All,

I wanted to follow-up from previous threads and post a couple of pics of my Dawes SST-AL. I was choosing between this bike and the stripper/Kilo. What won me over was the carbon fork, aluminum frame and slightly more "relaxed" geo.

Special thanks to Mike @ BD, Scrudzilla and others for helping me with all the questions I had.





Here are some details about the bike:
- 52cm
- Everything is stock except: risers, grips and cane creek cross levers.
- Also added Vittoria's 700x28c to them (the ride seems more comfortable)
- I added my toe cages which are not seen in this pic
- converted to single speed (came with freewheel and also came fixed)
- I've also removed the reflectors on the wheels

Question to the group:
- what should I do next / upgrade?
- Any criticism/thoughts on the bike itself?

The bike rides real smooth.

Mike @BD - if you come out with this bike with no decals I will be soooo sad.

If anyone has any questions - don't hesitate to ask. Let me know.

Cheers,
CD

I have been looking in to this bike the last few days. Seems like not many reviews on it. The one thing that people have been saying is that the ride might be stiff due to the aluminum frame. Do you notice that?

I rode other steel frames in the past (lager) - the ride if stiffer is stiffer by just a bit (from what I can tell.)

The ride was stiffer on the original tires that came with the bike - they were 25c's.

The carbon fork if anything seems to absorb shock better. Call me crazy. I live in NYC and ride around the city there as well.

Regards,
CD

Hmm looks like I will be ordering one of these soon unless someone convinces me otherwise.

This bike just doesn't get alot of coverage for some reason.

I think if you go through all the threads, you'll hear many argue that this is arguably one of the best deals on BD, which are deals to begin with.

This bike also comes with a free wheel. Mike at BD is amazing. Ask him questions and he will be patient with you. He was of great help.

Good luck.
CD

is it much lighter than a kilo? i expect it would be, but the numbers i heard have been close.

bike looks good, just a quick question though, after you installed 28s how much room is left to go bigger? I like this frame a little better than the WT but the selling point would be if it would fit up to a 32c tire. I know the previous model with the chromo fork could fit something larger but since the carbon fork upgrade I have no idea.

I've had mine for over a year now. It's been a great bike. I wish BD had offered the CF fork when I purchased mine.

So far, I've:

1. Stripped the clear coat and removed all decals and polished the aluminum frame
2. Swapped out the stock drops (they're crappy) for a Profile T2 bullhorn.
3. Swapped stock wheels/tires for a set of dp18's. I may polish the front wheel in the future. The rear one was a pita to do and i'm not looking forward to doing anymore in the near future.
4. water cage.

Surprisingly, the stock seats are pretty comfortable. I'll replace it when it starts wearing out.

Hey chief - your bike is coming along really nicely. Glad I was able ro help out a bit. As far as other upgrades go, I wouldn't rush right into it. Wait until stuff nweds replacing, do your research and upgrade when necessary. Your wallet (and bike) will thank you in the end.

Hey Rivets, how did you manage to remove the clear coat and the decals? Can you tell me the things you used and your step by step, would love to remove the decals off of my dawes.

I have a Dawes Lighting 1000, which i converted into SS. It weighs a little under 19lbs and i quite like it. The geo is a bit relaxed and handles well during my commute.



The crank i have currently is a origin8 (not pictured). Gear inch of 84 or something like that (46x14).

I removed as many components as possible. Only thing that was left on there were the headset and cranks. I just masked it off with painters tape. I used aircraft stripper in aerosol form like THIS. Sprayed it liberally all over and let it sit for 10 minutes. Used 400 grit sand paper to remove excess clear coat and decals. I had to do this a few times to strip the frame completely. Then, I used 800 grit and wetsanded the frame and finally used Mothers aluminum polish to give it a nice finish.

The DP18 was done using the same process except I used "Eazy Off Oven cleaner" instead of the aircraft stripper.

I may clear coat it in the future but I'm simply too lazy right now.

Scrod - thanks!

Ya, I am holding off until my gear starts to wear out. Thanks for the tip

Now I need to get comfortable cranking up the mileage for a 1/2 century or something like that.

Regards,
CD

Rivets - nice job on removing the decals! Can't really tell, but looks clean from here!

Wow...posting from my phone results in a lot of typos!

where do u get aircraft removeR?

You can always purchase some Jasco at your local hardware supply store.

It is toxic as all get out, but that is alright.

Toe overlap is rather annoying with the stock toe cages. It's actually pretty bad.

Go faster than 5 MPH, dude.

Toe overlap will happen on just about anything that's 52cm. You'll overcome it.

Ya. I figured that much. I was just annoyed. Need to get used to sharp and slow turning with my pedals vertical vs. horizontal.

Will come with time!

Is it bad that I didn't bike to work today because there's a chance of rain?

haha.

Haha...I had the same dilemma this morning 'cause there's a thunderstorm that may or may not roll through right around the time I'll be getting off work. Damn New England weather!

I ended up riding though, you big wuss!

hahahahaha. So true. hahahahaha.

I needed that. thanks Scrod.

I was caught in a random thunder/lightning storm a few months back, and it sucked.

I thought it was just raining really hard, so I thought it was not a big deal. Yeah, no. Lightning struck, then thunder roared immediately, literally shaking everything around me. Car alarms started going off. Worst time to ride home, ever.

Are there good things about living in Portland?

(jokes )

can you measure the bb height/drop for me?