Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Road and The Damned

Hola, amigos and anonymouses. Been a long time. But I gave Monday to MLK (and roughly 12 hours of NBA basketball) and yesterday to Obama (although I could have done without pretty much everything after his speech. I'm still having trouble believing that Nick freaking Cannon DJed the "Neighborhood Ball." Maybe we're not out of the woods yet.)

Appreciate all the commentary (both good and bad) on Project: Complete. Right now I'm leaning heavily towards the FBM Marauder BL. Basically, I want a complete that's similar to what I'm riding now—brakeless, four pegs, decent standover, black—so I can run it straight out of the box. And the 20.5" frame shouldn't bother me much—I had an old 20.5" Stricker a while back, and other than it's being a tank, I liked it a lot. The only other bike still in the running is the Fit STR-3, but from what I can tell I think the FBM's a little bit taller. As for the other contenders, well:

KINK LIBERTY — Pretty much the same as the Marauder, and when it comes down to it I'd rather try the FBM.

GIANT METHOD TEAM — The original idea was to just get a Giant and make it my main bike. Ride a BMX bike from the biggest manufacturer in the world (it shouldn't make a difference, really—BMX geometry isn't guarded like the KFC secret recipe). But the Method Team comes with so many aftermarket parts that it just didn't seem like it would be that interesting to write about. Plus, I'd have to lose the brake and put on four pegs. Too much like work. I still like the idea of riding a Giant, though. Maybe for the next bike after.

STOLEN SINNER — Too many horror stories from too many people. And I don't have health insurance.

VERDE RADIA — A few things appealed. Like, would a mostly high-tensile steel frame hold up? And would the super-low fixed Pivotal seat drive me completely insane? I figure the answer to the second question was "absolutely," so out went that.

WTP ENVY — Too expensive. And again, too many aftermarket parts. It would more or less be a test of the éclat gruppo, and it seems like all that stuff works just fine. I'm not Sean Burns or Chester Blacksmith.

EASTERN... WHATEVER — I'd rather push a Huffy than ride an Eastern.

KHE — I'm not a 12-year-old girl.

HARO/PREMIUM — Didn't really look into it all that much. Ditto for any other company I'm forgetting.

So that's that. I'll take suggestions for the rest of the week, and maybe the beginning of next week, but then I want to buy something and get this thing off the ground. Hopefully it'll get above freezing.

••••••••••

Hey, wow, Verde's forks have built-in bearing races. Like, um, Odyssey's did a year and a half ago.

•••••••••••

I'm saving this for tomorrow.

•••••••••••

30 comments:

Stephen said...

Remember when flatland bikes were heavy and that led to flatlanders that could probably beat your ass to a pulp five times over?

Milkster said...

Without wanting to talk down flatland any, not sure they count as a "serious bike" due to their general unsuitabilty-ness for use as an actual form of transport. Particularly one that short/specialised. Please shoot me.

As for project complete, someone mentioned hoffman, check them out, they used to be pretty ok.

In other news, S&M seem to be missing the Black Bike (my current steed and what I thought was one of the few "proper" frames still being made, oops) AND the LAF from their site now. Sign of the coming apocalypse anyone?

Anonymous said...

You should really support a local shop, Dah Shop has one in stock, I think. They don't have a lot of space, so we stock them here as well, and there are two on hand in the warehouse. Also, do yourself a favor and have the wheels tensioned.

Warranty and customer service is a pretty big part of the complete bike equation. If something shits the bed, it might be good to anonymously go about warrantying it.

I could go on and on for days about this. I get a commission on bikes sold. I can't think of a better reason to buy an FBM than that. I'll buy you dinner/beers next time I'm in the city.

Anonymous said...

^^^^That was me.

Anonymous said...

What the hell?

Anonymous said...

Eastern = Huffy, really now? Are they really that bad?

Russ said...

The way I had it built it was tank-ish.

And all good points JPR.

J Reid said...

off topic,
but Troy McMurray was spotted riding In Parker Colorado.
Looking healthy and still shredding

Anonymous said...

Added ironic bonus, King Kong our Taiwan frame dude also makes folding bikes.

Russ said...

As long as folding FBMs don't happen anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

New shirt:

SPRFLS
"I'd rather push a Huffy than ride an Eastern"

Anonymous said...

Nah, I'm too busy working on men's and women's commuter bikes and some other "gay" stuff.

Anonymous said...

i cannot wait to see what you say about the KHE ti frame.
do they think there being funny or is that serious because if it is... just wow

Unknown said...

ha, that ti khe frame looks like a tierra.

Unknown said...

russ your slipping fly is one of the first even before your beloved odyssey to do the machined race on the forks

Anonymous said...

taiwan is the new america

Anonymous said...

at least that ti khe flat frame is double diamond than some ridiculous pretzel frame.

Anonymous said...

perhaps check out the premium four carat it has a 21" TT. if you dare to ride that outline of a stem that is. no pegs on there though it seems. if the length really is not such an issue to you id go with the local shop and anonymous warranty argument. and the instant pegness of the fbm.
i find TT length does make a huge difference to my back and the general "strechedness" of my body when riding. i do get used to a shorter bike but my body is then abused in different angles and the length makes me feel more great.
i'm 6'1 and sucking hard at riding.

Anonymous said...

i guess if its about posture you could also just tilt your bars forward a little bit...

Anonymous said...

KHE — I'm not a 12-year-old girl.

The post you'd have to write a year after you get it and you still haven't broken anything would be a tough one, I know. And getting ragged on by every rider in sight because you're riding a rolling Pixy Stix sculpture is no fun.

But come on. SCIENCE.

Anonymous said...

Yah, the FBM. It looks 'nice' & it prob comes with a hemp seat.
No steel post though :(

Anonymous said...

Look at the remaining 2-Hip Lino's. Full chromoly frame, fork, bars, four pegs, Animal tires, Sun rims, 6061 powerbite clone cranks....all from one of the most "keeping it real" groups in BMX. Price is down from $600 to $450 at Dan's. Gotta have love for one of the pioneers of street organized events, RonW!! Second choice is the FBM, although the Verde completes sure look nice.

Anonymous said...

Have the Sinner since before Christmas and no complaints here Solid bike, great for the bucks

Anonymous said...

United 09 forks have the built in race as well, about time if you ask me. Putting that thing on is the single most annoying part of putting a bike together.

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine had a ti Ares frame a couple years back, it surprisingly didnt hold up as long as you would expect to.

Anonymous said...

What about the 2-hip completes?




And JPR seems way too salty.

Anonymous said...

bmxfeed is the new sprfls

verification word: reers

Anonymous said...

what horror stories have you heard about the sinner? It looks like it might be my next bike

Anonymous said...

there needs to be an Ells Bells DVD box set released. who's with me on this?!

Anonymous said...

why do you diss on eastern so hard?, you soaund like a 12 year old that reads bmxplus!