mkeHENRY

Never.

I have shipped two boxes of shoes in one big box that was a little over ten pounds for a little less than $23 Priority and was thinking, "Damn! How much space does handlebars and a crankset take up and damn, it can't weigh that much!" Forgetting you're not just some dude with bike parts at the crib. haha.

I'm just a cheap bastard.
I'll order from you one day man, no doubt.

hamish5178

Dear Carleton,

Mavic Ellipse? Yay or nay? I've pretty much destroyed the rear rim of my Kilo by almost getting hit by a semi/hopping a curb (there wasn't much of a hop, more of a collision) and was thinking of putting my veeps on the Kilo and getting Ellipses for my Mash.

Are they worth the price? Is the chainline thing a big issue (have they fixed that for 2011?). I know you used to have these on your Concept so I figured you'd have some insight.

Also, in my searches I saw someone say one of your bikes was on BSNYC a while ago. Which bike was it?

ps: over two weeks cig free and feeling great! Thanks for the advice.

renton20

Dude, first of all there is shipping to the store. They don't have a guy making nitto bars in the back, laughing at all the money he's making. I mean no disrespect to scrod for building a company from the ground up. That said, he has a market segment that he is focusing on and because of that seems to be able to offer select items at a fairly deep discount. I don't know anything about your LBS, but I can almost guarantee they were not trying to rip you off, they are trying to keep their doors open in a difficult economy. Knowing that scrod has worked in shops for years I would be surprised if he didn't back me up on this. /rant

carleton

Worth the price: Yes
Chainline an issue: No. I have a set of older Ellipse that I use as training wheels. No complaints.

Yeah, back in 2007. My bike is the last one, the white Pista Concept: https://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007...og-titans.html

I later sold it to Prolly.

When I had it:


When Prolly unwrapped it:
https://johnprolly.blogspot.com/2007/...-bike-day.html


11 days later:
https://johnprolly.blogspot.com/2007/...ast-hyphy.html

redpear

Oh man.

jdgesus 

lol score

hamish5178

Damn. That really drives home my dislike of Prolly.

xkillemallx16

prolly's blog is meh. advertising, more of his products with that viking on it, new shoes, and merckx. ****ing merckx.

hamish5178

One more question Carleton:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...T#ht_737wt_890

worth the price? Is this real life?

carleton

I guess those image links don't work in my post above. Just follow the links.

Leukybear 

OMG Wowwww.... there's one right next to me.. size smaller through.
Apparently the value of these have increased and still are. Mines "out of the box" pristine through.

carleton

HAHAHA! No.

For $2500, you can get a lot of modern stuff. That bike really isn't that hot to begin with. You guys gotta beware of coveting things. The pre-boom SSFG crowd was good at coveting and the internet and message boards (this one included) encouraged that behavior. Some other things that were swooned over for no apparent reason:
- Campy Sheriff Star hubs
- Anything with Campagnolo or Cinelli on them
- Anything not drilled for brakes
- Turbo saddles
- Nitto Jaguar Stems
- ANYTHING with NJS on it
- Nitto B123s
- Any "custom" bike...even though it was made custom for someone else haha. So, it does you no good.
- Brooks Saddles
- Anything old.


I saw one of those Cannondales on the street right before people when ape-sh*t over them. I saw it, said to myself, "Humph...nice.", and went on about my conversation. The ONLY reason that bike is at $2,425 right now is the same reason that $80 sneakers used to go for $400...people think that other people want it really bad. So, some guy is gonna buy it to want his internet buddies to think he's the man for having it. I can almost guarantee you that it is NOT a collector buying the bike.



Pro Tip: If the words "Rare" or "Vintage" are anywhere in the ad, you are about to pay a Hipster Tax

Pro Tip: If you have to explain to someone why something you have is awesome...it's not awesome.

JesusBananas

Hurk...!

Scrodzilla

That not only drove it home but also walked it to the door, said "I had a really nice time" and kissed it goodnight.

JesusBananas

But did you really?

Jaytron

Scrodzilla

Just being polite.

JesusBananas

Such a gentleman.

hamish5178

Until prolly finds out the number Scrod gave him is for a local Pizza Hut.

Kayce

Some one's aesthetic ideas are different than mine!

mkeHENRY

What's the difference between the clear and solid (black) bottom bracket on the Sram Omnium crankset?

sillygolem

Also, anything Suntour* simply because it's not Shimano. Superbe Pro components were extremely light at the time, but the derailleurs garnered a reputation for breaking after very little wear. Even relatively low-end modern components are functionally lighter and sturdier than anything Suntour made in the 80's.

Turbo saddles were put back into production for a while, leading to a big fit over "genuine" leather Turbo saddles versus the new ones despite people who've owned both reporting no real -functional- difference. If you -must- buy vintage, look at the seat rails: The new ones are all black.


*Ignoring my recent Alpine Gear parts gathering. Kettle, black, etc. Did I just admit buying a 38t freewheel on SSFG?

dk2ck

Dear Carleton,

I recently decided to change my fit on the bike a bit after reading articles and watching videos online. I decided to lower my bars a bit by removing two small (2mm?) spacers to lower my stem. So far I'm liking the fit, but I've noticed when I ride in the drops of my Nitto Noodles, my knees/thighs get uncomfortable close to my torso. I'm not kneeing myself, but it's a bit close. I'm aware that this might be a sign that my frame is too small, but I have longish legs for my height and a shorter torso, so I decided to size down with a 49 cm Motobecane Track instead of the next size up which was a 52.

So the question is, is this a problem? Or is it fairly normal? I figured you would have some good insight since you ride on the track.

Also, is their a correct "tilt" for drop bars? I've seen some people have the end of the drops parallel to the floor, some have them tilted slightly downwards, others have them tilted toward the rear hub... is it a preference thing? Or does it vary by model?

Thanks for the help.

Jandro 

OMG It burns! THE GOGGLES, THEY DO NOTHING!

carleton

It's normal and it's also a function of your crank arm length. Longer cranks mean your knees come up higher and vice versa. How long are your cranks?

It's whatever your hands like. You can tilt the bars you have or get bars with a different bend. There is a reason why there are so many road bars on the market...different people like different shapes and angles. Go with what feels good.