Search results for:

Hi Everyone,

My name is Matt, I run the Single Speed Components shop on Ebay under the username mattempleton, the subject of some discussion by Clockwise and a few others above.

I have not contributed to LFGSS over the past few years because of the potential conflict between my commercial activities and the community basis of the forum.

I hope you will do me the courtesy of reading my messages in the above quoted exchanges and my contribution below before you draw any conclusion on this.

I wish absolutely no bad blood to anyone at all here least of all Chris/Clockwise, and I know that distance selling can cause frustrations for the buyer, but I would like to have my position made clear.

1. Some Facts
   
   

My Ebay and Paypal Records do point to this item having been purchased on 2 July. Please see two screen grabs:

Paypal's Payment Email to me, time and date top right: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff520/singlespeedcomponents/LFGSS/paypaltimelfgss-02_zps4c98864d.jpg

Ebay Record in my Account, buyer ID top, product middle, checkout and payment date at bottom - (Please click to enlarge this to view dates) http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff520/singlespeedcomponents/LFGSS/lfgss-01_zps753957c2.jpg

I have cut out a lot of data because I do not want to compromise the privacy of the buyer, I have left his Christian name which he has already revealed in our correspondence.

I hope this shows me not to have been dishonest about this date. The only explanation I can think of is that the purchase process started before midnight and Ebay is inconsistent in its recording of purchase time.

1. More Facts
   
   

Chris claims two further things in his posts:

A. That the status of this item was changed to posted/despatched on 7th of July;

B. That the Ebay sentence on his screen grab which says 'Estimated delivery Wednesday, 9th July - Thursday, 10 July' was triggered by me changing the status to despatched on 7th of July.

He says, "That date is based on the date he marked it as dispatched/posted, had he done that on the 1st or 2nd it would say 3rd or 4th but it was posted on the 7th and so says 9th."

First of all Chris did not feed this perspective back to me in our conversation yesterday, this would have been useful for me understanding his perspective.

But secondly, having looked into this these seem both to be incorrect:

A. Please again refer to the original Ebay screen grab (here again, http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff520/singlespeedcomponents/LFGSS/lfgss-01_zps753957c2.jpg ). Near the bottom of the page it gives 2nd July for Checkout and Payment as we just saw.

However look to the right of those two, and it also gives 4th July for Postage date. This corresponds to when I marked it as sent on the Ebay system. One can not set this retrospectively as far as I know, let alone amend it. So I am sure that I made this status change on 4th July, which is why it reflects that date.

And now, again on the same Ebay screen grab look to just below where it says 'Checkout: 02-Jul-14'. It also says 'Last email sent: 04-Jul-14 (2)'. When I expand that it opens a new window - a 'log of emails' - which you can see grabbed here, http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff520/singlespeedcomponents/LFGSS/3lfgss-03_zpsda554ded.jpg.

There are only two entries in this: an order confirmation which is about 40 seconds after the Paypal email so makes total sense. And an ‘order update’ on 4 July 5.57pm. This second is almost certainly the postage confirmation email which will have been sent when I clicked to make the status change.

B. This is also incorrect.

Ebay customer services are not open for me to get them to verify this but I am very confident that the estimated delivery time is generated at the time of purchase based on the service paid for and expected despatch time. So, a purchase on 2 July is projected to be sent three working days later on Monday 7th July; it's a 2nd class service so they estimate 2-3 days postage, taking us to 9-10 July.

But anyway I have shown above that the status was changed not on the 7th but on the 4th so this explanation no longer functions and nor does the argument it was trying to support.

1. My Original Message
   
   

I'm sorry that Chris thought I was being underhand or hounding in my first email but the reality is that I have to try to resolve this kind of issue as part of running my business. And to reiterate Ebay requests that sellers try to resolve these things by contacting the buyer before initiating any other feedback altering process.

