returned and not messed up somehow on my behalf and I kept asking and asking and Mike just basically kept ignoring my request. Finally, he said, "Well what do you want?" and I told him. I then got the all caps PM back lamenting me for wanting an advanced replacement.

No big deal.. Ill shim it or something. I've been doing mail order online for well over 10 years. I guess I expect to be treated like I treat my customers. I guess I should stop expecting that.

considering your prior purchases, the fact that you have contributed regularly on bf, and the fact that mike milks as much business as he can from bf, i don't see why he couldn't make the leap of faith.

what would you do when you found her? :D

Yeah sure incriminate myself, Unless you're taking law classes in youre spare time I'll keep quiet. Besides, I hear some Texas girls pretty tough.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b396/jimfeil/1546004504_25ea8e8458_o.jpg

The RT700 looks to be a nice stiff, responsive, relatively aero racing frame, but not really a weight weenie frame and fork per se.

Actually the RT700 may be a nice frame, but it is not 'relatively light'. Compared to steel or heavier Ti frames perhaps, but not the lighter CF frames, which are generally 1000 grams or less (some are <800). I think it's slightly heavier than my Six13 frame, which I recall weighing with the BB and headset removed @ my LBS and coming up with like 1300 grams. The Slice fork on my bike is 425 grams or so.

I'll bet you could build a sub 14lb RT700, but the cost would be ridiculous. Light is expensive. And light parts don't always work best. I figured once I got my race bike down to about 16lbs it was close enough to the lightest bikes in the peloton to stop worrying about it. It is easy to get obsessed with making your bikes lighter of course. And big fun. But again, expensive.

Do you really think they are any better? Most of the ones around here suck. I do deal with an LBS but he's over an hour away, thats where my Blue came from almost 100%. Same mechanic that builds all my bikes.. great guy, gives me good deals but some stuff he cant get.


Well.. the problem with sending the frame back is I dont have a box to send it in. I used the box that frame came in to ship another frame. What I asked for, repeatedly & as an advanced replacement. I offered to give Mike a CC# to assure the frame would be returned and not messed up somehow on my behalf and I kept asking and asking and Mike just basically kept ignoring my request. Finally, he said, "Well what do you want?" and I told him. I then got the all caps PM back lamenting me for wanting an advanced replacement.

No big deal.. Ill shim it or something. I've been doing mail order online for well over 10 years. I guess I expect to be treated like I treat my customers. I guess I should stop expecting that.

-Dunno if your area's LBS is better or not, but one thing's for sure, IF the seat-tube of a frame an LBS sold you was too small and was causing FD issues, your LBS would've at least rectified that problem asap. No e-mail headaches included!


-Ok, I think you're offering of your CC # to Mike should've at least taken care of this issue. Sadly BF Mike is not playing nice and won't make that "leap of faith" that botto refers to... :-(
Can't you simply find another generic box at any other LBS though?

I think I might have changed my mind about my Moto TI SL, did mike say anything about the cancellation process/rules?

I think I might have changed my mind about my Moto TI SL, did mike say anything about the cancellation process/rules?

I think you should expect to lose your deposit. Mike claims that he doesn't expect to make a profit on his TI project, so maybe he should thank you for cancelling.

I think you should expect to lose your deposit. Mike claims that he doesn't expect to make a profit on his TI project, so maybe he should thank you for cancelling.

If I expected that kind of treatment from a company for placing an order in good faith, I would never have done business with them in the first place, and I'd certainly never do business with them again. Of course I fully intend to carry through with my order. But siht happens, circumstances change. So it goes.

Let's hope that issue doesn't rear its head. In the meantime, ignorance is bliss.

IMHO, it sounds like Mike is attempting to do the right thing. He can only offer to exchange the goods that may be faulty. I do think that Mike should privately provide his phone number so you two can talk it out. Maybe he can send you a new frame and you can send back the old frame in the new box. He could put a hold on you credit card until he recieved the original frame. Paying for the shipping seems to be the only issue that I'm on the fence. I've seen it both ways. My bet is that Mike will make right, he has always seemed to be on the up and up and a business man.

IMHO, it sounds like Mike is attempting to do the right thing. He can only offer to exchange the goods that may be faulty. I do think that Mike should privately provide his phone number so you two can talk it out. Maybe he can send you a new frame and you can send back the old frame in the new box. He could put a hold on you credit card until he recieved the original frame. Paying for the shipping seems to be the only issue that I'm on the fence. I've seen it both ways. My bet is that Mike will make right, he has always seemed to be on the up and up and a business man.

I offered that.. multiple times. Mike also gave me his "private" email address after the Windsor fiasco. I tried to move the discussion to email to speed things along as it sometimes took 2-3 days to get a response from Mike here via PM and he never replied.

I'd happily give him a CC# to secure a frame and do the swap IF he would have someone check the seattube diameter. Seeings as how no one else is having this problem and Ive taken measurements, maybe its just my frame but Id like to make sure this isnt a common issue on the 58s. I essentially have to set aside a whole day to do the swap and drive to my LBS (2-2.5 hours round trip alone) unless I want to tackle it myself, which I could probably do if it came down to it. I'd feel much better about doing the swap myself if I had a frame to move everything on to as I took it off.. which is why I had asked for an advanced replacement.

There's more stuff that's been said that I really dont want to trot out. I know all this is just going to p!ss Mike off even more but the whole situation just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Someone asked about getting a box from an LBS.. all the shops here charge for them so yea, I could go buy one if I had to but again, thats more time I have to spend driving around and more money I have to spend to buy a stupid box. My regular LBS would probably give me one if he had one laying around but thats a 2+ hour round trip ride, again, for a box.

I think you should expect to lose your deposit. Mike claims that he doesn't expect to make a profit on his TI project, so maybe he should thank you for cancelling.

sounds familiar.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/used_car_salesman.jpg

You may be rippin' on Mike's "Ti project" but you have to admit he's doing the best he can with the price.... which counts for something.... well, counts for everything...... He's saving people hundreds of dollars when he could be selling it for much more.

You may be rippin' on Mike's "Ti project" but you have to admit he's doing the best he can with the price.... which counts for something.... well, counts for everything...... He's saving people hundreds of dollars when he could be selling it for much more.

hate to break this to you, but bikesdirect is NOT a npo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-profit_organization).

Yeah sure incriminate myself, Unless you're taking law classes in youre spare time I'll keep quiet. Besides, I hear some Texas girls pretty tough.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b396/jimfeil/1546004504_25ea8e8458_o.jpg

God that babe is hot.

God that babe is hot.

this is true.

God that babe is hot.

am i the only one that finds her face manly?

am i the only one that finds her face manly?

One less dude to compete with. If there were 3 billion more who thought like you we'd be in business.

Just keep your bank account up for bail money to spring her from the slammer every time she gets a DUI charge and you'll be good to go.

Agree. I bought a new Kestrel frame from BD and put everything from my old Motobecane on it. Didn't buy anything but a new FD (needed a braze on) and a couple of inner cables.

Same frame should even be easier. Trade sounds fair to me.

Mike, I have some impending soul crushing to do, and I'm wondering if you have an ETA on the wheels?

Early Feb? Mid Feb? Late Feb?

Mike, I have some impending soul crushing to do, and I'm wondering if you have an ETA on the wheels?

Early Feb? Mid Feb? Late Feb? The seconda batch too, please.