I was talking to charlie, you I'm thinking about sniping the one from rochester. Both of them seem like to far of a drive to be worth it.

Oh, welp. Carry on.

At any rate, the more frame builders the better.

Just thinking a couple paychecks ahead here...

Should I buy a black Sugino RD2 armset or the black All-City 612 Messenger crankset?
Each will cost me around $95 shipped, but if I got All-City I'll need to buy a new chainring because it comes with a 140bcd 46T and I'm currently using a 130bcd 44T. Not a huge difference but I would like to keep my ratio where it is.

Skinny version = is the All-City armset worth me spending an extra $40 over the Sugino RD2? (I can sell the All-City 46T chainring and recover some of the $40 cost)

This FSA armset will be replaced...
http://www.velosolo.co.uk/pictures/DSCN3666.JPG

By one of these...
http://images.jensonusa.com/large/cr...__165__144.jpghttp://www.modernbike.com/images/Pro...2126179495.jpg

Did you look at Andel cranks? i think the all city are rebranded andels fwiw

They also have these, which are pretty cheap and look identical to RD2s

http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...oducts_id=6865

Haha I was just informed of that fact by a good samaritan 'round these parts.
Bike Island sells the All-City crankset with 46T (but no bolts) for $95 shipped. I don't mind the branding on there if the price is same.

The good thing about the Sugino RD2 is the 130bcd saves me the trouble of getting a new ring. I just bought a 130bcd 44T All City ring this season that I like a lot. So if I get a 144bcd crank, I'm going to need to also get a 144bcd 44T ring. They cost about $45, but since the All-City set includes a brand new 46T ring... I can sell that and recover the cost of the new 44T ring I'll have to buy.

Hell if I'm lucky, my LBS will trade me a new 44T 144bcd All City ring for my unused 46T. They stock All City parts and are cool guys. I don't see why they wouldn't help me out since I'll be buying the BB from them and paying them to install.

So let's cut to the chase - any significant difference between Andel/All-City and Sugino RD2?
Is one more dependable than the other? Or am I basically just deciding which one looks cooler?
(I just read a review for RD2 at Universal Cycles about a guy who busted his **** real bad when his RD2 arm snapped while climbing)

RD-2's are nothing like the Andels. (130bcd vs 144)

The All-city's are branded Andels.

You won't snap them.

I'm going to an alleycat in Jacksonville this weekend. Should I gear up from 46/17 to 52/18?

I live and ride around Atlanta, which is full of hills. Jacksonville appears flat as a pancake.

what you 'should' do is buy the all city crankset at the LBS and let them worry about whether or not it comes with chainring bolts. you make it sound like they owe you something, and if you're not a customer then they don't. if you go through with your plan all they owe you is the bb and install, i would maybe give you 70% trade in on the used ring(which could be bent in shipping for all you know) and then fell sad when you don't understand that is being very generous.
do you just not want to install your own BB? if that's the case, maybe bikeisland is not the best use of your money.




and Spoon, for alleycats you want acceleration. if you can't spin fast enough on city streets with 46/17 you've no place in racing a fixed gear; get a road bike. do you really feel like you top out all the time when you're on one of the many flat streets of atlanta? if it was a track that would be a different story, but you still need to be able to accelerate out of turns even in a flat city.

I guess I wasn't clear on that.
NOT trying to trade in a used ring. Going to buy a new in box All-City crankset from BikeIsland. AFAIK, it ships with the 46T ring in its own sleeve/packaging (just as if you bought it new). So, I would ask them nicely if they wouldn't mind swapping a new in box 144bcd 46T All-City ring for the exact same thing but in 44T size. Then they can hang the 46T on their rack right where the 44T was and everyone is good. They lost nothing and since I spend a ton of dough with them already, I continue to do so.
Is that still unreasonable of me to ask? (ask, not expect, that's why I said "hell if I'm lucky...")

And why do I not buy the All-City from my LBS?
BikeIsland = $95 shipped
LBS = $125 + 10% sales tax = $137.50
Savings = $42.50

LMK if you need additional explanation.
I support LBS often. Spend money there weekly. But 30% is not something I am going to endure unless no other choice. Not saying they are dishonest, just saying I'm not made of money. I bought my All-City chain ring from them a couple months ago, it was $42 shipped online, I paid $52 ish. Fair enough. But 30% increase is... look, I don't give away money for free.

