Are the LHTcomplete bikes shipping yet?
 

I thought I saw a thread where a guy had ordered one and was promised a ship date (from QBP) of 4 April.

Anyone know if these are shipping, and if so, best price available on one?

Thanks for any tips.

And for those who are going to write "support your local shop" I called them Monday, special order guy wasn't available, left detailed message and still haven't gotten a call back.

Poor customer service = no order.

Received email from Jenson USA they are in stock, at least the size I requested.

i got mine from a lbs. i'll get it next week hopefully, if not the week.

That's what I heard, qbp should have been shipping 4 Apr, but I haven't called back to verify. 5 biz days in transit plus 1 day to assemble.

I work for Performance in Illinois, and we received 2 today that were special ordered. Heckuva bike for under a grand.

My shop told me that QBP said they'd have them by mid next week...I'm hoping I can get it by my birthday next Saturday.

Psssst....my shop is giving it to me for $750.

So theoretically those who placed orders already should be getting emails from QBP, yes?

Got a call from the LBS today:

I should have my LHT complete on Thursday.

YAY

I PICKED MINE UP TODAY!


w0000t!


The bike (or, as it shall henceforth be called, "The Pork Chop Express", is beautiful and rides like a dream. Didn't get much of a chance for a road test today, though, some bad-looking thunderstorms were blowing in.

Pictures coming!

excellent name, I wish I'd thought of that for my bike, ...son of a b#itch must pay...congrats and do post pictures, I'm thinking of getting one for my wife so we can tour together..

Gah! I still need to wait a few days for mine... Friday if not next week. Patience, son, patience.

I like the paint much better in person. I thought it looked like it might be some sort of bright blue, but it's actually very understated. The (apparently colorblind) mechanic told someone to go get "the gray bike" for me.

'gray' I could live with, but I really like that red color, which isn't a choice. I'm hoping to get mine next Tuesday. I mean, I'm hoping to get it like tomorrow but Wednesday or Thursday next week is apparently a conservative estimate.

Is it enormously heavy? Or reasonable?

We actually just put it on the scale when I stopped back in the shop today.

My 60cm was around 27 or 28lbs (the scale wasn't super accurate), and the only non-stock items are Crank Brothers Quattros and Freddy Fenders.

Now that I've got about 20 miles on it, I'm going to say that I love the way it rides. Very stable, the cockpit feels nice, ergonomics of the brake hoods are pretty good....I don't care for the saddle, but my first Brooks is on the way.

It's also the best shifting bike I've ever owned. I've got a Giant TCR with the Ultegra 10 speed stuff on it and a double up front, and it has NEVER shifted as well as this bike does--bet it has a lot to do with the ability to trim the front derailleur.

I was starting to think I might not like it after all this morning when I was riding to work, but it just felt really slow and heavy because I was riding into a strong (and cold) headwind. Once I got out of that, and stopped trying to ride it like a race bike, I started to like the way it rode more and more.

Here's a neat feature: It even comes with two extra spokes. They didn't include any reflectors for me to take off, though. (my collection of blinkies is famous around here--my favorite comment was when someone told me that the back of my bike was hurting his kids' eyes while he drove behind)

there is nothing quite like children in pain

I e-mailed my LBS yesterday, April 12th. I was looking for a LHT complete in the 62 cm size. He didn't have one. The distributor didn't have one, and no word of when one might be expected. :(

The LBS did take my name, and would put the 62 cm on his "watch list". :)

Speedo

My 62cm LHT arrived at the LBS this morning; should be assembled within a couple of days.

I have seen it in the box though, and the blue is MUCH nicer than it looks on the web site. Kind of an understated grayish blue, maybe a touch of green in there.