I sought clarification from him of some facts in my original message because I do make mistakes, and if for example it seemed from a post mark that I'd actually sent this say a week late then rather than seek to get the feedback changed I would actually have offered a big apology for failing to deliver what I should have, I'd have probably told him he could have a couple of tubes with his next order if he was willing to stay on as a customer. I make mistakes as I think most people do, I want to rectify them when I do as best as I can.

I have several times in the past opened up discussions like this with buyers - sometimes they agree they've made a mistake, sometimes I realise I've made a mistake and we sort it out. I don't think this is inappropriate, I think it's good customer service and good communication. I may have been a bit direct because I'm used to having these conversations but I think it was a fair message and that being direct is usually useful anyway.

1. Ebay Feedback
   
   

Notwithstanding the above my business is profoundly impacted on by the feedback and detailed seller ratings I get. I and Ebay think that it is wrong for a purchaser to give poor ratings inappropriately and to give inappropriate stated reasons for such ratings - http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/buying-practices.html#behaviors. See sections, making unreasonable demands and leaving inappropriate feedback. I surely have the right to seek redress when I think this may be happening, as a matter of basic fairness.

1. Dicta Allegation
   
   

Finally, I take extremely seriously the publication here online of the allegation that I passed off a non-Dicta product as a Dicta one – “Sprocket also isn't dicta he has just taken some random sprocket and shoved it into a dicta freewheel box.”

I'm always very happy to respond to questions over the provenance or any other detail of my products or the way I pack things but to put it mildly I don’t think it is acceptable to accuse me in a public arena of what I think would be fraud, and without even informing me of it.

To be clear, this is absolutely untrue. I have worked hard and put up a considerable amount of money to purchase and import a range of products from Lida Machinery Co. (whose brand Dicta is) and other suppliers across the world in the bulk required, and then to get them out to consumers to build this business.

To repeat my emailed explanation: "Regarding the sprockets, I purchase these directly from Dicta, who do not offer a packaged version (though they do for their freewheels) and they don't put branding on them. I pack them in freewheel boxes at the moment to save packaging as I am concerned about the climate and keeping costs (and in turn prices) low."

And to respond to this extra bit from the thread: “I did think to myself how would he package/post a freewheel that has been removed from it's packaging.”

Good question.

And here is your answer: The freewheel from that packaging – like hundreds like it - was fitted to one of the hundreds of wheelsets I and my colleagues have dispatched in the past four years with fitted cogs.

I am happy to respond to any further question/suggestions on this matter.

Keep cycling,

Matt Templeton

D'oh, Leyton is East of Shacklewell...

Hi Guys,

Just saw this post. I'm the Matt of Shacklewell Components.

To clear up:

My user name is mftempleton
I'm not smallbrownbike - who may have run TheHub and then moved to Brighton! And is almost certainly also called Matt.

Shacklewell Components still exists but with the new trading name of Single Speed Components. I used to live and run the business in Shacklewell, now the business is a couple of miles West in Leyton

You can find me at singlespeedcomponents.co.uk, in my Ebay shop or get my number off either or from me here and give me a call

Finally, my wheels are not hand built. I don't want anyone misled. But I'll try to convince you they're good value products if pressed...

I've come on to clarify this but my thinking at the moment is that I shouldn't be coming on here mixing my business with the community. Hence me taking an age to find this.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

**Calipers: **Four, variously branded dual pivot calipers, unused. I only have two standard bolts for these. But oddly I also have three long (30mm) recessed bolts for use with any of these if you want to put a rear on a front, or have a fat frame. £7.00 for each caliper and your choice of short or long bolt - hoping people want the ones I have! Otherwise we can work it out another way... 2 x shimano, 1 x acor, 1 x Tektro.

**Fork: **I powder coated an old Raleigh road frame then decided to put a new track fork on the mainframe, so this is spare. Built for 27" I doubt you could find a caliper to drop to a 700c, but if you don't run hand brakes... The threading is running for approximately **110-135mm **above the crown so you probably need a **head tube of 100-125mm **if you want to fit this on. Has great lugging and I think was done in RAL2000 - lovely warm orange...£10.00.

