Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - The Official SE Lager / Dawes SST / Windsor Clockwork thread

.?

What a nightmare! I guess UPS doesn't care much about fragile boxes.
How much did you pay for this bike?

UPS, Fedex and the USPS all use automated handling and sorting equipment in their main sorting centers. Not gentle handling from what I have seen on TV. Bike manufacturers should take this into account when designing bicycle packaging IMO as probably the great majority of bikes reach dealers or customers via one of these agencies, most commonly UPS or Fedex.

It's a very attractive bike in my opinion, the black looks nice. Bikesdirect tells you on their website to make sure everything's lubricated and tightened before riding. I can't wait for mine to come in, I got the ClockWork in orange, should be here this Tuesday.

Definitely let me know how that 17t cog is, I'm thinking about either a 17t or 18t for the flip-flop.

It's not really doable without a tool. Bring it to a shop, they'll probably do it for free or very little.

I had BB issues recently with my dawes SST. Replace it immediately. Dangerous for sure. But, I love the geo of the frame. I have switched out some stuff, and now I'm very happy. I put some deep vs on it and got some MKS GR-9 pedals with new clips and straps, threw a soma 17t fixed cog on there, took the brakes off, and now she's pretty sweet. Next step, a new crank set. Sug messenger prolly. I'll try to throw pics, cause honestly, IMO, the bike looks great. The deep vs with the fortezza SE race tires make a HUGE difference. Make sure the chain tension is accurate too.

The scratched up wheel thing IS a common issues with BD bikes that I have seen so far. I have 2 sets of the same Alex wheels and both came nicked/scratched like your in varying degrees.
BD said this was NOT an issue, yet even my replacement wheel was nicked (very minor) and I have seem a bunch of threads/issues with the same thing. They blamed it on UPS. Yet it seems to be an issues ONLY with these Alex rims. I wonder if a batch of bikes went out with bad rims? yet I have seen this on 2008 and 2009 model bikes.

I am wondering if BD is buying defected/damaged rims to save a few bucks? I would hate to think this and think it's not the case, but BD and Alex have issues with these wheels that should be solved. NO EXCUSE for sending customers wheels like this. Its NOT a UPS thing. I get wheels all the time from UPS and form overseas. I have yet to see/find similar scratches.

Mine:

http://light-bikes.com/BikePhotos/web_pics/damaged_wheel1.JPG

http://light-bikes.com/BikePhotos/web_pics/dawes_front_wheel.JPG

No where could damage to this box affect the wheels?

http://light-bikes.com/BikePhotos/web_pics/box1.JPG

http://light-bikes.com/BikePhotos/web_pics/box3.JPG

The BB are very cheap will need to be replaced early. Mine as well came very dry and torqued down way too much. Just simply replace with a decent 68 x 103mm BB.

I too was overall satisfied with my purchase. Here is my review:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=148086

I am wondering if BD is buying defected/damaged rims to save a few bucks?

From what I understand, BD never actually sees/touches the bikes; they ship directly from the factory.

does anyone know what the biggest tires you can run on teh clockwork? i looked at BD but didn't see it. i was thinking of getting one as a winter bike, and i wanted to put bigger tires on it so i well, stay on the two wheels instead of on my ass.

hmm Well I've had pretty good luck with my SST. As said above the brake pads are garbage, and yes everything needed the once over but I love mine! I've certainly stripped much of the bike out but still have wheels, frame, cranks, BB, Pedals. Pedals and BB soon to be replaced. If you have a chance to switch out the forks I would highly suggest doing so, it was the heaviest most sluggish fork ever, my fork upgrade was by far the biggest change in performance and enjoyability of the bike. Here is mine in close to it's current set up.
http://brianr86.googlepages.com/IMG_3206.JPG/IMG_3206-custom;size:578,434.jpg
http://brianr86.googlepages.com/IMG_3199.JPG/IMG_3199-custom;size:578,434.jpg
http://brianr86.googlepages.com/IMG_3208.JPG/IMG_3208-custom;size:578,434.jpg
http://brianr86.googlepages.com/IMG_3212.JPG/IMG_3212-custom;size:578,434.jpg
http://brianr86.googlepages.com/IMG_3187.JPG/IMG_3187-custom;size:578,434.jpg

Eire, what was your problem with the BB? I'm getting MKS GR-9s as well. Post up a pic of your SST! How much did the Deep Vs run you? Can you have deep Vs if you're running a brake?

