ebay- bought it and there WAS a problem- good ending

[Jeff N.]

I say touch it up and ride the heck out of it. If it was a DENT, that'd be different.

[pbarry]

Originally Posted by tbike4

Not sure any amount of therapy would fix some of the stuff in my head. Just have to live with it and avoid stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk.

This has been resolved with some money back from the seller. Put the bike together last night for a test ride. Pretty sweet and the 9 speed triple group will come off ASAP with Ultegra 8000 going on. A nice 3TTT stem and bars. I threw a front wheel on with a 25mm tire and it will probably work with about 3mm clearance. As nice as silver bits look on it most likely going with the 50mm carbon hoops and black bits.

Well done!

I’ve given partial refunds to buyers twice—Once was on a nice old Polaroid 195 where I did not check the (faulty) flash sync, tho I had paid for a repairman to go through it before listing. Buyer was happy with a small adjustment. The other was for a decent espresso machine where the buyer overpaid/did not make a best offer, then had buyers remorse after looking at similar listings. $50 brought my sale into line and the buyer stopped sending 5 paragraph emails in all-caps.

[tbike4]

I edited the title of this thread since it will turn out very well. I sold ALL of the parts that came on the bike except the crappy saddle and no-name stem. I decided to do touch up paint with $6 worth of Testors and not have a pro job now. Looks good from 5 feet away and never gonna get the gold flake in there.

I put an Ultegra 8000 group on except for a 9000 crank I borrowed from another frame along with the wheels. Just have to decide if the crank stays on or if it needs to match and be dark like the other bits. Bar tape goes on and a test ride. Comments or "other" welcome.

[jtbadge]

That turned out nicely!

The thing I would recommend is that those round bend bars should have the drops pretty much parallel to the ground - move the shifters higher up the bar and you'll have a better time.

DA9K crank looks nice on pretty much everything, and here matches the silver accent of the headset. If it were the only silver part, maybe a different crank would look better.

[john903]

That's nice I am glad it turned out well. I have a pumpkin orange Hampsten with blue decals. I went with medium blue bar tape and black saddle. I would suggest you try white bar tape and white saddle but those flite saddles are so nice I would probably just go with the black saddle you have and white bar tape.
Have a great day.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

That turned out nicely!

The thing I would recommend is that those round bend bars should have the drops pretty much parallel to the ground - move the shifters higher up the bar and you'll have a better time.

DA9K crank looks nice on pretty much everything, and here matches the silver accent of the headset. If it were the only silver part, maybe a different crank would look better.

Agree with this all around.

Alternatively, a black headset and a dark crank would look awesome too.

Black bar tape would probably look best.

Great bike!

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

That turned out nicely!

The thing I would recommend is that those round bend bars should have the drops pretty much parallel to the ground - move the shifters higher up the bar and you'll have a better time.

DA9K crank looks nice on pretty much everything, and here matches the silver accent of the headset. If it were the only silver part, maybe a different crank would look better.

yes, those bars should be parallel to ground but then OP cannot have flat transition to hoods. solution is a different bar. so both flat transition AND parallel to ground.

black tape. done.

looks great and glad you are moving ahead!

[mhespenheide]

Hotness all around after the bars get rotated or swapped out.

[tbike4]

Which bar? Would like to stay with a 3T, not too deep.

[HenryA]

Glad it turned out ok. If I was comfortable on the bike as shown, I’d ride it.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by tbike4

Which bar? Would like to stay with a 3T, not too deep.

Move on from 3T.

Ritchey Evocurve.

short.
shallow.
nice curve.
flat transition to hoods.
ovalized flats for plenty of palm support.

[Jeff N.]

I'm thinking Zipp SL-70 or SL 80.

[tbike4]

I am liking the r8000 crank with 36/52 and Zipp bars but still working a bit on the bar/shifter position/angle. I think I might have to go with a black headset. And probably take a link out of the chain as it is pretty droopy in the 36 front ring and middle of the cassette.
I was a bit concerned since reading some less than glaring reviews of the F1 fork but I think it rides just as well as my Atlanta with a steel fork. My 2¢ worth.

[Malinois]

I just went hunting for Heisenberg’s thread in the classifieds to give you a heads up on an available black CK 2-nut and...oh you already called dibs.

It looks nice now but that will really help pull the black and orange look completely together. I’m glad it rides as good as it looks!