Levers: See photo of the calipers, there's a pair of levers in there. I think they're designed for V-brakes, not sure. £5.00.

All in Stoke Newington.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

Few things to get rid of:

1. MTB fork, brand new, with V brake posts
   
2. A bunch of old road calipers, four I think, mostly weinmann. One is fully equipped, other three lacking a nut or two
   
3. Couple of old custom chainrings and one matching left crank. I had to bash these two to get them off their frames so they might need a bit of straightening if they're to work. Shiny though...
   
4. Two presta tubes which could fit a skinny MTB tyre. Designed for 26" x 1 1/4" club wheels (anyone got these?) but as I say will fit MTB if you don't mind a presta valve running around your shraeder rim.
   
   

Collection Stoke Newington.

Matt

Hi,

My friend had an accident on his bike, the front wheel has a bit of a kink, the rear a smaller one.

These would still just about ride but my bike shop says they can't be trued.

Single speed with nice alloy v-rim.

Collect Stoke Newington.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

I've got two items here to get rid of. Photos are of the track wheels.

TRACK WHEELSET: Virtually unused, 700c.

Rigida Chrina rims, double walled.

Generic but nice looking hubs, high walled with double fixed threading.

This has hollow axles which can use quick release but was fitted with nuts. I've misplaced one nut - sorry, I'll have a search...

Bought these off 'BANKRUPT' which is an ebay seller for £100 about a year ago - have been in storage for most of the time and done about 50 miles maybe in total.

Asking for £80.

27" REAR WHEEL: I had this built. Standard, generic freewheel threaded hub, centred for single speed use. Brand new with a shiny silver rim. I can space 120mm or 126.

£30.

Pick up in Stoke Newington.

Matt

Hi,

HUGE FORK: I took this fork off a knackered Sunsolo frame - the fork is fine though. The frame was about 23", so a biggy. The steering tube on this is 250mm long, or 242mm from the top of the current headset hardware which is still on there (didn't try to get it off in case you need it...).

The threading on the tube is currently for about 28mm.

So you have threading down to a minimum length of 242-28 = 214mm. This means you need a head tube of about 210mm minimum unless you are able to tap more threading!

Yours for £10.

**REAR WHEEL: **700c Single Speed, I think used for about 4 months, Mavic open pro v-rim, generic single speed hub (not high flange). Currently has a 17T sprocket on which I'll throw in for another £5 or I'll take off. £20 for the wheel on its own.

**CALIPERS: **Pair of mismatch off an old road bike, rear is a Weinmann, front has no branding, £7 for the pair.

I'm in Stoke Newington.

Matt

Hi Guys,

Rafael, no Shimano 600s sorry.

Crumb, PM me and you can have it for a couple of quid.

Matt

Er,

I forgot and just found some other bits included in this load:

1. Tyres: 1 x pair of gumwall EA3 town bike tyres, unused I think; 3 x black 700c tyres about 23mm; an MTB tyre
   
2. Headset bits: half shoe box of headset bits of all kinds
   
   

Matt

Hi,

I have a whole bunch of bike componentry to sell as one lot. I built about 25 bikes over the last year and this is the left over stuff from that.

I'm looking for £50.00 for all this. I reckon if you bought these parts seperately you'd pay more like £120.00, probably more. So that you could probably sell these bits quite fast – say at Brick Lane or through this forum - for over £100.00. I don't have time to commit to that project at the moment.