I'm cameraless for now, but I'll get a pic up soon. Well, after a long ride (50mi) with some gnarly declines (I run brake less fixed, so it's all skip/skid stops) I noticed my chain was SUPER tight. Wasn't sure why, so I went to the shop to talk about it. Thought it was the force of the stopping pulling the rear wheel back on the drop outs, but the guy said that was unlikely. Then he said I may have bent my chainring, which was also very unlikely. Then, after playing around with the chain tension for a while, the chain was still binding. Then I finally noticed that my BB was actually loose and was causing the binding. All it took was some tightening, adjusting the chain tension, and now I'm good to go. I guess it's good to check that every once in a while, but I'll prolly upgrade the BB soon anyways, as I'll be upgrading the crank set to Sug Messengers next week.

Eire, what was your problem with the BB? I'm getting MKS GR-9s as well. Post up a pic of your SST! How much did the Deep Vs run you? Can you have deep Vs if you're running a brake?

My deep vs were about $260 for the set. I think they were from Fly bike shop in denver. Found them on ebay and called to make the purchase. Easy as pie. And, you can run a brake on a non machined surface, but if you're running SS, I would not recommend that. If you use the brake often, you'll rub the color off the wheel wall and it'll look terrible. If you run fixed and never use your brake unless it's an emergency, go for it. You can get a machined front wheel and non machined rear (SS, keep both brakes on please) and velocity and weinmann make machined walled deep vs, but imo, the non machined looks way better.

http://cetmaracks.com/
Mine is a little older style it is nicer now and much lighter. The rack is amazing and makes the bike super practical and fun. The rack is made by Lane Kagay who messengered in SF for many years and made a rack in his garage for himself and they started to catch on with other messengers in the area and then nation. He moved to my town a few years back now and makes the rack full time now. He does everything himself (other than the powdercoat which is done locally as well) and runs the entire thing himself. He's a great guy and makes a great product! If you're looking around his site check out the cargo bike. He just finished the first one a few weeks ago and he let me take it out and it was the sweetest ride ever! Can't say enough good about the rack and Lane. Hope that helps ya out a bit!

I was just on his site and I noticed that he offers the rack with or without the cro-mo struts. If you are buying one buy the cro-mo ones! The weight savings is huge and it's key when adding that much weight up front. They are also a better system in the way they attach because with them you can take your wheel of quickly and without removing your nuts and torching the struts off the axel. A much better design and a worthy upgrade!

That chainring on the Windsor looks about as sturdy as a potato chip...

Will this setup for a front brake work for our bikes?

Veloce caliper (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=L5071)
http://www.probikekit.com/_img_200x256/L5071.jpg


with a Deore V-brake lever (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=NP03392)
http://www.probikekit.com/_img_200x256/NP03392.jpg


If not, can you suggest something (black) for around $40?

Brakes, yes. Levrs no. First those are MTB levers. You need the Shimano BL-R770 (http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=125809&cat=26&brand=226) Flat Bar Road Brake Lever.

The Campy brakes with these would be impossible to remove the tire as Campy brakes don't have a release.

Get some Nashbar brakes and Shimano flat bar road levers. Also Bens Cycle (http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=188_482&zenid=54bab2ca1007607587c47bd2daf2df55) with have some levers that will work with road brakes and cheap Dia-Compe calipers as well.

Thanks DB. I didn't realize MTB stuff wouldn't fit...I thought a brake lever is a brake lever....and I didn't even notice that the Campy brake caliper not having that little flip release thing.
It's not fit, but the ratio of the pull. Also some levers won't fit some bars.

