[123honus]

Well the Outcast arrived yesterday.
I had to go to the LBS to get an adaptor to put air in the tires and a good spoke wrench.
One wheel was out by a sixteenth or so. It probably would have worked, but a little tuning
would only make it better.
All went well. No damage.
The only comment I have so far if that the chain adjuster seems a little below par, but it works.
I have put about three hours or so on the bike so far.
This is my first bike since I was a kid so "it did not take me long to get used to the single speed".
My rear end however is a little sore.
I realized that the seat has an adjustment that I think will help a great deal.
After reading about the gearing I was expecting my legs to catch on fire when I rode it, but it was not too bad. Most of the riding was on the easy trails with little elevation.
After I get used to riding again I will have to purchase a lower gear.
To see if I like the more difficult riding.
So far so good. Looks great.
I can see my first investment will be gearing, pedals and shoes.
Regards

 

[boomn]

Congrats on getting into biking:thumbsup: Looks like a big boy's BMX bike

To get a good off road gear you will probably need a smaller chainring. But experimenting is part of the fun of an SS.

 

[bmw]

Shill.



j/k, congrats

 

[123honus]

tic tic noise

I am starting to notice a tic tic noise as I pedal.
It disapears when I do not pedal and it seems to be at the same point in the rotation of the pedal. I assume it is in the freewheel or the crank bearing.
I did not adjust the bearings in the crank of the rear wheel as they were put together when the bike arrived. Any thoughts on an easy way to locate the tic.
Thanks

 

[jmfrankl]

I had the same thing. BTW, I love my Outcast 29. I really only use it on the street, with Big Apples it rocks.

Anyway, I simply asked my LBS and they thought it was the freewheel. I wanted to try and ENO anyway, so I just dropped the $$. Problem fixed.

I know it seems a bit silly to drop nearly $100 for a fix on a $300 bike, but I am looking to upgrade in the right way--albeit slowly--so that if I ever get really serious about this thing I can just swap the frame and fork out for something really nice.

John

 

[taterbug]

I am starting to notice a tic tic noise as I pedal.
It disapears when I do not pedal and it seems to be at the same point in the rotation of the pedal. I assume it is in the freewheel or the crank bearing.
I did not adjust the bearings in the crank of the rear wheel as they were put together when the bike arrived. Any thoughts on an easy way to locate the tic.
Thanks

That noise you are describing can come from a lot of different places....seatpost, seat rails, pedal, bottom bracket....I suspect that it is the seat rails because you say it only happens when you are pedaling. Your body rocks from side to side on the seat and can cause the rails to make the tic sound...also, go over the bolts on the bike and make sure they are torqued properly...do not over tighten. I have a super high end 29er SS that made the same noise...drove me nuts. Turned out that greasing the seat rails and snugging them down was all it took to make the noise go away

 

[123honus]

Free wheel noise

I finally found out what the noise was on the bike.
Once the real wheel was turned around so I could use the fixed gear the noise went away.
In other words it is the free wheel. I bought another free wheel and it makes the same noise. All I have to do is to stutter pedal and find a new cog to pull from in the free wheel and it goes away.
I assume a higher quality freewheel would solve the problem, but I will live with the stutter pedal when it irritates me.
Thanks for the come back.
So far I am very happy with the bike.
They say you should change some parts, but the only thing I changed were the handlebars to Mary style.
I see no problem with any of the components except the free wheel click and they are a common brand name.
These bikes are a great buy in my estimation.
Jim