First Ride!

Update...

Still no spokes. Decided to order a 12 gage wheel as a spare. Can't go through this again. :censored:

Curious...

Where else can you find spokes? I need another source for 12 gage spokes besides bikepartsusa.com.

Ross
 
going POSTAL!!!

It just keeps getting better...:censored::censored::censored:

So I called bikepartsusa.com to ask for a UPS tracking number on my spokes. I was told last week that they were sent UPS ground (to my dismay) and so I expected them in five days. Yesterday was five days and they had not arrived. So I called and the guy and he said he'd call me back with the order and tracking information. Five or so hours later, when he DID NOT call me back I called him. He told me they were being shipped usps priority mail TODAY.

I said, "WHAT?"

He went on to say that they DID ship last week but since I didn't get them by now they went ahead and re-shipped them. "Those are 262's (referring to the length) right?" :eek: (why is he asking me that?) He said technically they can't put in a claim for ten days on priority mail shipments.

Frankly... I'm dumbfounded.

After I chewed into him and asked him directly if he's SURE they are being shipped today... and why didn't he send them UPS which has a tracking system second to none? Why also had they not gone out "overnight" since this is the third week and "two shipments" later I still had not received my spokes.

He said they can TRACK USPS PRIORITY. Ha! Right! Anyone here track mail shippments? The BEST you get is delivery confirmation a day or so later.

He said they ship something like 150 packages a day and loose six or eight shipments in the mail per month. I guess I'm just unlucky. I had two shipments lost. Does anyone want to figure the odds on that? I did... it's 1 in 9,000,000. Somebody get me a lottery ticket!!!

Ya know... if you screw up and admit it, I might be miffed but I'd be polite and go away. I'd get over it. I mean... I've been waiting for three weeks. My loving wife drops me off and picks me up every day from work. I'm a pretty patient person. If it's in the mail, I'm not gonna call you every day to see if it's still in the mail. But if you screw up again and again and don't admit to the mistake that's a different story.

I need my bike... it's my second car right now!

All I ask is honesty. Everyone screws up. I screw up. Just admit it and do better... don't just cover it with newspapers and think knowone is gonna smell it!

GGGRRRROOOOWWWWWLLLL!!!!

One month waiting for the kit, two weeks riding, one month waiting for spokes. Two and a half months out of a short New England summer. Not mad at GEBE... I heard about their kits at the same time others did. Just bad timming.

Did I mention this transaction is with:

:censored::censored::censored:bikepartsusa.com:censored::censored::censored:

I need a hug!

Ross
 
Hi Rossfree; congrats on the first ride. hope you have many more. That clearance you speak about is pretty common with the gebe drive ring. I have about 1/16" clearance and that's good enough for me. I had to laugh when you mentioned printing up cards :)
I get asked a lot, so my cards have MBc, GEBE, Staton and DAX. That should cover it, eh?

Oh, and about kickstands, check out the one that mounts to the rear axle...it's at bikeworldusa.com
 
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GEBE rig Motormount

I purchased this kickstand... love it! Can't wait to USE IT! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Alloy-Double-Bicycle-Kickstand/dp/B000AO9Z7K/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1217512087&sr=8-3

I'll be modifying the motor mount at some point so that I can service the rear wheel without dissassembly of the motor mounts. This kickstand allows the bike to stand straight up and not teeter either way. It should make wheel service a breeze.

Thanks for the reply Mark,

Ross

Oh yeah, that's a very nice double-kickstand at a good price, Rossfree:)
I was thinking the same about the motormounts on my bike too, like what if I got a flat; that means the 3 motormount brackets have to come off, and the throttle cable, and the kill switch wire. If you can weld a metal tab with the right size hole on both sides of the frame (like what Augidog did with his rig), that's the best way to do it. But if you have those two holes for the fender brackets, you can also bolt on the mounting tabs that way. My solution is expensive, but it works: I bought one of those Air Free Tires made of polyurethane. I'll change it only when my bearings need to be re-greased and when the tires have worn down.
 
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congrats on the build ross, i have the same kit your going to love it, i assume your using the 13 teeth gear, after about a month get your hands on the 14 teeth gear and that grin you have now will be twice as wide.....

the frame mount makes a huge difference, its nice too be able to take off the rear wheel and not worry about the engine and the wiring.

here are the two links that helped me out,

http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=8698&highlight=frame+mount+gebe
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=6294&highlight=frame+mount+gebe

the most important part is the measuring, the plates have to have the bolt in the exact spot on both sides otherwise the mount will be off slightly,

heres a look at what you should end up with,

http://www.motoredbikes.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9208&d=121616357

pm me if you need help because once you make that first mounting arm cut, theres no going back.

you will love that kickstand it keeps the bike solid so you dont have to worry about it falling over, and also acts as a workstand when tinkering on the bike..

good luck with the rest of the build, its going to be funny when you look back at the first installation pic and the finished product mine looks like something out of a transformers movie and i still haven't finished.
 
