windsor hour
 

so i ordered a windsor hour from bd and its coming in the mail tomorrow according to the tracking. this will be my first fixed gear bike and i kind of bought it without looking into the reviews much. I've been browsing these forums for the past couple days and there's a good amount of posts about people getting the kilo TT. I was gonna get the kilo, but because the windsor bike was 80 bucks cheaper i decided to save the money. was that a bad idea? i read somewhere online that the two bikes are essentially the same, but half the threads here say that bd bikes are crap and the other half says they're alright when you take into account that they're cheap. so I really don't know what to think about this bike, but I'm worried i just sank 280 on a bike I should have saved for a better one.

If you haven't noticed, about 50-60% of this forum rides BD bikes. Thats gotta say something about them.

The hour is a decent beginners bike.... although I've heard the components are prone to crap out in a relatively short time or received that way from BD....
I had a beginner friend receive his hour with stripped out pedal threads on a crank.


Kilo TT's.... :rolleyes:

I was referring to the mix of Kilo, Hour, Messengers, etc. :rolleyes:

You should just enjoy the bike when it gets there, don't worry about other bikes, just have fun on it.

Exactly. Receive bike, build bike, ride bike, replace parts as needed. Thats what 90% of us here do.

I bought an Hour from bikesdirect several months ago too, also having no experience with fixies and being new to biking. I wish I would have discovered this forum first, and in retrospect based on everything I have learned in a short time, I think it would have been better to splurge the extra cash for better components and gone with a Kilo or even an IRO. However, my Hour hasn't given me any problems so far, and I ride it every day. The horror stories scare me too, but as far as I am concerned, if you maintain it properly, you minimize errors. However, just ride the hell out of the bike and have fun. That is what biking is all about anyway!

the frame is decent, don't worry about it. The only things that are going to suck so much ass out of the box that they need to be replaced immediately are the pedals and the saddle.

Its been said thousands of times, but just make sure everything is tightened and lubed...

tighten, lube and have fun. sounds like good advice, hahaha. I guess I'll just keep looking out the window every time I hear a truck til it finally arrives.

also, lol at arrest development names :p

Please, please tighten your cog and lockring. Or else you'll strip your hub and you'll end up investing another $100~150.

is there an alternative to a chain whip to tighten the cog?

You can rotafix it but I wouldn't recommend it.

You don't need a chainwhip to tighten the cog, only to remove it. When you first get the and bike assemble it, place the front wheel against a solid object like a brick wall and stand on the forward pedal. This will tighten the cog better than any chainwhip ever could. Next, remove the rear wheel and tighten the lockring using a lockring tool. The lockring has left hand threads so it tightens counter-clockwise. Reinstall the rear wheel and adjust the chain so it has a very slight bit of slack at its tightest position.

Let me caution you that the bike will arrive with the wheels out of true and the hub bearings set too tight. You need cone (thin) wrenches to adjust the hub bearings. Also, the cranks need to be tightened to about 33 ft-lbs, which cannot be done with a small hex (allen) wrench. So, if you don't want the bike to fall apart on you in short order, and don't have the proper tools or knowledge, then I'd recommend paying your lbs to do this for you.

Finally, if you do take it to the lbs, have them switch the brake caliper from the rear to the front. They will use a longer mounting bolt to adapt the caliper to the fork.

I just bought a Motobecane Messenger, which is very similar to the Windsor Hour, and with the exception of the pedals, the frame and components are decent quality and you shouldn't have any problems with yours, provided you adjust and tighten things properly. Finally keep your chain clean and lubed.

Lockring tool, and a chainwhip is a must if you are getting a fg. Yeah, its another $20~$40 but its better than f***ing up your hub which will cost you 3, 4 times the cost of a chainwhip/lockring tool.

Does the type of lockring matter? I am throwing another fixed cog onto my fixed/fixed hub, and was wondering if a 3$ lockring will suffice?

I wouldn't cheap out on a cog or lockring if you would want to keep it for a long time.

Lockring matters a lot, especially if you're going to skid or skip stop a lot. You could strip your hub if your lockring is loose, I wouldn't depend on a $3 lockring. You should get a Dura Ace lockring, they are kind of cheap too.
http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...f8a745a918b9b0

Yeah, I went with a Surley cog. Was just wondering if I should spring on a decent lockring, and I guess that makes sense. Thanks

+1

Or you could test out this one because I'm curious about how it holds up :)
http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...roducts_id=683

Haha me too, I was going to offer that one but I have not used it before.

Bad lockrings are your worst enemy.

Seriously man, if you want to make sure your bike lasts, replace cog, lockring right away with the proper tools. + they'll come handy in future. its a good investment.

Dura Ace lockring; done.

you can even keep the original cog; remember to tighten it first tho.