Herne Hill Jumble dodgies!!!

My first fix I bought from the Herne Hill Jumble back in june when it was the veteran's meet. Those who have seen it knows it's the lime green "vitus" we're talking about. Those who've been riding with me knows that the cranks were creaking like f**k. Today I've discovered more and I think I need to share it with you guys in case any of you decide to buy a full bike there next time.

Talk about dodgy. Now let me make a list of things.

1) Bottom bracket : ofmega(proprietary taper) + right crank : sugino (ISO taper) + left crank : SR (JIS taper) = fking creaky + possible crank metal failure
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2) absolutely appalling respray by mario vaz that chips off like mad with absolutely obscured serial numbers and frame markings.

3) mismatched forks made to look like it's not. a frame with a seatstay bridge that gives you fag paper clearance probably woulndn't have a pair of forks that gives you almost 2cm of clearance at the front.

4) is that really a vitus?? does anyone know if they made steel bikes?

last but not least

5) **friggin' converted hub. no stepped thread for lockring. what was on it was a bloody bottom bracket lockring.
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my sprocket came off today whilst on the road. lucky it was on a quiet road not whilst i'm weaving through moving traffic. and i know how to rotafix to keep myself going. honestly i think this is rather unacceptable.

so, i'm not going to be quiet about who i bought it from. it's the 2 fat guys round at the back near the toilets next to the right of the marquee type thing.

shame the keirin was called off and there won't be a jumble. i have to bring them all those parts and ask them if they know what they've sold me. all that together could have killed someone (well, me) on the road or have caused serious injury if the bike was ridden on the track at 30+mph. i'm not going to let them go. for what i have paid i've already had to replace the cranks the bottom bracket and the pair of wheels - which are pretty much where all the money is apart from the frame. the headset's not quite smooth either and the stem is stuck.

i'd say anyone who goes to the jumble next time be careful what you buy from those guys.

I remember that Vitus, I rode it at Polo just after u got it.... I was wondering who u were on here :-) I'm Jon, with the Peugeot conversion.... Anyway, that sounds all bad about the Vitus(?) I remember at the time u got it u weren't sure what bits were original or not.

Whatever the frame make is.... it did ride nice and smooth though

Caveat emptor 'n ting.

Always assume shit is going to be humped.

Anything I buy second hand gets a full mechanical work over before I trust it on the highway.

edmundane
4) is that really a vitus?? does anyone know if they made steel bikes?

I'm sorry you had such an appalling experience but I can confirm Vitus made steel track bikes. Kind of rare. But heres a photo of the one I owned briefly. It was steel and rode really well.

[Edit: I am ashamed I went to the pub and then decided to look at LFGSS - I think I'm turning into hippy]

Talking about jumbles, there's one today (sat), anyone fancy come along?

Only detail - it's about 20 miles away from Cambridge...

What a bunch of arseholes. You should demand you money back, or the money to fix it all up properly. Afterall, could have killed you if the cog had come off in busy traffic.

AFAIK Vitus made steel tubing not steel frames, although they might be better known for their bonded alu frames. For actual racing on the track, not using a lockring is common, either because it's not fitted or there's no reverse threads on the hub.

Yeah obviously sellers will vary in how "honest" they are, some will point out anything unusual or non-standard about a bike/frame/part (assuming the seller knows about it), eg what appears to be track hubs on a track bike turns out to be converted road hubs, or something's incomplete or damaged, without being being spefically asked about it. Others will say nothing unless it's an answer to a question, eg they're not going to say a frame's got a French bottom bracket if the buyer doesn't ask about it.

Roberto Talking about jumbles, there's one today (sat), anyone fancy come along?

Only detail - it's about 20 miles away from Cambridge...

I'd love to.. unless you're thinking about riding there :D

fixer AFAIK Vitus made steel tubing not steel frames

See my earlier post. I owned a Vitus branded steel track frame, which AFAIK was made by Vitus (had engraved Vitus logos on seat stays, bought from original owner etc). They may have made these for pro racers only but they did make the odd steel frame.

yeah my friend bought a track frameset for 180 included saddle,headset,BB,bars,stem and seatpost and ...behold,,,,a brake:-)...on the london calling track day..........531, nice geometry, red painting and dave marsh decals........paintjob is ugly as fuck and is chipping off....is mario vaz striking again????? and yeah there was a tiny little dent underneath the stickers once we peeled them off........but nothing major......as far as i can recall....possibly two fat guys with loads of old and new bits and parts........anyway as for the wheels go.........i bought a pair as well...fixed/free with fixed on one and sucide hub style on the other.........removed the suicide one and wheel is fine.......anyway it's better to look before you buy i guess...if you know what to look at.......and as far as honesty go.......you can easily and safely use suicide hub on the track as some people not even use lockring on trrack........were they aware you wanna ride it on the streets???with loads of backpressure on the lockring......and yeah i know kids who ride suicide hubs...but its better to use threadlock first.......and pray before every ride....anyway sad experience

MA3K Caveat emptor 'n ting.

Always assume shit is going to be humped.

Anything I buy second hand gets a full mechanical work over before I trust it on the highway.

true... well it's a bit of a rant anyway, but i would like to think that it's better to make sure something's not that dodgy, and i'm not paying money for dishonesty on the seller's side. i was naive and i didn't know that much about bike mechanics when i bought the bike. my point of posting this is so any potential buyers on this forum should be very careful and ask loads of questions before you hand over the money. of course, it's impossible to have a whole toolbox with you full of everything to take the bike apart and check every bolt there is (and dont think the seller will allow this), but because you're buying something that you can see if front of you, with the seller in front of you, it's always better to make sure you ask and get the seller to show you. any questions he couldn't answer could be used to bargain with the seller and get yourself a lower price. and, always get a friend who's mechanically experienced to have a good long look at the bike and help you ask relevant questions.

now i finished my 2nd fix i know how to build a bike i'll stick to buying parts - it's much easier to spot problems.

edmundane: I'm sorry you got stung, it does sound very shady on their part esp the mix-n-match crankset. I also think if you buy a bike with a suicide hub, it should be pointed out to you, otherwise its an easy thing to miss.

The good thing to come out of this, is that you are now armed with more knowledge. Sadly, when dealing with bikes this the way to enlightment, it seems as though you must go through a series of painful steps.

Hope the new bike turned out well.

ed, yes those guys are dodgy. bought my blue frame off them bit more than a year ago. apart from the lousy paintjob without undercoating, the hole for front break was not drilled straight which caused me problems. Then Odge just found out that the headset/fork was kind of loose. I am crab with mechanics (which is why he is working on it now and not me). Anyway, all those little balls which were meant to be contained just fell out.
I think what you get from those guys at best is a frame in need of a respray. All the parts they put on there are rubbish and potentially dangerous. Still, I rode this pile of junk for over a year and must admit I loved it. Which is why its getting a complete makeover now by expert hands.