I was in neither of those places, so it must have been one of my many doppelgangers! Trust me, I get it all the time.

Cogs are fine. Lockring is ISO thread...Campy or Phil.

hahahahhaha. I was in the back watching this whole thing go down but i'm not allowed to help people at the service. You just talked to the wrong person. Mechs in the back have to deal with service and repairs, they're usually not standing around waiting for people waiting for them.

Be direct, don't wait.

And without giving details of exactly what the lady recommended vs what you are currently running, we can neither confirm or deny the veracity of said advice.

You bought a single 105 cog? You should be able to get a single speed specific cog, and a chain to go with, which would be much better than a multi-speed cog. A 105 will have shift ramps in it and won't run as well as a single specific.
I know the guys at Sweet Petes well and they are all good guys. Curbside less so but from what I know of them they are pretty top notch as well. I have my own experience with Urbane and I dont set foot in there....but thats just me. Lots of folks around here shop there and have no problems.

She recommended I replace the chain... which I have a problem with, because a) you shouldn't make those suggestions unless you know the history of the part or the rider's style; b) they sold me the wrong part to begin with. She didn't offer any helpful advice beyond passing me a gear chart when I asked for it. Her explanation for why I should change the chain was really weird, too: she said I should change the chain whenever I use new chainrings, but I clearly explained that I was using my old cog. The new one they sold me wasn't even for a 9-speed chain, and I made sure to let the original guy know I was going to use my 9-speed chain.

Ah well, I went to Pete's on Sunday to get some brake cable work done and to have some grips put onto my new Nitto bars. They were awesome, letting me go back and work with the mech to get the job done.

Some parts of your explanation are a bit... ambiguous. What *exactly* was the part you were sold that your old 9 speed chain wouldn't mesh with?

That advice was good actually, you shouldn't put a new cog on a worn chain and chainring. Or a new chainring on old chain and cog.

You bought a new cog or chainring? Because if you're sticking with your old cog, you must've been buying a new chainring. Which is it?

really? weird.

New chainring on the crankset and the old cog in the rear. I had bought a new cog for the rear, but it didn't work with my 9spd chain.

Let me check on passes for the Bike Bazaar..woooohooo

Sounds like she was trying to help you out, like op says yer wasting some effort to put old bits with new bits on a drivetrain. It looks like your new cog for ss was bmx/ss @ 1/8" which you noticed wouldn't mesh well with your 3/32" equipment. The nice lady probably wasn't aware you were trying to go SS with 3/32" to spare yourself teh cost/upgrade of a complete ss drivetrain (ring, cog & chain) and would have soon noticed you also needed a new chainring. They didn't precisely sell you the wrong part initially either if the were told you were going SS, they'd have given you SS/bmx equipment @ 1/8 unless you specifically said you were converting but keeping 3/32" parts.

that or you were given the right cog but chain didn't mesh cause it's stretched to heck and needs replacing like she said.

I only know 2 of the ladies at urbane but they're knowledgeable, only engage in upselling people who would likely benefit by it like yourself and really do a good job considering the volume of people passing through there. I hang out, waiting my turn (I come last) occasionally to discuss something with either of them and am amazed at teh number of people they deal with in a half hour. I'd go nutz, Sam = Not for Retail Sale.

oh new chainring, that fit your 9 speed chain, so yah wrong cog = wrong chain = ss conversion w/new road/geared parts. Plenty of room for confusion. Best if you can to swap all three at once & if you can't to wait until you can

Without having them in my clutches yet, I am confident I will have several passes for the bike show yet again.

Can we cork the entrances while a body of skilled bargain shoppers tears through and secures the dealios? :D

Assuming i don't have to work brunch service that saturday, i'll be down for some riding and shopping like we did many moons ago.

wes - i hear you on the SS single brake thing. frightening really, an endo waiting to happen. i really don't get it. must be an image thing... when i rode a SS it was always with two brakes and needed them usually becauase i ended up riding much faster and more recklessly (sp?).

SamHouston:

I hate to bring business into the forum, but I am wondering if Under the Weather makes custom (color) top tube pads/protectors. I just got my new Paddy Wagon and I like it a lot. I'm not worried about the bars hitting (I still have both brakes) or the paint, but when I lock up I'm worried as hell somebody is going to dent up the nice tube. Probably just new-bike paranoia. I think a nice goldenrod yellow would complement the stock paint pretty well. I'm also in the market for a bigger bag than the eight-year-old Banana Republic designer bag I got as a gift in high school. That will have to wait until the budget expands, though.

On a humorous side-note, a TT pad would have come in handy the other night, when my curious girlfriend decided to try riding fixed on my 60cm frame. She didn't once have trouble adjusting until she went to get off and, err, tried to straddle the too-tall frame. In her words, "I forgot I can't stand up on boy bikes!"

Ouch.. although I have to say nothing can compete with the story I saw posted on the forums once when a girl hit the top-tube and uhh.. "damaged the goods" on the cable stops. Her story was of course complete with graphic descriptions. *wince*

Anyone wanna take a spin tomorrow night? I'm thinking of maybe going out to the bluffs as I've never been there.

you're a bluff.

i'm going to hang out at i deal for a while if anyone's on their luch break and want to join me wes.

Anyone wanna take a spin tomorrow night? I'm thinking of maybe going out to the bluffs as I've never been there.[/QUOTE]

That would be cool. Hey Wes, who should we adopt to ride the "Epic 8 hour" with us?

I got a lunch date with the missus, sorry!

I have no clue. I just sent a friend an email, but I'm not holding my breath.

I was waiting to see if anyone else stepped up to the plate so to speak...but if you guys are truly stuck for a 4th I will come out. I am in terrible shape...and my lap times will be crap...but I will do it if need be.

The chain I have isn't stretched to heck - its only about 1/2 through its usable lifespan (measured with a chain-stretch tool). She may have been helping me, but I certainly mentioned to the first guy I bought the conversion parts from that I was converting a ROAD BIKE.

Can I run a 1/8" chain over any chainring in the front, or does it have to be wider? If I can get away with just using the existing chainring in the front (the one I was sold), with the BMX 18T cog in the rear, by buying a new chain, I might go that route.

Collect everything you bought with receipts. Go back to shop. Tell shop that you were erroneously sold the wrong parts. Explain you want a 3/32 (road-sized) cog. Return parts. Get cog. Put the returned money in an envelope and send it to me :D

They screwed up, why should this be your problem?

You can certainly use the ring you have with 1/8 chain and cog. Again S.S. rings without pins and ramps will work better but what you have should be fine.

I've never been to the bike show but just how good are the deals? I ask because I am thinking of upgrading the wheels on my road bike from Shimano WH 550s and I want to get something nice but not break the bank.

So far, the best deal I've seen around town is the Easton Circuits for $300, which is half price and they are supposed to be very good wheels. I guess it is hard to say but do you Bike Show veterans feel that this deal can be beat? Thanks.

I think a good design for a poster for the bike show would be an "Uncle Sam"-esque figure in parody of those old American recruitment posters pointing at the viewer of said poster, and the caption would read "I'll show YOU a bike (show)". Anybody? Guys? *crickets*