EURO

God in heaven I HATE alanbikehouston. I hate very single thing he says, and every single thing he stands for.


Yes, of course. Both of those items are covered by safety laws that stipulate the same (stringent) minimum safety standards, whatever the price.

Brian

What if no standards existed for helmets and condoms? What if you were buying them overseas, in China, while on holiday?

crank'n

life is cheap in china. Well Id walk or taxi,and would stipulate oral sex only

Brian

Nutter!

crank'n

well it was off topic ,and getting to politicly sad
dismiss if you wish

53-11_alltheway

I just love these posts.

EURO

Especially this:


I've seen some very rare cast iron and wooden bikes in museums. I'm sure some rich collectors have them.

jock

What's OCP?

jock

ROFLMFAOx100

arsw1

This thread has gone south!!!

Here's what I think after reading all the suggestions and opinions (not to mention "suggestions" and "opinions"), I will only upgrade my fork with all carbon and go threadless.. at some point later.. for now I will stick with my beloved cro-mo fork.

Instead, I will try to find decent wheels and tires as an upgrade path..

Thanks everyone..

cuda2k

Well, yes, this thread has gone south. It had all the right ingreditents from the start. Carbon vs (anything) debate coupled with the Chinese factor. In any case it seems you've got a good plan looking to upgrade else where for the time being.

I forgot if you mentioned what size wheels your bike is equipped with now, if they are 27" do a search on the forums for 27" to 700c wheels for lots of pitfalls that can possibly snag you up there. If you've already got 700c - the path is a lot cleaner for you.

arsw1

Mine is 700c, so it should be easier.. I just need to make sure I get a compatible rear wheel since it's got 6-speed cassette.. and I don't think I will be upgrading the drivetrain anytime soon.. 12-speed is enough for me.. I get confused easily you see..

cuda2k, seems your projects are keeping you busy.. nice bikes you got..

mayukawa

They're trying to control population in China...so I'm sure they (the manufacturers) thoroughly test the condoms before deployment. Most items made for export in China are made to the standards specified by the outside countries. If you want dirt-cheap stuff (even by Chinese standard), guess what? You get junk. However, if you want to pay a decent price, then you're going to get a good bargain (compared to items made here in the U.S.), assuming the companies here are not greedy enough to absorb all the savings. If you buy stuff in China, you've to be careful where/who you buy from (so you don't end up with counterfeits and other such issues)!

Brian

I was only trying to make a point. Relax. Would you ride a carbon fork that was shipped to your door at a total cost of $48?

arsw1

Note that I was also asking for recommendations.. If you happen to know 1" threaded carbon fork for sale that is not $48, I would be happy to take a look.. I am very sorry for trying to look for deals..

puddin' legs

Low end forks are low end forks...material doesn't matter. I'd rather ride good steel than a bad soft carbon fork. Next in the pecking order, I'd rather ride good stiff carbon fork than a good steel fork. That help there, Euro? It's not all black and white. The OP was talking about a cheap carbon fork which I understood to be low end.

cuda2k

Thanks for the compliment. Believe it or not I only started riding and working on building up bikes last May! I got engaged and decided that I wanted to look good for my wedding as well as stay in shape for the better of my health in the future. So I jumped into cycling with both feet (and my wallet!). I learned everything I know by taking apart my Schwinn Traveler and putting it back together, reading these forums and spending a lot of time looking at Sheldon Brown's website. Granted I am generally mechanically inclined but bicycles aren't rockets. As far as wheels go - there are lots of 700c wheels out there for prices ranging from about $70 a set to (way more than you'll ever want to send). The older freewheel / 126mm width size that you'll be looking at have fewer choices these days as most bikes have moved on to 130mm cassettes. The advantages of cassettes is enough that they may be worth looking at. Post the brand, model, and if you can find it the type of steel that the bike is made out of and that will help in offering suggestions. Also some more information on what wheelset that is on their now (rims and hubs) will help as we know where you're starting at. I just ordered a set of Ultegra/Open Pro wheels for my current build. Often stated as the 'gold standard' of bomb proof solid wheelsets I decided on them because the bike is of a vintage that 20/24spoke wheels with deep dish just didn't seem to fit it right.

mayukawa

No. Not unless I know who makes it. A lot of these manufacturers (even in China) are not only OEM's, but also ODM's, so they do have engineers (some of whom are educated in elite US universities) to design whatever customers want. Sometimes when you design trashy stuff, you don't want to put your company's name on that product-->because the better companies would worry about losing "face" (reputation) as Asians would usually say. If it's one of those products, I would not buy/use it. Of course, usually the type of warranty that's offered will give you a rough hint of how good or bad the product is.

arsw1

Hey congrats on the engagement and upcoming wedding! wish you luck on your cycling target too..

