Sorry...missed this one. We've ridden into/near the city quite a bit. It's a good ride but you have to plan your route well because Google maps will put you on some really sketchy roads. Coming up in the Spring or Summer is your best bet.

Yeah, google maps pretty much sucks for getting directions by bike. I was gonna try and do it on a warm day if I could in the next months or so. Are you guys gonna have an open house party or something as well when the weather gets nice?

We plan on having some sort of little get together once it warms up that will most likely involve a ride, a grill, lots of food and lots of beer.

I like your helpfulness here. Sarcasm included. So I thought instead of creating 50 threads or randomly asking odd questions in my other thread I thought I would ask you here. BTW I like how you promote RET by helping people to get face time. You are willing to help before getting customers in return. Good ****.

In another thread I had been pushing the issue of the Leader 735 / 725 etc. What is the main difference between those two? I'm likely going to be de-badging the Leader regardless of what one I get.

Also have you had any opinion on the Dodici Polo 2012? Do you guys have any in stock that have been built etc? I really like the style of that frame (a little above the 735), but am not sure if the price difference is worth the upgrade. Your opinion would be appreciated on both bike sex appeal as well as quality / ride-ability.

Past that I'm going to be looking into building a bike with you guys from scratch and I noticed I can order parts through your company as well. Are you pretty competitive with the parts you don't normally stock compared to other vendors?

Oh and this bike will be mostly for daily city. I know they are track bikes, but I really like the style. Stupid I know. As for that Aerospokes seem nice to mee as well, stupid in your opinion?

**Edit Just saw the 2012 polo is 6061 aluminum mixed that up.

722 Heritage Edition looks pretty nice too. I really like the cut in or curved seat tubes. Just seems so sexy.

The Heritage Edition is a cool frame but I'm not really too into seeing a seat tube cutout on a steel frame.

The difference between the 725 and the 735 is the size of the tubes. That's it. In my opinion, the 725 is better looking. I've never seen the Dodici Polo, so I don't really have an opinion on it.

There's a dedicated Retrogression thread in the marketplace. Please keep any questions about products and whatnot posted there, as this isn't the place for discussing such things. Thanks.

Ah np. I'll make sure to post stuff over there in regards to ordering with you guys. I kinda felt the same way about the 22, it seemed a little too thin. Just wish I could fine some more pictures of the polo. It looks really nice, but I am having a hard time envisioning it as a complete bike. I did see one or two completes, but that was it.

Scrod the weather for the past 2 months here has been rainy as **** and today I went to inspect my bike and found that my chain (kmc 710sl) have some points of rust and my crank bolt (the one that connects to the BB) have some points too. Should I be worried? The chain is 8 months old.

Can you give me some pointers on how to prevent this and how to clean it?

Rust happens. I've had chainring bolts develop a bit of surface rust after one ride in the rain. If you're really hell-bent on keeping this from happening, you'll need to wipe your bike down really thoroughly after wet weather riding. To keep nuts and bolts from rusting, use a rag or Q-tip and some WD40 to give that stuff a quick wipe. WD40 will clean away surface rust and help prevent more from happening.

Keep your chain clean and lubed with a good wet lube - stay away from wax lube - and you should be all set.

thanks for the pointers Scrod!

The other question is, does the surface rust on the chain and bolt affects the longevity of the parts? If it doesn't I won't put too much effort into it since this is my beater commuter bike :)

Surface rust doesn't matter much, it's when you see the rust going deeper and actually eating away the metal that you should worry a little.

Scrod,

What other languages do you speak--or want to speak--besides English?

what inspired the growth of dreads ?

None.

At first, I never really thought about why. I was a punk rock kid who just stopped brushing my hair and they happened. My first batch of dreads grew down nearly to my waist, then I cut them off (which I regretted almost immediately). It wasn't until I suddenly had short hair again when I realized that having dreads inadvertently sums up a lot of my personality and personal politics - in that I honestly don't care what people think of me, I don't adhere to what society tells me I'm "supposed" to do and I don't like being forced to spend my money on things I don't actually need. The amount of money people spend on even the most common hair care products is insane. No thanks. The dreads quickly grew back.

To me, having dreads is like giving a giant middle finger to the way the world works without being obnoxious or overly offensive - which the punk rock kid still living inside me finds very satisfying. I'm admittedly a pretty weird guy who thinks weird thoughts and really don't like a lot of stuff about the world. Instead of being a negative ***hole all the time, I find my own personal rebellions and revel in them quietly. It's not so much a need to be "different" but rather a desire to not be the same (which are two entirely different mindsets).

I find it oddly humorous that most of the people who give me dirty looks in the grocery store or wherever have absolutely no right to be looking down their nose at anyone. For example, I was leaving the post office the other day when this fat, trash heap of a woman with a cigarette hanging from her lip yelled "Hey! Wash your hair!" from a parked car. Instead of getting mad, it literally made me smile. It's almost like I know some sort of secret. ;)

too good

thanks for that, we approach the world around us in very similar ways, though i do not have dreads. i know exactly what you mean, not being the same, i try to pass that on to my children by example. have a groovy day

I'm swapping my Omnium chainring to an FSA track chainring and need some good single-speed chainring bolts since the Omnium ones are too thick. Any suggestions? Sugino makes some knurled ones...does that really make a difference?

I used the stock Omnium bolts with an FSA chainring. No problems.

i swapped out my Velo Orange Left Bank bars with my Nitto riser bars on my single speed. the lever clamps were perfect for the VO but just a tiiiiny bit (they'll hold in place but I can slide them around with a small amount of force) too wide for my nitto. any suggestions for something to use as a shim to tighten them down more?

If you had the tools, you could probably butcher and cut a set of regular bar shims and use that.

/notscrod

I kinda did that with my gfs bars (charge urban riser) but they're too thick here.

and I no longer have the tools :P

Any lbs should have a ton of little hard rubber shims that typically come with reflectors. A small piece beneath the front half of the clamp should work perfectly. Angie has her lever shimmed like that without any trouble.

If the shim will be too thick, a wrap or two of cloth electrical tape should do it.

Scrod,

I just drove by a LBS that opened recently that looks like they focus on MTB, rock climbing, super outdoorsy stuff. I looked on their website and it says they're hiring and I'd love to get some experience in a bike shop. On their site, it says to send in a resume, but my resume shows a bunch of education, criminal justice and design ****, but nothing regarding bikes or mechanic work. Should I send me a resume with an ambitious seeming cover letter/paragraph thing, or should I just go up there and talk to them?

/highschoolkidquestionat23yearsold

I say go in and talk to them. I would never hire anyone to work at my shop based on a piece of paper and most likely wouldn't want to be employed by one either.

That's what I was thinking, thanks.

pulled off a wheel from a recent purchase that was an ambrosio tubular (Medaille D'Or) rim laced to a technique carbon hub. any idea what that's worth? googling technique stuff is impossible.

No idea.

dear scrod...do you mind a rehash over panaracer pasela tgs?

my rear non-tg pasela just bit the dust so i need replacement. i can not find the thread/s, but if i remember correctly once upon a time you posted that tg paselas you had ran extremely small? which is weird, because my regular 25c paselas run big & there is almost no clearance below my front brake when it is pumped up near max psi.

anyway...nashbar has a 20% off deal thru tonite, makes tg paselas $20/ea but smallest they have is 28c.

a while back you had a premium brew...to your knowledge, do 28c tg really run so small that it could work up front on a maxway lugged frame/fork with a brake?

thanx...

25c Pasela TGs run more like a 23 and 28c measures about 26. The regular Paselas are a different story.

I had 25s on my PB and had plenty of room to spare.