BMX
Out of context: Reply #123
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- Horp0
Hi BMX thread.
At the weekend I discovered an ad on Facebook marketplace for a Fly Proton Complete, 2021, selling for £150.
It had been on FB Marketplace for 5 weeks already, so I doubted it was still available. Send a flurry of messages. It *was* still for sale.
The seller had failed to put "BMX" anywhere in his ad, and he hadn't listed it under Bicycles or anything relating to bikes, or BMX. It was in some 'Miscellaneous Items" category and had gone entirely unnoticed.
I went to see it. It was totally unridden. Brand new. The dropouts don't even have any paint wear from the grip washers.
The owner had bought the bike, assembled it, but didn't know what he was doing.
He used a hammer to fit the BB bearings, dry. Fortunately he only damaged the bearing not the BB barrel which is un-chipped and still perfectly round; but he hammered onto the central ring of the bearing races, rendering them pure junk by the time he'd smashed them into place.
So he couldn't pedal. Not even WD40 made the pedals go round, he told me.
Then he tried to fit the pedals at 90º to the crank arms, and had cross threaded them, found it hard work, and so had just monstered them home. Pedals at about 15º to the frame, so pedalling... if it had been possible... would have been like being on the fairground Waltzers.
Aside from that... MINT. Not a scratch. A £750 bike in immaculate condition because the owner fucked up the build.
It's very sad.
Paid £130, borught it home. Stuck the lovely freecoaster wheelset with Fuego tyres onto Bet, and sold Bet for £300 the very next day.
Now selling the Fly frame and forks for £150. All the other components will go on my Cult build, including high riser four piece bars which was exactly what I wanted, FOR THE WINZ.
So my £200+ parts shopping list has been completed for free once the Fly frame and forks sells.
I managed to reverse out the really nice Fly Reuben Graphite pedals. A little bit of thread (one wind perhaps) was lost on both the pedals and the cranks. So they *may* be junk. But after freeing them and clearing out the threads, I wound the pedals back in correctly with just my fingers and they do feel absolutely fine.
Top tip for fitting pedals: put all of your tools down. Only use your fingers. if you can't wind them in with your fingers, you're doing something wrong.
If you're fitting them properly at the correct angle and on the correct side, they will wind in under finger torque only, and you only need to pinch them closed once home.
Pedalling constantly puts tiny amounts of tightening pressure on the pedals anyway so arguably you can just finger tighten them and ride, but I wouldn't recommend it.
I'm really sad that Bet has gone, but I get through BMX like salty snacks, and I'm always too keen on the next build to get too sad about selling the last one.
I will miss riding that bike though.
Here's to you Bet!
*Raises a glass of BMX juice*
- Fly Proton Complete, Freecoaster model...
£750 new.Horp - Owner told me the EXACT same thing I always hear "I'm a skater and I wanted to have a go at BMX but I lost interest after buying the bike"Horp
- May the fictional gods bless all skaters. Keep buying BMX, keep trying it out. I am here for you once you've lost interest.Horp
- Update on cranks vs pedals. I had a good look at the pedals and they won. No damage to the pedal threads, just a lot of crank thread jammed in the grooves...Horp
- A bit of penetrating oil and a steel pick and all the crank thread popped out. So cranks are useless but pedals are perfect and are now...Horp
- on my Mission Transit 165 crank arms waiting for the build up.Horp
- Fly Proton Complete, Freecoaster model...