If I am not mistaken, it was an Araya wheel on the rear and a Weinmann on the front. I am learning about bikes myself.. and I am actually in the process of moving.. so it might take me a while before getting back to thinking about the bike and upgrading and fixing things..

The bike itself is in decent shape.. It's a Schwinn Prologue from around '89 I think.. Everything works well.. a few rusts and chips, but nothing too horrible.. I am planning on trying to take it apart and have it repainted if possible.. for right now, I have just been keeping it clean..

arsw1

The thing is.. they do put in the company name.. it's Martec.. https://www.martec.com.tw/

Note the ".tw" extension.. If you catch what I mean..

Brian

Nothing wrong with looking for deals, just don't skimp on your safety. In my opinion, a modern carbon fork will probably adversely affect the ride of your slightly vintage steel bike. Unless your current fork is a unicrown with straight legs, a CF one will be a step backwards. Gel bar tape and a good pair of gloves would be a better investment in ride comfort.

I've met very few riders that truly needed a lighter bike. Get a HRM if you don't have one. Train smarter, train harder, train more. Stretch properly, and stretch more. 60 grams off your fork won't make as much of an improvement as spending more time above 85%, or even getting a proper fitting.

Now, since you've sat through the lecture, my best source is a guy on ebay - ediscountbike. He may have a dot com after that. He's had a lot of good stuff on there, which I've bought and resold to many happy customers. If you're nice, I'll hook you up with some bidding tips.

cuda2k

Ah the Schwinn Prologue. You'll probably be able to get more bike specific information over on the Classic & Vintage forums. To figure out the year, check for a lightly stamped 4 digit number on the Schwinn head badge. The last digit will be the year, the first 3 digits the day of the year (ie 0328 will be the first of Feb, 1988 and so on). There are a number of Schwinn guys around who will be able to tell you more about the specific bike. If memory serves the Prologue was an imported model from Japan, one of the higher end models and a bike probably best left with the original fork unless damaged. As far as wheels go - one of those two are obviously a replacement, I'd guess the Araya as the original one. I have a pair of Weinmann wheels on my 'Cuda Mk.I and they are decent enough but certainly heavy as todays standards go. You've got a steel frame so dropping in just about any wheelset you really want to in there won't be a problem - would just have to cold set the rear triangle to 130mm if you went with a newer set. Lots of information out there on doing this and I'm about to attempt it myself for the first time in a few days. $3.00 in parts at Home Depot is all it takes to do it. Anyways - good luck with your move and if you ever have any specific questions on that paricular bike the C&V forums may yeild you more responses. Not saying the guys here in the Roadie forum don't like Schwinns though - there have been more 'post your lugged steel bikes' threads around here lately it seems.

dragonflybikes

arsw1 - My only concern about you buying new wheels is what are you plans for bike upgrades. If you are planning on buying a new (or new to you) bike within the next year or so remember that the wheels you buy will not work on the new bike (other than the front wheel of course) Thus I would not buy expensive wheels and so you will probably not save much weight. IF you want I can look to see if I still have my Superbe Pro wheels, although I doubt they would be much less in weight which makes it kind of pointless.

I personally would still recomend going with the carbon fork as I believe that it will make a difference. As I mentioned before that is what I was going to do with my steel bike untill I decided to bite the bullet and get a whole new bike instead.

As far as your statement of " I am very sorry for trying to look for deals.. " don't be sorry about that. There is nothing wrong about looking for a great deal. A very large percentage of the people on this board are alwasys looking for a great deal.

Do what makes you happy

EURO

Would you ride a $50 (brand new) no-name steel frame and forks? I do. What's safer?

Brian

Funny, I thought you built up a fancy Cyfac. But that must have ben someone else. A steel frame and fork, regardless of the price, is very easy to assess for quality. And if steel does fail, it usually gives a warning first.