So here's the list of things. I've put in brackets what I think roughly these bits are worth in the normal places (bike jumbles, bike shops, markets, here of course!):

1 4 forks - 1 vintage 700c, 1 new 27", 2 x new 26" threadless - one high end, one low (£20)
2 Quick Release – New - 3 x front standard; New - 2 rear, 2 front 3 seat post with Allen key fixing; Used – 3 seat post, 2 rear wheel, 1 front wheel (£10)
3 Seat Post/ Saddle/Hardware: About 5 new sets of allen key seatpost hardware and 5 new hex bolt similar, a few older hardware sets, 1 old saddle, five shims, a 26mm seat post (£10)
4 Headsets: YST Alloy complete; 1 1/8 black complete; 1" non threaded headset; 1 1/8" standard non-alloy headset; various h/s bits including Raleigh threaded bits (£20)
5 Bottom Bracket – 2 x unused 118 x 68mm generic bb; 1 x 118mm generic bb with a little use; 1 x 70 x 126.5mm axle (for raleigh shells); a bunch of non-cartridge bb components and some bearing cages; about 20 bb bolts (£10)
6 Chains – 3 x unused generic 1/8" chains, black (£8)
7 Pedals/Chainsets – 7 x vintage road pedals, 4 of them from two pairs; 2 x custom chainsets cut to one chainring, slightly bent, one with original crank, other with brand new replacement; about 10 double chainset stack bolts some chrome some black (£15)
8 Bars, Grips, Grip Tape, Stems, Bells: 3 pairs of yellow grips, 1 pair flanged black grips, White grip tape unused, various grip tape offcuts including quite a bit of brooks leather; 3 incomplete stems, 1 road, 2 MTB, drop down bars with levers and grip, straight bar, chrome bell, new black bell, road bike bar ends (£12)
9 Accessories: 1 pair of generic black 26" mudguards, no hardware; 1 x unused Adie branded front of bike basket, in black (£15)
10 And finally: About 6 x 26" rim tapes; a small box of more randon bits such as chainset, bottom bracket and hardware components... (Nuffin')

That makes: £120 - I didn't even plan that!

Let me know if you want to come and have a look. Collection in Stoke Newington, but I have a trailer so could potentially help with a delivery somewhere close-ish. It's all in one big box.

Some photos here but just a random selection really.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

Sunsolo frame with chainset. But the stem is stuck... You probably need to cut it then blow torch the fork to get the bottom section out.

So, a tenner is all I want.

51-52cm c2c I think, lost tape measure so a bit of a dodgy measure.

Collect Stoke Newington.

Confession: I have put this on gumtree - sorry everyone - when I first tried to post it here the fgss site didn't open for me for a couple of hours.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

Pair of Schwalbe City Cruiser tyres, unused. I'll include a couple of inner tubes which I think are in tact.

700c x 28mm.

I bought these for a bike build then put thinner tyres on instead.

12 quid the lot.

Stoke Newington pickup.

Matt

Hi,

A few bits to get rid of:

1. A bunch of unused 18T Dicta Freewheel sprockets - 3/32" - £7 each
   
2. And a few unused/slightly used 16T Dicta Freewheel sprockets - 1/8" - £7 each
   
3. An old Custom Chainset - photo 1 - the sprocket on this was a bit bent, I've tried to straighten in a bench, not sure how successfully but you probably could. 52T - £7 with left crank
   
4. Nice Shimano Chainset, SG, 52/42 double, but takes 5 stack bolts so can be converted to a single - photo 2. I don't know the standard of the attachment here - maybe ISIS? It ain't a square taper. In great condition - £10
   
   

Thanks.

Matt

Hi,

A few bits to get rid of. Took some photos not sure if they uploaded properly:

**1. High walled flipflop wheelset with Alex Rims: **Have done about 100miles - bought off ebay then I didn't use at all. Alex rims AT450, flip flop hub, high walled, all black components, - £70.00 ono

2. Brand new unused ss rear, brushed v-rim by Exal. Rim is double walled, £30

3. Brand new unused ss rear, black, pretty-much-box rim by Exal. Rim is double walled, £25 as the rim has a bit of tarnishing

**4. 1/8 sprockets **16t x 3, - £5 each

**5. 1/8 chains, **x 3 - basic, dark metal colour, £5 each

I also have drop down bars, I'll let 'em go for £8 - 42cm width.

Pickup in Hackney/Old Street.

Cheers.

Matt

Hi,

Set of drop down bars here. 41cm edge to edge, very high polish. Probably about 20 years old.

