NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[MiniNinjaRob]

I am doing up a friends old Dawes tourer. It looks like an MTB, butterfly bars, ali frame. Really nice and he has done thousands of miles on it, loves it to bits.

I stripped the entire bike, re-furbished all the XTR stuff he put on it, dismantled every component and checked for wear - -basically did everything to make it run another 10,000 miles. A shop wouldn't have gone to the trouble I did but he needed a thorough job doing.

Anyway, the hubs were shot as they were only cheap ones and the sealing was poor. We decided to go for some XT non-disc hubs with modern XM719 rims - tough enough for loaded touring but not downhill wheel weight. £160 from Merlin.

Anyway, they arrived from Merlin yesterday so I set about fitting them. He had supplied me with some new Michelin tyres so I started to fit them. Came accross a huge problem straight away - he had bought the wrong tyres - 700c instead of 26". I pulled out one of the old wheels and then realised....

the

bike...

was...

700c...

not...

26"..

oh....

.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

So I have to pay for the wheels - £160 I don't have.

So please - check before you buy, especially if it's not your bike.... and please visit my sale threads soon as I need a huge amount of money very quickly.... :-( I'm even having to sell my Flite Ti.

(In my defence the original wheels had very wide downhill-looking Sun rims and 2" tyres on so unless you had them next to some 26" wheels it was to make the mistake - the bike looks like an MTB in every respect)

 

[JeRkY]

Can you not return the wheels?

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

Can't as they are custom wheels. :-(

Might give Merlin a ring just in case. But if they want a massive amount off the refund (say £50) I'd be better off keeping them. The rims on their own sell for £45 each, the hubs arent cheap either.

 

[eejoor]

change the spokes and rims to correct 700cc ones, and sell the the 26" rims and spokes to refund the 700cc rims?
you can keep the xt hubs

i think it could be cheaper than buy a whole new wheelset?

grtz, Danny

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I have done a deal with my friend - I have the near new wheels off my 2011 Specialized Tricross which he is getting for £40 - should be fine for him but I still need to find £120 to refund him.

As far as rebuilding goes, the 700c equivalent is the A219 which is £90 for a pair if rims, plus £20-30 spokes. I could build them myself but it takes me ages. If I take them to a shop it'll be £40 for building them. May as well refund him all the money. I just don't have the time to build them myself really. And I'll never get back what the 26" rims are worth selling them on. And the spokes would be wasted too.

He was really understanding about it all and is still giving me 2 other bikes to service. At least I'll never make the same mistake again. :-(

Really quite down about it as I'm having to sell some bits I'd rather not. Hopefully I'll get some good Karma on previous stuff I've sold/given away. :-D

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

In an amazing development, a retrobiker has just Paypal'd £35 to me as a gift - I was trying to sell my Flite Ti for that much but he wanted me to keep the saddle an help me out. Very very very generous and so helpful.

This is why RB is the best site I know - everyone is so nice and generous.

I will endeavour to repay the favour on to someone else as soon as I am able.

I am about halfway there to getting the cash I need to refund my friend. Please don't take this as a begging post, just be relieved for me that it is no longer a desperate situation!!

 

[lewis1641]

That is fantastic news.

Well done that man, who ever you are

 

[twain]

that is super lovely. - and i agree that there is an abundance of generosity on this site.
i sold some wheels to someone on here a while back. they were so happy with them when they arrived, they sent me some more money for them serious amounts of good karma floating through this forum!

 

[Reluctant]

I love a happy ending!
Giving £35 away is almost unheard of - well done that man (or woman) who ever you are

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I know!!

I am already trying to plan something to "pass if forward" when I am out of this hole....