Christmas in August

UPS package

KHE Hindenburg 2 piece crankset

KHE Euro Bottom Bracket

KHE Geisha MTB - 11T, 36H

DMR Headstock Stem

UPS delivery notification

I just got UPS notification that my parts were delivered today. I can't wait to get home.

Shipping boxes

I got a couple of shipping boxes from Perfomance Bikes in Rockville, MD. I will use it to ship the Kona.

Shipping notification

I just got notified that my order got shipped.


Here's the order and status page from outsideoutfitters.com


It's very informative, it even shows the tracking number.

I should receive them this Friday.

My Kona Cinder Cone on Ebay

Just posted my mountain bike on ebay. Here's the link.

2005 Kona Cinder Cone

KHE Hindenburg 2 piece crankset..BAD?

I was doing some research online on the Hindenburg Crankset and I found a blog stating the Hindenburg Crank is weak.

Here's a quote from the blog:

"In september 2007 we got the news that colony is about to build a lite crank. The 2-piece idea has now changed to a 2.5 pieced version with 19mm axle 48 toothed. The reason for this is simple: crank and axle cannot be heat-treated together; people who see the pictures of broken khe hindenburg 2pc know why. There is no hint if the weight of 755g is actually, but the crankset will apear in august 2008.The streetversion has 2 length 170 and 175mm, there is also a flatland version with microgear only and 160mm length. It is available in black, white and limited in grey and tangerine."

Though the blog is convincing, further search on the web, did not yield anything supporting it. I was concerned, none the less.

I gave Dan Joyner a call and expressed my concerns. He said that he never heard of the Hindenburg breaking, he also mentioned that it is warrantied for 1 year.

Dan offered to change the order, however, he assured me that I will not have issues with warranty.

I told him to go ahead and order the Hindenburg, since I haven't really found anything to support the claim made in the blog.

With the Hindenburg set aside, we discussed spokes and rim recommendations. I told Dan that I found a great website for DIY lacing. He encouraged me to lace my own and learn from it, but to have a shop do the actual truing and tensioning for safety concerns. HALO Combat rim is his recommendation.

Birthday present from Katrina

Katrina gave me a nice budget for my birthday.

I called Dan and ordered the following parts.
KHE Geisha MTB freecoaster hub with 11T driver and 36 holes.
KHE Hindenburg 2 piece crankset
DMR Headstock stem
KHE Euro BB Cup Bearing Set

Dan price matched some online stores. Outside Outfitters is the best.

Credit from Outside Outfitter

Credit from Outside Outfitters showed up on my Discover Card. Dan price matched the DMR Trailblade 20 from another online store.

I'm very confident in recommending Outside Outfitter to anyone. You guys should give him a call.

Animal Strip

Animal Strip Pivotal Seat

Interesting observation

I decided to be a patron to my local bike shops. I figured that they probably order from the same distributor as online shops.

What is interesting about my experience?

All the shops I dealt with hardly showed any interest. Only one out of nine stores took my number down. I was informed that I would be called, if they can do it. Of course, noone called me.

Parts arrive

Here are the parts I received today from outsideoutfitters.com.


Nice and simples graphics.


Nice chain tugs



DMR Trailblade 20


20mm axle



NS Jalapeno


Cane Creek Tank Hit

Top Picks for a Ladies Cruiser Bike

Here's Katrina's email.

___________________
From: "Katrina"
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 12:05:03 -0400
To: Ben
Subject: Ladies cruiser bikes

Bianchi Milano Parco

Breezer Villager

Kona AfricaBike

Electra Townie (diff speeds and colors here:)

Katrina

Kona Africa Bike

We had to kill some time, apparently, my sister's flight is delayed. I decided to drop by Big Wheels in Arlington, VA on the way to Reagan National Airport.

While I was busy checking out what they have, something caught Katrina's attention. It was a Kona Africa Bike. It was a cool looking cruiser, too bad it didn't have flat foot technology.

The salesperson recommended the Electra Townie.