So far in the past month or two I paid the shop...
$80+ for brakes/pads/cables/labor for wife's bike
$175+ for crankset/bb/adapter/labor for wife's bike
$55 for my All-City chain ring
$36 for KMC 710SL chain
$40 for Surly 16T cog and lockring
$90 for Wellgo bmx pedals and HoldFast straps
have also bought a floor pump, tail light, lube, tubes, bar wrap, sent people there, etc etc etc

Still don't feel they owe me anything, but I feel like since I'm in there often and the guys treat me like a regular who lives a few doors down (because I do), that they may be willing to help me out once in awhile.

It's unreasonable to ask they just take in inventory from a customer as analogue from what they receive from their distributors.

i don't care how much money you spend there, and those prices all seem fair, including the cranks. except for the hold fast straps, those things are stupid.

to reiterate: totally reasonable to ask them to swap out their own product for a different tooth size. totally unreasonable for you to ask them to swap out something you brought in with you. they don't even know if you stole it or not.

and again, if you buy stuff off of bike island you should be either 1: a competent mechanic who can install it or 2: willing to pay 30 dollars more from people that satisfy 1.

there are a lot of things bad shops will do to try and gouge customers. selling an all city crankset for $125 is not one of them. you make it sound like supporting a good shop isn't worth 30 dollars.

I like 46/17 but I've never ridden fixed in such a flat area as Jacksonville looks on the mapping sites I've been looking at. In skimming over the gearing threads I saw recommendations for mid/upper 70s gearing for flat areas so figured I'd ask here.

With my tires 46/17 is 71.4 and 52/18 is 76.2

Seems like a little too big a jump.

I may be able to trade the 52 ring for a 48 or 50 ring at the Co-Op, which would be a smaller step and probably preferable.

:thumb:

what if I show my invoice/packing slip and double pinky swear that it isn't stolen?

just foolin'. fair enough. if it were your shop you'd say "no". noted.
i'm not going to storm in there and demand anything. and i won't get bent out of shape or push back if they say no.
but i am going to ask in a very easy way if that's something they would consider and if no, i can easily sell the ring on CL and buy the one I need and be done with it.

also noted that you believe holdfast straps are stupid. that's very insightful and i cannot thank you enough for taking the time to break that down for me.
also embarrassed that i thought they were cool. i should've known better than to use products that you don't use.

I guess you have it all figured out brother. You heard it here folks, if you find good deals on the web you damn sure better be a professional bike mechanic or else you're stupid.

I didn't say supporting a good shop was not worth $30. Actually I said it was worth approx $500 (for the past 2 months). And I never said they were gouging anyone. I said "I'm not saying they're dishonest" and went on to let you know I'm not wealthy. If I had a fat savings account full of cash I would gladly pay $42.50 more for the exact same part.

$42.50 is bigger than $30. Not sure where you got $30 from, try to keep up.

this thread is lollin

Should I ride around downtown Toronto tomorrow, sightseeing/learning to get around, or should I ride to the "beach" (it's in quotation marks because I'm used to the beach meaning sand and ocean)?

RD-2's are perfectly fine and reliable FWIW.

What's 46/16 in GI? Do that.

Remember how we said to keep your damn cool dude?

Seriously.

cc700 is implying, unless you know how to install the stuff, be prepared to pay extra to have them installed. He didn't say you had to be a pro mechanic, he simply said COMPETENT mechanic.

I've been trying really hard not to get annoyed/irritated with you, but you make it very hard with these outbursts of rage. Serious question: Are you bi-polar, or do you have some sort of anger management problem?

:popcorn

The key to getting free bike work is to have the mechanic at the shop owe you $400 for a bike frame you sold him.

Man, why you bringin' up old ****? ;)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7...go1_r1_500.gif

I don't think you read too good.
I have no problem paying for labor from LBS. That was never a gripe of mine. Maybe you co-fused?
And anyways, who are you his father? He's a big boy and can respond on his own. My guess is he figured I'm not worth the time/effort. And I don't entirely disagree.

And I don't know about my mental status. I don't take meds if that's what your asking. Nor have I ever been diagnosed with any mental illness or condition. Wait, a doctor said I had ADD when I was a kid but my mom disagreed I guess. I do smoke herb. I do drink beer. Those are my only meds aside from the occasional hallucinogen.
I think what you're noticing is that I have different moods. I thought that was common. Plus I'm at work when I'm on here so I can be stressed form time to time. Uncool of me to expect you all to deal with that I guess but oh ****ing well. I was told by someone around here that I should stop apologizing so much. ;)

let it go mannnnnnnn