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Thanks for the reply Vegas,

Yep... that's just what my brackets look like. :) I made them two days ago. Haven't put them on yet but I have calipers for marking the GEBE motor supports and shouldn't have a problem getting them in the right place.

I'll show pics when it's done.

I got the bikepartsusa.com 12 gage wheel in... still haven't received my spokes order. Trying to calm myself before I call the guy and rip him a new #%$hole.

Ross
 
wow,

i feel for you guys who have to get most of you gear over the internet, i suppose the only advantage living in the city is that i have loads of bike stores to shop around and can actually see the gear firsthand before buying.

I just busted my first heavy duty wheel over the weekend, chain slipped between spokes and cassette and managed to pull 2 spokes clean out of the rim... went to store, sold out but ordered mine and should be here tomorrow just in time for the weekend... its far easier than having to order over the web, because what you see in the pic and what they send sometimes...

what sucks, having to drive miles to find some peaceful open roads to ride on without having to watch your behind every two secs...
 
Yes Vegas,

There's good and bad about living in rural New Hampshire. The good is I have an eight mile ride to work. I work early, leaving the house at 5am, and the roads are pretty much mine all the way there.

On the way home it's still pretty easy. Only a couple of miles where I'm in traffic and I'm getting used to it. Nothing like what some people must go through.

But ordering parts can be a pain. I do have a local bike shop but they don't have the spokes I need and want to charge $3.50 each for the ones they do! Nope nope nope.

I'm poor. There... I said it. I have three kids and we work off of my single income. My wife stays home and cares for our home and kids.

My car is a 1989 Honda Accord. The windshield cracked from left to right across the whole window. The muffler cracked in two and started dragging the ground two weeks ago. We are in the process of selling our home and trying to move south and I don't want to fix this old car I've been nursing along for ten years.

We've always driven old cars. Where some people spend five or six hundred dollars a month on car payments we spend the same to put our kids in a small private Christian school. Now our second of three kids is leaving for college next week with one to go. We have great kids, all honor roll students, no drugs, no worries (to date) about running with the wrong crowds and they do know the value of the dollar. We haven't bought them new cars when they graduate and the closest thing they get when they go to college is a new laptop computer (which most colleges require for freshmen these days).

So this bike, which I figure cost me about $1000 is my transportation. Period. I've been using it on dry days and wet. I hope to move south where winters are mild and continue to use it. When I spend sixty dollars fixing something I can't help but think that takes away from the money I am trying to save in gas. So expenses are pretty much un-acceptable. I want this bike to run, run, run. If I need to replace a ten dollar tire every three months... ok. The same with a three dollar tube. I save that much in gas every day.

I bought this bike to save money. And I intend to use it as such. Safety is important and I've invested in a descent helmet and lights. Nothing outstanding but reasonably safe.

I'm ranting... sorry.

So when someone mentions spending another hundred dollars here or there I have to weigh it carefully. When I drive enough miles to say I have paid for this bike, I will have hit a milestone I can be proud of.

So far I've gone between three and four hundred miles. I never received the spokes I ordered and paid for from usabikeparts.com. I'll have to fight to get my money back but I'll get it even if I have to cancel payment through Visa. It was a verbal order and apparently they don't do verbal very well. I ordered the cheap bike wheel with 12 gage spokes and it came in in five or so days. Go figure.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to pull the cassette from my old wheel and transfer it to the new wheel with 12 gage spokes.

Wish me luck! And thanks for stopping in to chat!

Regards!

Ross
 
Update:

No bike spokes from bikepartsusa.com. I'm done with them. Three strikes. The wheel I ordered online from them came in about 4 days. But order by phone fell flat. If they don't refund I'll call VISA and do it that way.

Meanwhile... I tried to find a tire to fit the 12 gage wheel I got from them. I don't think anything short of a 2.125 tire would work. Very wide wheel. Can't find a tire around here to fit.

So I have disassembled the wheel, and I'm re-spoking the original 14 gage wheel off of the Schwinn. I had to drill the holes slightly but not much. I have some truing to do yet but it all looks good. If I can't get it I'll bring it to a bike shop.

This will allow me to continue using the tires I already have. Going to a larger tire just creates another issue... getting the belt past it. Nope.

I've also re-mounted the GEBE to the frame above the rear axil and leaned it back to almost 45 degrees away (towards the end of the bike). This leaves more room for a rear rack and or saddle bag arrangement. I liked one I saw on the GEBE website that had the engine mounted this way. Puts the gas tank almost vertical and makes it easier yet to fill. That extra foot away from my ears also makes for a quieter ride.

About 360 miles now.

Happy trails!

Ross
 
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