linux_author

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:

https://www.dawescyclesusa.com/

I'm not sure what the British Dawes Cycles folks think of these bikes. They're at:

https://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.

Jamtastic

good review.... good bike for the money then.. cheapest fix ive ever seen.

give us an update later on BB durability and other things

absntr

The KHS Flite 100 is NOT the same frame as this one. While similar, the track ends are neat looking and not montrously large and unwieldy as on the Dawes. The fork is also a flat crown as opposed to a sloped shoulder. The stays also travel towards the rear in a straight line as opposed to the Dawes which look like they make one slight bend and go straight down after the rear brake bridge.

linux_author

- you are correct... i took another close look and the seat tube is also different...

- apologies to KHS fans!

Fisty 'O Toole

I don't think the dropbars are meant to go that way.

Also, I'm glad you went head and made a decision on your own, which may have included searching this forum rather than starting a bunch of threads on "what fixie should I get?" or the like.

norskagent

they even threw in the top tube protector, nice touch.

worker4youth

28 lbs!? That is one heavy fixie...my mountain bike is lighter.

marqueemoon

Looks pretty cool for cheap. Do the decals come off?

Let us know how it holds up once it has some miles on it.

Rikardi151

the msrp on the dawes site says 595... looks like you got a steal

linux_author

- clearcoat spray on top of decals, so no peel action...

:-(

- but then again, for the price i figure if i want an orange bike i can spend the $2.99 for the Krylon?

:-)

marqueemoon

Lame.

I would flip the wheels on Craigslist and buy some IROs

metallo pesante

my friend just got a dawes and he managed to peal the decals off just fine, there was no clear over his.

iamtim

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I just bought one of these; I needed a bike to keep at the office (I just changed jobs and commuting is out now but I don't want to give up weekly rides, so I'm going to keep a bike at the new job for lunchtime riding), and I wanted to go fixed. My wife wanted way budget pricing, thus the Dawes.

Anyway, how has the bike ridden since you got it? Any tips, tricks, or pointers you want to pass along?

linux_author

- i've put nearly 300 miles on the bike so far... a few things i've done/learned:

1. the rear taps on the dropouts are indeed 6mm... Lowes sells black 6mm hexhead bolts, $0.50 each, that work and look good... i put a spare black rack on the back...

2. once trued, the wheels stay trued... i'm a heavy rider and have gone through my share of bumps w/this bike - no problems

3. i was indeed able to scrape (and somewhat peel) off decals... i left the top tube and downtube decals on, but they're covered up w/recycle tubing wrapped around the tubes...

4. i took a Park DCW-4 wrench, drilled an extra hole, then bolted it under one of the two black water bottle cages (15mm nuts are in use on the front/rear hubs)

5. rear hub is Quando - mixed reports on the hub, but i don't abuse the bike and have had no problems

6. i did need to tighten one side of the cranks last week - just use an 8mm hex wrench

7. i use big, wide $15 platform peds w/studs - these... i figure the bike is heavy enough, so 590gm pedals don't mean much...

8. for some reason the front wheel whistles... yep, whistling spokes! the whistling has lessened as the bike has gotten dirtier and is now barely noticeable...

- don't know what color you got, but i like the yellow and black scheme... have a friend who thinks it looks pretty good... for some reason my workouts are faster w/this bike ('cause my legs want to do a normal cadence?), and my riding buddy cringes when he sees the bike...

:-)

- it is a heavy bike, but rides smoothly (love the 700x25s on this bike)... the cheap seat is also surprisingly comfortable - more so than a Selle Italia Titanium Gel saddle i have on another ride!

morbot

those crack monkeys love their gold teeth

you must really have to try to be that racist

iamtim

I'll probably be throwing down with some basic track-style pedals and mini toe-clips. Stuff I already have. At some point I'll throw some SPD/SL pedals on it to match my geared roadie, but given my intended use for this bike I'll be fine with the mini toe-clips.

Are you running the fixed side or the freewheel side?



I got the yellow as well. The silver just didn't appeal to me as much.



Is that mostly from the frame, wheels, or other components? While I just totally tapped out any rights to further bike spending for a while, I plan on riding this for quite some time and will be looking at happy new parts sometime down the line. Probably when the stock parts take a digger.

12XU

Bikesdirect.com doesn't have a warranty policy because they're a clearinghouse for faceless Chinese rebrands. A quick e-mail to either the "companies" or bikesdirect.com will confirm this.

iamtim

So?

linux_author

- i use freewheel side (which is default setup out of the box, btw)

- wheels are heavy, so lighter wheels would give you a (somewhat) lighter bike... honestly, i have not weighed the wheels or frame separately... but considering the bike's cost and purpose, weight really doesn't matter to me - nor does any warranty...

iamtim

Yeah, I'm certainly no weight-weenie either. I just needed an inexpensive fixie to stash at my new workplace. Nor does warranty matter much either -- this is just my entry into the fixie world, and as a die-hard tinkerer I'll just replace parts with better as they break.

Thanks for the info, linux_author.

-=(8)=-

Great review. Thanks !

It looks almost like my Mercier but mine didnt survive
the shipping as well as yours

I dont know why people give these cheepo's a bad rap.
For 300.00 you get a good, rideable entry into Fixie-dom.
I also think 'serious' bike companies should be glad about the
proliferation of the sprtymama / BD stuff.... People who want to try
fixed arent going to jump into a 600.oo bike on the chance they hate
riding fixed. There are a lot of people (me included) who get addicted
quickly and start thinking Soma / IRO / Milwaukee, etc, etc soon after
the e-bay cheepo. I think the cheepos actually lead to more people
supporting the 'good' companies, eventually.

operator

You might want to watch the promax pads. The default pads scratched the crap out of my rims.

killsurfcity

lame dude. lame.

morbot

what, im just supposed to let that slide?

12XU

You guys must have better paying jobs than I if you throw down close to 300 bucks and don't worry about expecting more than a week out of your purchase.