Hiro11

53CM Motobecane Le Champion Ti frame - $1,000
Jagwire Racer cable set - $45
Forte Team alloy seatpost (27.2) - $25
Ultegra 6700 clamp-on FD - $55
Forte Grip-Tec tape - $14

$1,139 total. I managed to destroy my old frame trying to fix it. Expensive little f-up.

dwatson

Stealth 50 while on vacation with the family. Wife made me leave the bike at home.

dbf73

steel? must weigh a ton but a good idea nonetheless

ZippyThePinhead

I have one of those MB Le Champs in the same size (2010). It is a great bike and I'm totally satisfied, but one complaint is regarding the length of the chainstays. I run 700x25C Gatorskins, and there is literally 2-3mm of clearance between the tire and the seat tube/FD clamp when the tires are new. I'm sure there are other 700x25C tires which I could not fit. In addition, mine came assembled with almost no grease on the threads of the BB cups (FSA Mega-Exo). I had to disassemble and reassemble with some Ti-prep. Thankfully there was a creak from the crank which turned out to be caused by the ungreased BB threads, or it would have been difficult to change the BB later, and I wouldn't have known until it was too late.

Notgrownup

Origin 8 alloy bar ends

no_safe_HAVEN

Early 80s 531 frame in a sweet gunmetal patina. No heritage = resto-mod time!! Gonna build it into sub 17lb steel ride.

OH AND IT WAS FREE!!!

rekmeyata

I would not use bare steel irons on aluminum rims because the steel irons are harder then the aluminum and you could tear up a rim. However Soma makes what's called a steel core tire iron, these irons have a steel iron covered in plastic, their not heavy and they work really good.

PatrickGSR94

Some cheap wrap-around sunglasses for daytime riding, as my usual Oakley A-wires don't provide enough coverage and protection to keep junk out of my eyes. $20 from Target. Didn't realize at first that they're polarized, interesting sensation looking through them. My iPhone screen looks kinda weird when viewing it with these glasses.

PatrickGSR94

Oh and also a Sweat Gutr



and a stem riser for my wife's bike, which has polished everything around the headset/stem/bar area:

Elduderino2412

I tried the Gutr and i didn't like it for numerous reasons. It might work OK for you. I also bought a Halo band and it was to thick. Bondi bands work perfect for me, in case the Gutr doesnt work for you either.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I didn't really like the idea of material under my helmet when it's super hot, but I gotta have something on my hour+ commute each way. Sometimes I've had to stop once or even twice mid-commute, remove my helmet, and wipe my face and eyes because my eyes were burning so bad. Damn my eyes are watering just thinking about it lol.

Hiro11

My prior frame also has 405MM chainstays so I know of what you speak. I typically use 23MM tires, so I'm hoping there will be no issues.

Also, I'm assembling the bike myself and will ensure that I grease those threads.

caloso

I am curious about this. I have the Halo and agree that it's pretty thick; it just barely fits under my helmet with the adjustment knob to the max. What did you not like about the Gutr band?

Elduderino2412

Gutr negatives for me:
*cycling you arent completely vertical like running so the "gutter"spills over sometimes
*had to sit to low on my forehead to compensate for my helmet, and annoyed me
*plastic band kind of pulled my hair a little in the back
*really didn't like the feel of all the sweat dripping down the side of my face

The first two i listed were the deal killers for me

alexaschwanden

I went to REI and exchanged a used pair cycling shorts (17,500 miles in 2 years) for another exact pair. I was blown a way that you can do that.

SpeshulEd 

I heard Performance will do that too. I have a pair of xxl bibs that I got when I started but have lost so much weight I swim in them now - I'm tempted to take them back and see if they will give me an xl or even a L.

Nerull

REI will exchange anything for any stupid reason you can come up with. Browse through their garage sale items sometime. I think the best I've seen is a button up tee returned after 7 years when it lost a button.

tyeh26

They recently changed their return policy:

https://www.rei.com/help/return-policy.html

https://consumerist.com/2013/06/04/re...r-of-purchase/


Hopefully it'll reduce abuse of the system.

deepakvrao

Shocked with how people abuse the system. The rest of the 'honest' customers pay.

JimF22003

I'm sort of blown away that you would do that...

znomit

Sram two speed automatix hub.

Dudelsack 

Elduderino2412

That was a new one to me. I had to look it up. Pretty cool for a city commuter.

Ricanfred

That is great! It will definitely reduce people that abuse their now old return policy. To be honest though, I will miss those sales they did of used stuff as I'm assuming less items will get returned. Great deals could be found if you had the time to look.

rekmeyata

I thought the REI warranty did not apply to normal wear and tear?