washer62

"stupid customers", "ridiculousness". A welcoming bunch you guys are...
Am I to worship the all-knowing bike gods? Sounds like a bunch of children.
Thanks for the laughs, boys.

steve-in-kville 

You're 15" taller than I am!! What size frame you ride?

veganbikes

No a child gets bikes from Wal-Mart. then has an issue with wheels that aren't really an issue and returns it.

The Thruster is basically painted toliet pipes with the cheapest wheels they could get away with on it. It was not designed as a durable bike for clydes or even for regular folk, it really wasn't designed more than plopped out and kludged together by someone who could care less about anything but making a small pittance per bike.

Your argument against 700c wheels is absolutely crazy and seemingly based in Wally-Mart bikes not in actual properly built wheels. My touring bike fully loaded is way heavier than you and it rolls on 700c rims and tires and my last tour was almost 100% off road and I had zero issues with the wheels or sizing.

seau grateau

Funny how people who act like children are the quickest to say other people are acting like children.

SquidPuppet

I know you are, but what am I?

veganbikes

Your mother is a child!

Midawi

It's been a few years since logging on here, so I figure it is time for an update.

I just broke 2,000 miles on my Thruster.

Here is a list of original parts still going strong:
frame
wheelset (had to replace bearings in one wheel & repack both with grease once - I haven't always been good about maintenance after riding in rain. I also trued the wheels myself once, which seems to be holding up surprisingly well)
Brakes (honestly I thought the brakes would have been the first to go, but they still work, & well at that).

Here is a list of parts I have changed by choice/preference (btw, these are mostly things people upgrade to their preference at any level of bike purchase)
Tires & tubes
Pedals
Seat & post
Added bar ends
brake pads

Here is a list of things that I changed to avoid additional maintainance:
Bottom bracket & crankset (I probably could have cleaned & repacked the BB with grease but I didn't like hitting the cranks with a hammer to get them off every time. Instead, I went with a shimano sealed bb and a crankset that can be removed with a crank puller for about $30 bucks total. The crankset, & needing a hammer to remove it, was by far my biggest complaint about the Thruster).
Added an aluminum spacer to improve the chain line.

Here is a list of things that actually began to fail while riding:
The bearings in one wheel started to grind the last 20 miles or so of a ~60 mile ride. (This may have been my fault for not repacking the bearings with grease after one ride in very heavy rain. I made it home without damage to the wheelset, & only had to put up with the sound of grinding metal).

I'm posting this for the sake of anyone that might benefit from this information.

Sorry to those who had hoped for this thread to be dead already... dead as a doornail.

supermansam1

I've only had to change up my right crank arm a few times but I think that's because I'm a ******.. but I'm working on it!

hairnet

supermansam1

I said basically that I think that my left crank arm keeps going out because I weigh a lot I don't think that the bike is "cheap", its because when I get up to push on a hill, on that aluminum crank arm, it gets more worn up since it is a road (flat street) bike. I then said who am I kidding? I'm a F A T A S S lol

Bat56

Colnago Mixte

D. N. F. T. T.

supermansam1

Do you actually see damage on the spindle? I mean the damage I see is mostly from the arm where the square turns bigger and gets looser (which causes the arm to eventually wobble off). How would I know if my spindle is damaged?

JohnDThompson 

The spindle is hardened steel, while the crank arm is soft aluminum. Thus, it is highly unlikely that the arm can damage the spindle. If the spindle were damaged, you would see gouges or other damage on the flats of the square taper where the arm mounts.

supermansam1

I thought I read something like that. Why do they do that? Why do they make the arm aluminum and the rest steel?

Broctoon

The spindle needs to be hard because it rides against the bearings, and it also has to withstand the stress of bolts threaded into it very tightly. The arms can be aluminum for lighter weight.

Caliper

Quality aluminum crank arms hold up to pro cyclists pounding on them. Especially track racers have quads that look like they came off a bodybuilder. I doubt you are making more force on the pedals than they do.

Either the aluminum on the Thruster crankarm is soft, leading to it deforming under a load that a higher quality part would withstand, or it's not being torqued correctly, which leads to motion at the taper interface and working the aluminum side loose. When you install the crank arm, do you use a torque wrench, or just good'n'tight?

hardboiled718

The thruster is definitely not using quality aluminum on those cranks, more like recycled beer cans. Sitting around scratching your head of what's wrong with the thruster is a waste of time and money tbh, if you ride regularly it's worth investing in a better bike then dealing with the same problem over and over.

supermansam1

I do the goodntight but now that I know I should be using a torque wrench. I've gone though about 2 crankarms from Amazon, it has to be like you mention regarding the quality of the arm (but probably both in my case) Thanks for the information and advice.

supermansam1

I am at this point now in my life. I am looking at Trek FX1 series to get me started. This would be my first real "legit" cycling hobby bike. Any first time suggestions? What did you get when you first started?

supermansam1

Thanks for answering my question.

veganbikes

My first time suggestions are too spend money on a quality bike and if your budget is below 600 you might consider raising it. You will be much happier with a bike that costs a little more because generally it will have better components and sometimes better frame materials or at least a better fork (like carbon fiber or higher quality cromoly steel). The less you spend the more pay later on fixing the bike and dealing with shifting issues and braking issues and having to replace parts and generally the less happy you are with the bike. Test ride a bunch of bikes including some out of your budget and really take them out for a little bit don't just ride for a minute and say "bike is fine" because you won't really get much in that short period but also know that a short time on a new saddle or looking at a saddle will tell you absolutely nothing about it other than it is a saddle. Don't just buy a Trek because that is the brand you know, same with anything else, make sure you test ride it and talk with the salespeople and get a good sense of the bike.

mouse

hairnet

Not a bad choice. My brother bought one when I went to a shop with him and it seems to roll nicely. I've pretty much always rode used bikes because there's a lot of good stuff out there for the picking.

TejanoTrackie