Orient Express - Cheap Chinese Rims / Wheels / Forks / Frames / Cranks / Etc

Ok, so my wheels arrived.

Very happy!!

Ordered on 22nd May, Dispatched on 24th May, received on 30th May.

Viva China, Viva Johnson.

They weigh in at exactly 1008g, thats 15g under the expected weight of 1023g.

Gonna get some Tubs and a cassette on tomorrow and get out on them over the Bank Holiday w/e..

Happy days.

For anyone worried about imports, etc ... FARSPORTS are a great company to deal with, cannot speak highly enough of them.

Ok, so got my Tubs on today .. (Goddamn one of them was tough to get on) .... anyway used Tub Tape which made for a largely clean job.

One of my sidewalls though (black) has a fair amount of visible adhesive that I'd like to be rid of.... I have read that Lighter Fluid can clean them up nicely but aint got any to hand.

I have a shedload of White Spirit (I soak my chains in the stuff when cleaning them thoroughly) and am wondering whether this would be suitable..

Any advice for me please?

Cheers.

Use acetone. Don't use white spirit or lighter fluid.

Acetone is found in nail varnsh remover.

Or in small bottles, from Boots. Ask as the counter.

Cheers lads ..

Yeah, did a little googling on Acetone today, looks like a trip to the Makeup Counter for me then ... :)

There is a gallon jar of acetone in my grandparents garage, will it have denatured/whatever the term is over the years?

Mix with a bit of cranberry juice and try it, might be alright.

There is a gallon jar of acetone in my grandparents garage, will it have denatured/whatever the term is over the years?

It should be pretty much as manufactured. In a sealed container out of daylight, acetone doesn't have an opportunity to get up to much. It can be photochemically decomposed into acetic acid in the presence of water, light and a catalyst. Worst case your jar might contain a small amount of vinegar, which is unlikely to be a problem for common household uses.

Brown gallon jug with glass stopper if I recall- might be a screwtop but I have a mental image of one of those conical stoppers.

At the back of the garage out of direct sunlight, but not exactly in the dark either.

I'll check when I go to pick up the rest of the tools which my Great Grandfather and Grandfather accumulated.

My Great Grandfather was a cabinet maker who outfitted yachts, and my Grandfather was an architect. So both of them would have used very sharp things, daily.

We've found no moth pupae, or hockey masks however whilst clearing out the house.

Not that I've found, but my Grandmother had so many clothes that there could be a few hanging in the wardrobes that we've not got to yet.

The lamp-shades look fairly normal.

Brown...out of direct sunlight.

It's brown just in case somebody leaves it out in the sun. It needs all of the conditions to degrade, and it has essentially none of them. Have a sniff, both acetone and acetic acid are pretty distinctive, I'd be very surprised if you could smell the latter over the former.

I've been using basic solvents such as acetone, that are several decades old (found in basement storage), in analysis work ups in the lab. Its fine.

Just paint your nails and test it.

Which one of you brought this clincher chinese wheelset with Novatec hubs?

Me

Not really

What's going on with the front- odd angle or is it FUBAR?

The tyre only seems to on on one side hence the fubar optical illusion

Eds still fitting the tyres. Its a 2 day job.

;)

It was brought in to be fitted (the tyres).

I really hope someone hasnt seen fit to source, and judge the quality of, some mailorder carbon clinchers.

Yet doesnt feel confident enough to fit their own tyres.

Also. I would'nt use tyre levers on carbon clinchers. I'm sure its fine for the most part. But it would make fecking things up all the more easy.

I have a pair of those noodle like Conti levers that come in their emergency saddlebag+inner tube kits. That I carry around. The crap noodle nature should stop me from cracking a bead lock.

Is anybody interested in the DongFu bikes FM029?
I'm being told its 1010g +-45g.
http://dengfu.en.alibaba.com/product/548822162-210306319/new_carbon_road_bike_frame_FM029.html

$455 for one, probably would get a discount for several.