Planned build so far:
LHT Complete
JandD Expedition Rack (rear)
Schwalbe Marathon tires, 700x40c (I'm not exactly light)
Brooks Champion Special saddle (picked up from aebike when they had it for $50 as their special of the day)

TBD:
Bottle cages - whatever's cheap and on the shelf
Fenders - LBS stocks a bunch of Planet Bike ones, QBP was out of the SKS ones I originally wanted. Will probably use whatever is in stock and fits

The big thing I've been trying to figure out is pedals. On the current ride (37lb mountain bike), I've just been using rat trap type pedals (platform, no clips or straps - cheap metal mtb pedals). They're okay, but a bit too narrow. I'm trying to decide between:

- BMX type platforms (big, wide, good grip with whatever shoes, cheap or expensive - LBS has $20 sets up through Speedplay Drilllium)
- SPD 1-side clipless 1-side platform pedals (Shimano PD-M324 - LBS suggestion)
- Going all-SPD (PD-M520 or similar)
- Some other clipless system? (Eggbeaters?)

I'm 6'4" tall, 255lb (down from 280!), and fairly rough on equipment, so I don't want any delicate boutique pedals that will break (and, within reason, don't care what they weigh - they're going on an LHT, not a 15lb carbon fiber bike).

Thoughts/suggestions/experiences? What pedals are people putting on their LHTs?

You just had to rub that in didn't you!

I'm 6'4" ~200 lbs. I'll be interested to hear how you like it when you've had a chance to ride a bit.

I put Speedplay Frogs on just about everything. They're easy in/out, walkable, lots of rotation so your knees stay happy.

Speedo

I like Time ATACs. I've been using a set on my MTB for years (that I got used from someone who got them used), that have been used by people from probably 220lbs to 400lbs, and they've held up perfectly.

On the LHT I got the Eggbeater Quattros, and I like them so far--I can tell you my full findings in a month or two.

Main motivation for the change was that I want to be able to run the same cleats on all my shoes, and Crank Brothers make cleats for road shoes and Time doesn't.

So I'll be able to run any shoe with any pedal once I get them all changed over.

I use the 324s and love them. Excellent choice. On the other hand, given your size you may have gigantic feet (Congrats on the weight loss, BTW!). If you have huge feet, I'd recommend going for a large platform pedal. You can wear stiff cycling shoes on them, but you'll appreciate spreading the force out over a larger area. My buddy with size 15s can't do clipless and loves the big platforms. YMMV.

And another thing...pictures! We need pictures of the stock LHTs!

I'm 5-10.
Would've taken picture of my 54cm complete, but camera is out of batteries.
Got about 10 miles on today, after getting it, and I'm very happy with it.
Shifts and brakes real well but needs a little tuning.
I was quite disappointed to find that there was no fine tuning capabilities for both brakes, but it won't matter much.
Wheel didn't come altogether true, but I can fix that with some time on a stand. No big deal.
So far, I've swapped in my B17, got Jandd Expedition and Axiom Kootenays on the rear, and everything works great. I tried to put Jandd Extreme on the front, but the fork was too narrow and I'll need spacers and longer bolts to get it done, don't anticipate a problem there.
I got SPDs on mine and put double headlights and double rear lights.
No other changes, besides the saddle, and the stock saddle is pure crap btw.
On the 54, there is so much room between the seat tube and the tire that another bottle cage can go in even with fenders... might do that.

Oh and the frame doesn't come rust treated on the inside... gotta do that at some point.

Question for the experienced folks out there.... is it alright to "cover up" the holes in the frame those put in for welding with grease? That would stop water from going in wouldn't it?
Thanks
Tzuo

I do have fairly large feet - size 13EE US. Right now my favorite 'stiff cycling shoes' are New Balance 964s (very stiff soled walking shoes), which do fairly well with platforms.

I've also been searching back through old threads on clipless vs platforms on BF - and come to the conclusion that my best bet is to put a really nice set of platforms on the bike and ignore the issue (maybe even those Speedplay Drilliums - my knuckles hate pedal wrenches, so a grease port for lubrication is a big plus)

Right now, it's in a box - I'll post a picture once it's built.

Those holes exist so that any moisture inside the frame can evaporate. You'd be preventing that. Better to leave them as they are.

Speedo