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From the more money than sense files


Rattlecan

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By analogy, since a Chevy body on a Dodge frame means it has to be registered as a Dodge (at least in MD), he's got an Asian bike no matter how many other parts come from elsewhere!

People sometimes have political or social reasons for avoiding certain things, but often it's a misconception about quality.

I have relatives of avg. incomes who won't buy store brand food, calling it "welfare food," and won't be caught dead in discount stores.

On the other hand, I first learned about all the best low-priced stores in my area from people with well-into 6-figure incomes, from Aldi to Goodwill - where furniture bought cheap and reupholstered stands out in one's living room.

If people see me coming out of a discount store, all I expect they will say to each other is, "See? That's why he has more than a couple pennies to rub together."

 

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1 hour ago, Longjohn said:

Any estimate on how much money he is going to tie up in this upgrade?

I can do more than an estimate, the hard numbers are in. He has already paid me around $3,500 Canadian, and he will be well north of four grand with the parts he is sourcing.

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24 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

I can do more than an estimate, the hard numbers are in. He has already paid me around $3,500 Canadian, and he will be well north of four grand with the parts he is sourcing.

Wow, lots of cash!

If I had a lot of money, I would get a '93 Barracuda A2T and spec it like I did when I modified mine.  Find a Lawill Leader fork, Selle Italia Flight saddle, get some White hubs and build up some wheels on them, and ride that sweeteness around town, and maybe on a smooth trail every now and then.

I would love to recapture that feeling I got when I first got the bike, and when I put the new fork on it.  I would pay a lot to just feel like that for a few minutes.

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36 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

By analogy, since a Chevy body on a Dodge frame means it has to be registered as a Dodge (at least in MD), he's got an Asian bike no matter how many other parts come from elsewhere!

People sometimes have political or social reasons for avoiding certain things, but often it's a misconception about quality.

I have relatives of avg. incomes who won't buy store brand food, calling it "welfare food," and won't be caught dead in discount stores.

On the other hand, I first learned about all the best low-priced stores in my area from people with well-into 6-figure incomes, from Aldi to Goodwill - where furniture bought cheap and reupholstered stands out in one's living room.

If people see me coming out of a discount store, all I expect they will say to each other is, "See? That's why he has more than a couple pennies to rub together."

 

Well, whatever makes the customer happy. The funny thing is, the gentleman is of South Asian heritage himself.

11 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Make him pay in Yen, just for fun.

Or maybe Renminbi.

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  • 3 weeks later...
30 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

It took me a few seconds to realize that the RD was there as a chain tensioner. At least that's what I think it is doing. 

Correct. Sometimes you get lucky and the chain will run at an acceptable tension without a tensioner in vertical dropouts, but no such luck this time.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was finally able to deliver the bike to my client yesterday, and he is thrilled. I made a video primarily for the purpose of showing him the various things I would normally demo in person on delivery of a bike with non standard components. It's long and boring, so you have been forewarned.

 

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On 1/2/2021 at 9:24 AM, Rattlecan said:

The catch. He wants to avoid Asian sourced parts wherever possible, so the dynohub will be a SON instead of the much cheaper SP hubs that I usually sell, the brakes will be Magura, and the chain a Wipperman.

I have thought of getting a SON built up for my front wheel when I get back into commuting. 

I stumbled across this video which had me questioning the SON as he seems to think the light is "weaker" than the Shimano hub (among other things).  For my commute, though, it is as much about being seen as seeing as I am not really hauling butt nor at risk of outrunning the light.

 

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Why does it need the chain tensioner?  Seems a benefit of the Rohloff (or internal gears) would be not needing something as big as a derailleur still on the bike.  Wouldn't just a traditional SS set-up work or is there some reason behind having the tensioner?

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14 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Why does it need the chain tensioner?  Seems a benefit of the Rohloff (or internal gears) would be not needing something as big as a derailleur still on the bike.  Wouldn't just a traditional SS set-up work or is there some reason behind having the tensioner?

A traditional SS still needs a method for tensioning the chain. Either a sliding dropout or eccentric BB. If the frame doesn't have either you can't add them.

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43 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Why does it need the chain tensioner?  Seems a benefit of the Rohloff (or internal gears) would be not needing something as big as a derailleur still on the bike.  Wouldn't just a traditional SS set-up work or is there some reason behind having the tensioner?

Vertical dropouts. Every now and then, things work out with a magic ratio which will tension the chain within reason without them. I currently have two such setups, and have built a few more, but it was not to be this time.

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1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

I have thought of getting a SON built up for my front wheel when I get back into commuting. 

I stumbled across this video which had me questioning the SON as he seems to think the light is "weaker" than the Shimano hub (among other things).  For my commute, though, it is as much about being seen as seeing as I am not really hauling butt nor at risk of outrunning the light.

 

This was the first SON hub I have sold, but I have sold several Shutter Precision (SP) hubs, and use one myself. I had another one, but I sold the bike it was on last year. Performance wise, the SP is everything the SON is at about half the price, but who can say what the difference in durability is. 

 One customer that I have sold a few SP hubs to has put many 10s of thousands of miles on them, and no reports of issues.

 The first one I sold to him, he immediately rode from Toronto to Costa Rica as a training ride for a race across Europe from Turkey to Belgium and that was barely breaking it in.

I have less experience with Shimano Dynohubs although I did sell some bikes that came equipped with them when I ran my short lived bike shop, and I have seen the inside of one up close.

All current production hubs produce 6 volt AC and 3 watts, so the strength of the light probably has more to do with the light itself than the hub.

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3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I have thought of getting a SON built up for my front wheel when I get back into commuting. 

I stumbled across this video which had me questioning the SON as he seems to think the light is "weaker" than the Shimano hub (among other things).  For my commute, though, it is as much about being seen as seeing as I am not really hauling butt nor at risk of outrunning the light.

 

Lots of stuff to geek out on in that video. Any differences in drag that I would detect is purely subjective, and I frankly would never be able to tell the difference.

I have two dynohub equipped bikes, one with a Shutter Precision and the other with an old Union of uncertain vintage. I have been informed that Union was a forerunner to the Schmidt Son. It was given to me as a non functioning piece and I was able to get it running. Both bikes have Herrmans 75 lux headlights, and I find them to be quite adequate for my purposes. 

Here is a video series I did on resurrecting the Union  hub. Also included in the series is a teardown of a Shimano hub.

 

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