Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - If you cant build yourself and you are on a budget - !DO NOT BUY TOMMASO AUGUSTA !!

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?385809-Tommaso-Augusta-amp-RS-Cycle-Review/page3

just posting for those on a budget, like me, looking for a fixed ride. I hope this dosent break any forum rules because i dont mean to.

basically, if you are on a budget just use BikesDirect.com and DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT BUY A TOMMASO AUGUSTA TRACK BIKE, just stick to the trusty ol kilo tt

they sent me a bent frame and basically told me that i was expecting too much for the $$ and "keep it or return it"

...or build one yourself, I did, and it was a fun learning experience

and dont forget to involve your Local Bike Shop in the process ;)

again I apologize if this is a little bloggy but folks need to know

are you talking about the 'ninja' or other complete builds?
cant comment on those.

and i will say i have heard a number of horror stories about their frames being bent. Of course i read about these AFTER i buy mine lol. IN FACT, my brother bought one of these frames around the same time and HIS was bent. he was able to return it no problem witout having to pay any return shipping...

but i will say if you get an unbent one (i guess i am one of the lucky ones?) its actually a nice frame for the price paid.
heres my finished build! (sorry bikeforums, i know ive been posting the crap out of this pic in several threads....just took pictures lol sorry ill stop after this one last time)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs505.snc3/26552_380050379116_634489116_3891032_7237007_n.jpg

i also have a road bike by them, and im really happy with it. havnt heard any bad reviews regarding their road bikes.

but yah....i can totally understand your aggravation.
perhaps their track stuff is done in a different warehouse or something than their road stuff?

^^

there was a problem with some, not all, of the frames

complete builds and framesets only

im glad you got a straight frame

your build is super sweet

I wanted to buy one of thier velocita (sram) bikes but now im just completly turned off of them

anyways, nice bar wrap
you said you wish you were back in OAK,
dont know if you are a RAIDER fan but here you go anyway
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2418/img0590m.jpg
(http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0590m.jpg/)

admittedly i am a fairweather fan. maybe once al davis kicks the bucket ill be more loyal lol
ps sweet raiders headbadge!

yes, i miss oakland.

I go to one or two games a year, and in the last 5 seasons, I have been witness to only 1 win.


yo ive posted the heck out of my bike too... I got the "oooh, everybody look what I built syndrome"

Dallas Cowboys, FTW.

Ill, I was going to ask you on velospace if your augusta came bent or not.

I bought an Augusta (orange), it is also the one on Velospace. I am currently in the building stages. Only crank and bars and im done.

No bent frame. Very pleased with how it arrived, packaged, shipped very fast, and hopefully will be an awesome ride!

thats cool, I really liked the augusta because of the minimal amount of decals, but they were pretty unfriendly at rscycle

I still say because mine was not the first bent or misaligned frame, just go to bikesdirect(complete build) or bikeisland(framset) if you have a limited budget

I got lucky to find a felt brougham frameset for $100 on craigslist and just asked about parts at my LBS
I did not get the parts from my LBS ( http://www.sharpbicycles.com ) but they did help through the process nonetheless

I read about folks getting bent frames and still went through with the purchase because I know sthit happens and since they knew about the problem they would be extra careful not to let it happen again. I got a bent frame, the guy on the phone was an A-hole, so i returned it. I am still baffled

anyways, xavier853, Im glad you got a good frame

at first it was good - they shipped fast
then it all went downhill - overtensioned wheels were coming apart at the seam147242
- big scratch on the rear wheel147243
- bent non drive side chain stay147244147245
non drive side drop not completely welded and has a slight downward angle so when the wheel is placed in the very front or all the way in the back of the drops , the wheel does not perfectly line up

again, sorry if this seems like a complaining blog, but I just want people to know that rscycle knew their track frames were not all good and I still got one

thats just bad buisness

think about all the thousands of bikesdirect fixed rides that are out there and I have maybe heard of only a few problems and those were only cosmetic

rscycle sells may 1% of what Bikesdirect does - they should have better quality control

Wow. I do understand where you are coming from.

Looks like you got the short end of the stick with your tommaso. Very unlucky. Im sorry.

I have a friend who just bought their "old school" bike and I helped him set it up. I looked for all the typical complaints about these bikes, but hes was fine.

Again, sorry that you got a bad frame.

just got done riding mine to get a burrito, definitely a fun ride!

yah i was pleased with how mine was packaged and how quick it shipped.
honestly though ive heard a number of bent frame stories....maybe there was a bad batch or something? it would suck if lots of people are getting bent frames...like, i would like to be able to recommend my frame because it rides nicely and i like the geometry and was priced very well, but at the same time i would feel obligated to mention the number of times ive heard about people receiving bent frames.

note: i have only heard this about their augusta frame.
have only heard good things about their road bikes, and from experience my road bike from them is very good.

i could be way off, but im thinking their track frames are made somewhere different than their road frames, since one is steel and the other aluminum. thats just a guess really....

yup at first i was very excited to get a "non bikesdirect" ride at a low price, and was ready to recommend it to any who ask because competition is good.

They did tell me that the track frames come from a different builder but that dosent ease my concern.

so for anyone who stumbled across this thread, and are intrested in an augusta just think about it.

Im pretty sure they are gonna double check all the frames from now on.

Ive made a pretty big stink through emails and phone calls.

anyways, it really ended up better for me anyway

the felt brougham frame is a lot better in stiffness and ride quality - and all the decals are just stickers, all of them

here is my build which is NOT an augusta (i also apologize for overposting the same bike in different threads)
budget build - kinda

frame, fork - Felt Brougham
wheels - Alex da28 machined anodized brake surface laced to formula sealed cartridge
cog - milwakee bicycles 18t (3/32)
lockring - milwakee bicycles
chain - KMC premium Z610hx silver (3/32)
cranks,BB - SRAM gxp track 48t(3/32)
pedals - Forte campus two sided SPD/platform
tires - specialized mondo pro
headset - cane creek generic spec for felt
stem - generic road from LBS
bars - flipped and choped Bontrager race 40cm 31.8
tape - wilson tennis raquet (50 cents in the target clearance asile)
brake lever(s) - cane creek 200ht
front brake - generic felt spec (looks like tektro)
seat post - specialized carbon fact w/zerts insert
saddle - selle san marco ponza island edition
black reflective tape - 3M 50' x 1/2" (amazon)
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/965/img0547z.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/i/img0547z.jpg/)http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2919/img0548i.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/img0548i.jpg/)http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2418/img0590m.th.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img0590m.jpg/)http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7803/img0592z.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/img0592z.jpg/)http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/2145/img0608l.th.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/img0608l.jpg/)

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?385809-Tommaso-Augusta-amp-RS-Cycle-Review/page3

they sent me a bent frame and basically told me that i was expecting too much for the $$ and "keep it or return it"



Why, what was wrong with the second option?