I wanted to explore the insane world of ss/fixies but didn't want to waste
a bunch of time hitting up Salvation Army or Goodwill stores in search of
a good deal on a donor-conversion 70s or 80s frame. (While K-Mart parking
lots down here are empty all day long, there are checkout lines 20- to
30-people deep down here at Salvation Army; you'd think they were giving
away gold teeth or something.)
Anyway, after giving up a happy hour or two, not going out to lunch for
two weeks, and sucking about 50 feet of carpet with the Admiral-in-Charge
aboard at the homestead, I had enough spare change to place an order with
[shock and horror!] bikesdirect.com for a 52cm Orange Messenger.
Only that's not the bike I ended up with.
After placing the order on Friday night, I get a call on Monday from
"Mike" (caller ID: Courtney Spratt) in Jacksonville, Fla., saying that
there was an online-ordering/inventory problem, and that I had three
choices: wait for the next batch to come in; get a full refund; get a
refund of $100 and instead receive a 53cm bike with comparable equipment
for $295 - the Dawes Lightning SST.
I won't go into whether or not using the Dawes name is misleading or
illegal. Obviously, some bottomfeeder has signed off on the language to use
on the skeletal Dawes web site:
http://www.dawescyclesusa.com/
I'm not sure what the British Dawes Cycles folks think of these bikes. They're at:
http://www.dawescycles.com/
Since I paid with a credit card and knew I was buying a cheap bike to
begin with, I figured there was nothing to lose. Normally one might think
this was a bait-and-switch, but a quick perusal of e-ripoff-Bay showed the
alternative bike in a desirable yellow color with some interesting frame
features.
So I said "OK, I'll bite."
Interestingly, within minutes the eBay listing for the 53cm yellow Dawes
disappeared, and later that day I get a UPS shipment notification. Five
days later the dude who "Thinks Brown" dropped off the package on my
driveway. Fortunately the crack monkeys who move boxes while in transit
were gentle with my shipment - a rare occurence down here!
Here's a pic of the box, showing that the Dawes bike I purchased is no
CHICOM slave-labor product, and was shipped direct to Houston; cheap bike
fans better pray that the Houston ship channel stays clear this year:
Opening the box shows a good job of packing, with everything wrapped and
cable-tied:
Laying the box flat is the best way to get at the new ride:
Note the interesting braze-ons on the rear seat stays! This bike comes
with two front brakes, along with fork, frame, and stay holes to support
fenders and/or a rack on front or back!:
The welds are butt ugly, but really no more lumpy than the ones on my
Specialized Allez. I know there's a difference between steel and AL, but
I don't feel too squeamish about the weld on this cheap frame.
Unfortunately, the tapped holes on the track dropouts are not 5mm! (a bit
larger, 6 or 7mm perhaps?):
The bike comes put together for the most part, so to do an assemble,
stick the seatpost in, the stem in, attach the front brake, and adjust.
You'll end up with something like this:
My observations:
1. This is a cheap bike with a surprisingly nice ride - most likely due
to the spongy 700x25C Maxxis Xephyr tires (marked 130psi max?!!!!)
2. The wheels needed lateral and radial trueing, as they wobbled like a
pair of drunken sailors on shore leave!
3. To me, the seat is remarkably comfortable.
4. I'd hate to think what the wholesale on this bike is!
5. More interesting, and I'm going out on a limb here:
This bike's frame is *exactly* the same as the KHS Flite 100, which has
a MSRP of $695, but which still costs several hundred dollars more!
Carefully example the KHS track frame's stays and fork to the Dawes and
you'll see what I mean.
6. The bike's serial number is stamped into the steel on the top front of
the head tube! Mine is #L050902593. There is no warranty card, nor is
there any call for registration from bikesdirect (big surprise).
7. There is no indication of any corrosion protection on the inside of
the bike's frame; i sprayed some WD40 inside the head tube.
8. Here's a list of components:
- Promax brakes (functional)
- Alex RP15F rims (heavy!)
- no-name hubs, with 17 SS/16 fixed
- Leechi brake hoods
- Velo saddle (black)
- Truvativ Touro crankset (48T)
- Maxxis Xephyr 700x25c tires
- frame is marked "Duraforte Custom Tubeset" (chortle!)
- heavy metal pedals with clips
- a small 'manual' of basic info and safety tips
- front, rear, wheel reflectors
- no-name seatpost (not sure)
- the bike came in at 28 lbs w/seat and pedals (wheels are heavy!)
I hope this helps anyone contemplating a purchase. I do not work for
bikesdirect, nor do I endorse any products listed here - YMMV.