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01-18-05, 01:37 PM
i just thought i would post a little ditty about the experience my friend harley (analoglove) and i had with his leader frame he just purchased off of ebay. here is a link for reference: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=22681&item=7128141953&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
first of all, they are advertising it as a track frame, though it has 130 spacing, is drilled for brakes, and has cable stops... hmmm.... at least the bottom bracket is track height. moving on...
so harley comes over to have me help him press in his headset. the very first thing i notice is that the fork he received from them doesn't have a compression nut installed, let alone included. well, we figure we'll still install the cups and see if the steerer will need to be cut, etc.
we install the cups, race, bearings, and throw the fork into the frame... the UNCUT fork is only engaging 1/2 of the stem clamp. not cool. this fork and headset were provided by leader; they should have the proper steerer length to compensate their huge headtube and the stack height of the headset they are providing. we hope they just simply shipped the wrong fork with the frame, since the frame is the larger 58 size, and decide to give them a call the next day.
he calls and tells them the fork didn't come with the crucial compression nut and cap and the uncut steerer is way too short. they tell him it's an "urban myth" that the steerer needs to fit the whole stem clamp. thus, they wouldn't send him a new fork or give him a refund. that is so dangerous; i can't beleive they would say that, firstly, and then would make no effort to cover their arse or make the customer happy. perhaps you could get away with that with an alloy steerer, if you're ghetto... but carbon!?
one problem we noticed is the excessive length of the headtube above the top tube and below the downtube. i then had an idea. the existing headtube angle is 73 degrees. so with the help of my roommate eric, we figure out removing a cm from the bottom of the headtube will only increase the headtube angle by about one degree. so, we hacksawed, filed and milled a cm off the bottom and about 7 or 8 mm off the top. bing! eye brows! the fork now fits perfectly and he now has a more aggressive headtube angle with a headtube that looks normal, rather than waaay too long.
so, i guess i just wanted to let everyone know that the people at leader seem to be a bunch of dopes that won't stand behind their product. we talked about making some "m-i-s" letters to place in front of "leader"... that'll teach 'em... jerks.
first of all, they are advertising it as a track frame, though it has 130 spacing, is drilled for brakes, and has cable stops... hmmm.... at least the bottom bracket is track height. moving on...
so harley comes over to have me help him press in his headset. the very first thing i notice is that the fork he received from them doesn't have a compression nut installed, let alone included. well, we figure we'll still install the cups and see if the steerer will need to be cut, etc.
we install the cups, race, bearings, and throw the fork into the frame... the UNCUT fork is only engaging 1/2 of the stem clamp. not cool. this fork and headset were provided by leader; they should have the proper steerer length to compensate their huge headtube and the stack height of the headset they are providing. we hope they just simply shipped the wrong fork with the frame, since the frame is the larger 58 size, and decide to give them a call the next day.
he calls and tells them the fork didn't come with the crucial compression nut and cap and the uncut steerer is way too short. they tell him it's an "urban myth" that the steerer needs to fit the whole stem clamp. thus, they wouldn't send him a new fork or give him a refund. that is so dangerous; i can't beleive they would say that, firstly, and then would make no effort to cover their arse or make the customer happy. perhaps you could get away with that with an alloy steerer, if you're ghetto... but carbon!?
one problem we noticed is the excessive length of the headtube above the top tube and below the downtube. i then had an idea. the existing headtube angle is 73 degrees. so with the help of my roommate eric, we figure out removing a cm from the bottom of the headtube will only increase the headtube angle by about one degree. so, we hacksawed, filed and milled a cm off the bottom and about 7 or 8 mm off the top. bing! eye brows! the fork now fits perfectly and he now has a more aggressive headtube angle with a headtube that looks normal, rather than waaay too long.
so, i guess i just wanted to let everyone know that the people at leader seem to be a bunch of dopes that won't stand behind their product. we talked about making some "m-i-s" letters to place in front of "leader"... that'll teach 'em... jerks.