£10.

Pick up from Hackney.

Message me if you're interested

Cheers.

Matt

Hi Guys,

I had a plan to build loads of bikes but I bit off a little more than I could chew, so it's time to let someone else have a go.

I'm selling four road frames - three with seized bits in - and some racing handlebars on Ebay. Separate to these I have a 25" Raleigh Stratos frame to sell. These frames are all probably from somewhere between 1975-1990(?)

The Ebay stuff is all 99p start, no bids yet. Details of all below.

Ebay Items

Frames: Some have okay paint jobs but it's most likely you'd want to free them up then powder coat / spray / stove enamel.

I've tried a bit with the seized parts - some PlusGas and a bit of a go with pipe wrenches - but if you're persistent I think you'll get them free. All sizes centre of bb to centre of top tube.

Tiny 18" Raleigh Medale - nothing seized but the cottered crankset might take a bit of bashing to get out - unless you want to keep it. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270485702553&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT I think this needs someone about 5ft, and some tiny wheels.

Elswick 22" - seat and stem seized - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270485662926&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Puch 19" - seat and stem seized - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270485777376&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Racing Handlebar - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270486027196&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT - I have more of these if you're not on Ebay and want to make an offer

25" Raleigh Stratos Frame
Yes, 25". The stem and seat post are stuck. Looking for offers but nothing overboard I'll just be happy if someone wants to make this into a massive bike. I can post photos if you want.

Cheers.

Matt

P.S. I don't think these should be in 'Ebay finds'? I thought it might be deceptive to put them there as they are my items. More a case of 'initiating' than 'finding.'

Right.

I think you need a 23.4mm post.

Carbolite 103 Tubing? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/seatpost-sizes-m-z.html

It's a French bike so you need a French shop but you're in England.

Enter, Decathlon, Surrey Quays, http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/l330-basic-diam-23-4-25-27-2-35412401/

Hope the 23.4mm works for you.

Matt
I just can't remember what the standard old Peugeot

Yep, I just took in some forks with a bit of rusty chrome on and the Armourtex guy didn't bat an eyelid! I'll let you know if it comes out weird but it seems the finish will be exactly like the rest.

Sorry about the banality here, I'm trying to get my three posts in the bag.

if you can get your stuff to Birmingham, I can get frames done for £25 any colour. Including prep. by chemical bath and shot blasting.

DFP, can you tell me the name of the operation you mention in Birmingham?

Is this the cheapest place you know? I'll be pulling the BBs out of anything I get sprayed so accuracy matters less than it might, just want the cheapest job done.

Cheers.

Matt

You know about the basics right?

You need an oval (parabola?) BB tool - Park does one for about £20 - for the fixed cup. Then a pin wrench for the other side. The Park BB tool has one included but it's fixed in spacing between the pins. So the Park SPA4 (or is it 3 or 2 - the green one) is a variable pin wrench if you need that. You can borrow my versions of both of these if you can make it to Homerton?

For me if these tools fail then the next stages are:

1 Try to grab fixed cup with a normal wrench or the loose side with pliers in the holes;
2 Make this tool which Sheldon shows us: http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html I've had success on one loose cup with this one. It's fun to do too;
3 Brute force: so it seems heat might work (from Melon above). My friend managed to combine angle grinding and a diamond bit dremel to get a loose cup out the other day. Not sure if the threads will still work.

If you mash the threads when in the removal there's another thread on this site showing where you can get the BB shell rethreaded for about £40 or try fitting the threadless BB - again, this is talked about somewhere else on the site and I've found a few on sale online for around £14.50.

If you give up then I'll buy the frame off you for £20! Assuming we've got hori dropouts...

Cheers.

By the way I'm not usually this giving - but I'm in the kiddies pen.

Matt

Hi Guys,

Two things:

1 Tynan,
Can you let me know where the local anodizer you got your work done was?

2 Anyone know what would happen if you stripped a frame and anodised it? Would it be durable...?

Cheers.

Matt