Cracked Head tube after 150km!
 

Last Wednesday, I went on a quick lunch ride and I could hear some rattles from up front. It sounded like a loose headset. I looked more closely today and saw a crack about half an inch long at the top of the head tube. :cry: :eek:

Here's a pick of my bike, it has less than 200kms and I got it 3 weeks ago.
(hey, it keeps raining)

http://pages.infinit.net/decadent/rmb/rmb_solo10.JPG

I quickly took the bike to my LBS and they confirmed that the frame is done for. Sorry no pics, I was in panic mode when i left. The good thing is that Rocky Mountain has a lifetime warranty and according to them it's a pretty fast process.

So now I have a Devinci Optimum 61 full Ultegra on loan from the LBS and I'm riding with a buddy tomorrow at 8AM. I'm worried that riding that Ultegra will spoil my Tiagra/105 groupo and send me on an upgrade frenzy. We all know Tiagra is garbage :p

Wish me luck and good thing I didn't buy it online!!!

yes, Ultegra is the way to go, plus you can score it cheap on eBay.

JOE

Crack after 150km? Jeeze.

closeups?

:lol::lol: that was expected.

Sorry no pics, I was in a rush to take it to my LBS. (HR at around 120)

Looks like your LBS took care of you pretty well. Kudos to LBSs.

You won't notice any difference between Ultegra and Tiagra. Maybe after 6 years.

fwiw, i noticed a difference going from campy veloce to centaur.. isn't that about the same jump?

anyway sorry to hear about your old bike! at least it wasn't a catastrophic failure..

I can tell a difference between my Ultegra and Tiagra bikes. The Tiagra seems a little less smooth in the way the shifter action feels, and the brifters are larger and less rounded. I wouldn't say it's a few hundred dollars' worth of difference on its own, but in my opinion, the difference is apparent.

I haven't tried Dura-Ace, but my gut tells me the difference between that and ultegra is probably less apparent.

I work on a lot of different bikes and other than the way the brifters feel due to shape, in my experience, Tiagra can shift just as crisply as my Dura-Ace groups. This is just shade-tree bike wrenching though. I'll bet new Tiagra feels better than Dura-Ace with year-old cables.

Don't get me wrong, I love my DA, but it's really just bling and grams. There are subtle engineering differences, but they're very subtle in feel too.

Maybe I'm just less sensitive to it due to the distractions of my screaming quad pain.

I really wonder what frame are they going to replace it with. It looks like RMB stopped making traditional geometry frames for 2008. Their alu frames are all compact with similar geometry to the Allez or so it seems.

Considering the size of the frame and the seat tube, have u ever considered to buy a Basket ball??

since we are talking about frame malfunctions...what do you think about this lil' ding? safe to ride?
http://i18.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/05/7c/64b8_1.JPG

it'll live and you'll live too

+1. My old frame had one of those after a crash. Cannondale cleared it, as did two of their stores.

No big deal. Just look it over every now and then to make sure it's not cracking.

Just got my new bike, my LBS was 3-4 days late in contacting RMB. I think I like the new color better than the old one.
http://pages.infinit.net/decadent/rmb/rmb_solo30.JPG

Did they send a complete new bike or did they (or the LBS or you) have to transfer all the components over?

Ooh I really like the gray color... very nice!

And pssh, ultegra is nice bling, but it doesn't change how your ride feels- as nice as ultegra is, if you're comfy on that bike, nothing else will change your mind.

I prefer the grey colour, too. Did they upgrade the bike to a Solo 30, or is that just the new frame with your old components moved over?

Nice to see they replaced it so quickly, anyway.

Then again some people can tell an audible difference between speaker wires on stereo systems;)

RMB sent just the frame to my LBS which transferred all the components over.
I'm not kidding you, the LBS manager contacted RMB Wednesday or Thursday of last week and I got the bike this morning. I'm very happy with both my LBS and RMB. Awesome service!

The frame is a 2006 Solo 30, it's the same frame as my old 2006 Solo 10. The Solo 30 were sold with 105/Ultegra and my Solo 10 is Tiagra/105.

Everything depends on the sensitivity and needs of the user. Under normal conditions I can't tell much difference between the different levels of components. I have Tiagra and DA. If I really start cranking through the gears hard for a while I notice the DA is a bit better. In looking at the gear, I suspect the DA will last much longer. I sure wouldn't buy DA at the usual price!!!! But I also suspect I'd kill a Tiagra pretty quickly on a hard tour.

The speaker wire thing is hysterical. I worked with a fellow who had really good ears and had worked in speakers for a long time. I needed wires. He said either zip cord or braid up some. So I braided thin wires. Twisted pairs braided. Took an evening. No comparison at all to any of the other wires. I even borrowed some kind of megawire that was supposed to be good. My braided wires made from scrap wire were exceptionally clean sounding. Through excellent speakers under careful listening conditions. Add some background noise, or not quite as good speakers, etc and I couldn't tell. That's about the difference in the Tiagra vs. DA. There, but if you're not sensitive and not looking, you won't know it. I only notice the DA when I'm really demanding everything out of the bike!

As an aside, the whole speaker thing is fascinating. My brother in law showed me lots about speakers. He makes excellent speakers. Out of surplus this and that. Get rid of the box and they're much better. I've got really very good clarity and imaging going on at the moment. I can hear the speakers, but not a box. 14' plywood folded horn subwoofer plus twin tube speakers. 8" concrete casting cardboard with one end plate each, holding good $5 surplus oval car speakers with heavy magnets and horn loaded tweeters. Or something like that. He said "buy" so I did. They beat the pants off my last speakers and cost me $25! Cool stuff.

"claim to"

Before I went back to school high-end audio was one of my hobbies. Gimme a double blind speaker-wire audition and I will prove people with trained ears can tell a difference. In general I prefer a bright sound, so I use Nordost cables to brighten up my relatively neutral Vienna Accustics speakers.

Mac

P.S. Oh yeah, and on the bike topic, I also like the new color better. I assume the 30 is an upgrade from the 10? Was the upgrade free or just a good deal?

Mac