I'd keep the Alex personally. with a braking surface a black rim is hardly black at all from a quick visual glance. And I think a black rim with a braking surface ends up looking choppy and is more of a distraction than anything. Also as you said the alex set up is actually a decent wheelset and I don't think a cxp22 upgrade is worth it especially for cosmetic purposes only. I would say that would be an on par upgrade. Also unless you are a wheel builder a fairly spendy venture. Think 60-80 for hoops, and another 40-60 for straight gauge spokes and nips (i'd go double butted tho which is then a few more bucks, and then 70-90 in labor you're looking at around 200 bucks just for a color change. Save your money and do a worthy rim upgrade or upgrade another component. The cxp22 is a nice rim sure but not worth that money from the alex set up. Look at Mavic Open Pro's or DT swiss rr1.1's and it is more worth it but also more money.

oh and no problems with the CXP22 set up if you do decide to go that route

Ahhhh, so when I pull the lever and touch the bar, the brake won't engage fully yet. The OEM handlebars is either 25.4 (1 inch) or 26.0mm, correct? Are there any compatibility issues between these two sizes? Is 0.6mm significant enough to have to get a new stem?

But most non-oversized (31.8mm) handlebars come in 25.8mm. Why the "in between" size?

Another issue...I'm thinking of getting new wheels. I actually like the way the Alex R500/Formula combo looks. But I want something black. I'm thinking Mavic CXP22/Formula. Will this be a significant step up from the Alex setup? Slight step up? On par? The chainline is perfect with the current Alex/Formula setup. Do you see any issues with CXP22/Formula setup?

Yes, MTB levers won't give the right pull. The stock bars are 26.0 MTB Bars are 25.4 The Shimano Flat bar levers will fit standard MTB bars, but not the stock bars. Some bars very past the clamping area.

CXP22 rims will be a bit better upgrade. If the hubs are the same (Formula Track) the chainline will be the same. Rims don't matter.

Rims don't matter.

Ha! How utterly and completely false! I assume you have not made any sizable rim upgrades in your lifetime then. Rims can make a huge difference if nothing else the rotational mass of a lighter rim can change the way a bike climbs and accelerates more than anything. not to mention the ride quality of different rims, aerodynamics, clincher/tubular... A rim can be one of the best and most noticeable upgrades that you can make. I would say dollar for dollar the biggest performance upgrade you can make in a single component on a SS/FG and probably the same on a geared bike as well. Rims do matter and should be one of the first upgrades in terms of performance IMO.

Ha! How utterly and completely false! I assume you have not made any sizable rim upgrades in your lifetime then. Rims can make a huge difference if nothing else the rotational mass of a lighter rim can change the way a bike climbs and accelerates more than anything. not to mention the ride quality of different rims, aerodynamics, clincher/tubular... A rim can be one of the best and most noticeable upgrades that you can make. I would say dollar for dollar the biggest performance upgrade you can make in a single component on a SS/FG and probably the same on a geared bike as well. Rims do matter and should be one of the first upgrades in terms of performance IMO.On chain-line issues!!

Yes, I sell wheels and have done MANY upgrades myself. :rolleyes:

ha gotcha now. I was a bit shocked at that comment. I've heard plenty of crazy statements in my day and that one was quickly heading to the top of the list of worst advice. :)

ha gotcha now. I was a bit shocked at that comment. I've heard plenty of crazy statements in my day and that one was quickly heading to the top of the list of worst advice. :)
:roflmao2: sure!

Live2die, that front rack is awesome. I've been looking for a way to mount a camera tripod head on the front of my new clockwork, and i could easily customize something around that front rack. did you get it online by any chance?

building it up for my cousin, tightening up my front and this happened.

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2383/image020xap.jpg

sorry for bad lighting can't help it.

building it up for my cousin, tightening up my front and this happened.

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2383/image020xap.jpg

sorry for bad lighting can't help it.

My headset is the only part of my bike that has broken so far, replaced it with a nice cane creek.
This is how it sits now... Well other than my new SPD's (love em)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/hxcgti/2009-07-05103304.jpg

It's been a little while, had to setup a Flickr and such...

Here is the pics of the packaging and unboxing of my bikesdirect.com Dawes SST

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfssfg/sets/72157622132158271/

It is in really good shape. The only noted damage other than a few little dings in the rim brake surface machining, was a small box scrub mark on the left chainstay.

Maybe this will help someone overcome the Internet "buy-it-in-a-box" apprehension.

My headset is the only part of my bike that has broken so far, replaced it with a nice cane creek.
This is how it sits now... Well other than my new SPD's (love em)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/hxcgti/2009-07-05103304.jpg

Wow normally I'd hate the color but you pulled it off. Thats a really cool looking bike. I love the wheel scheme you got going, expecially the black rim/spokes in the back. Info on that?