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Coming to the dark side via a General Lee 24

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
So I have been off of the bikes for a year with a broken ankle. (I broke it at the skate park.) My buddy calls me and wants to get a trail ride in.

We went out to the local trail and this dude has been working hard on expanding the little dirt jump area we had set up. He's made a bunch of good jumps and drops. And he is pretty damn cool, it's nice to make a biking friend.

We rode with him a while and I liked his Haro X24. I went to a local shop and got an orange DK General Lee 24. I was just going to look at it, but when I saw how cheap it was, less than $300, I just bought it. Frickin' $300 is just a few parts for mountain bikes.

I took it back out to the jumps and rode a few hours. It is so much easier to jump that I was going big in an hour. This is on a type of bike I had never ridden before, on my second ride in a year. It just jumps really well.

It is hell to ride through the woods to the jump however. The seat is the size of a playing card. A longer seatpost and better seat are in the works.

Pretty fun for the money.
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
good to hear you're trying a bmx.

but you gotta unlearn the urge to jack the seatpost up. bmx seats/posts are not for sitting on. learn to stand all the time. it's not a big deal !!
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
I saw that. Mine has that deep south deviant inbred thing going on though. I might put one of those "Heritage not hate" stickers on it. To enhance the general filthy hovel ambiance.
 

cranberry

Monkey
Dec 30, 2005
162
0
Waaaay out there
The stock wheels and BB are not sealed. I picked up a set of sealed Sun/Ringle superstock hubs laced to rhyno-lites on e-bay for $100 about a year ago.
And they were new
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
I know the stem has to go. They are known for slipping. And mine is slipping already.

I don't like the pedals. Nothing wrong with them, they are just chinsy looking.

The back wheel is going to die like a sick dog. Single wall rims don't like to jump.

I will also be putting a better seat and longer seatpost. I hate riding 2 miles through the woods standing up to get to the jumps. And I am going to take photos of me jumping it with the seat sticking WAY out just to irk cmc. LOL
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
I installed some Wellgo B-38 pedals and an SDG freeride seat from my parts bin. A better seatpost is on the way.

It is surprisingly fast in the woods with the 24 wheels.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
I installed some Wellgo B-38 pedals and an SDG freeride seat from my parts bin. A better seatpost is on the way.

It is surprisingly fast in the woods with the 24 wheels.
Nice! That seat looks ginormous though! I just got my cruiser all ready for the new year or even some indoor skatepark riding. My wrists will hate me again soon.
 

Axis

Monkey
Jun 9, 2004
471
0
Nice! Welcome to the world of 24s. I am lucky I only ride mine a short distance of at all to get to some jumps, street and RaysMTB.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
A longer seatpost and the original seat are installed now.

I also studied up on the U brakes and adjusted them. They were set up horrible from the shop. For you mechanics, the transverse cable was set up too long. They will easily lock the wheel now.

Everything on the bike was set up wrong from the shop. Front hub was too tight, chain was too tight, headset was too loose, brakes set up wrong, etc etc. The guy says to bring it back in 60 days for a free tuneup. Uh, no thanks dude. Your "mechanics" are like apes hitting rocks with sticks. I saw them take it back for a "check up" when I bought it and the ape just hung it up and stood next to it and looked really stoned for a couple of minutes.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
A longer seatpost and the original seat are installed now.

I also studied up on the U brakes and adjusted them. They were set up horrible from the shop. For you mechanics, the transverse cable was set up too long. They will easily lock the wheel now.

Everything on the bike was set up wrong from the shop. Front hub was too tight, chain was too tight, headset was too loose, brakes set up wrong, etc etc. The guy says to bring it back in 60 days for a free tuneup. Uh, no thanks dude. Your "mechanics" are like apes hitting rocks with sticks. I saw them take it back for a "check up" when I bought it and the ape just hung it up and stood next to it and looked really stoned for a couple of minutes.
Sounds like a overall bad setup, yes, but to be fair to the mechanics - with "cheaper" bikes (don't get upset) in the shop we used to set most things up a bit tight because it was amazing how quickly even an 80 pound kid could loosen up bearings, etc. Hubs with painted races, cheap chains, etc. all break in a LOT and rather quickly. And we knew they wouldn't bring it back in for adjustment soon enough (or at all) and then we'd be dealing with an upset customer who thinks they bought a POS.
 

chuffer

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2004
1,527
869
McMinnville, OR
aaah the general. it truly is a gateway bike. all thats left of my general is the frame hanging on the wall of garage.

fun bike. not the highest quality componentry, but for $250, who cares?

enjoy.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
According to my measurements, I should be able to fit K-Rad 2.3s on the bike. I would like a higher volume tire for lower pressures. The 1.95s need to be ridden rock hard.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
New seat installed. Looks sweet.

Freewheel changed from 17 to 15. 33/15 gearing.

New bars, stem and grips on the way. Bars are too low and the stem slips. The DK grips are really fat and I can't wear gloves with them.

Bike will be dialed in soon. I hope the shipment comes today so I don't have to shank the fedex guy.
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
Bike will be dialed in soon. I hope the shipment comes today so I don't have to shank the fedex guy.
Nice. I'm running 33/13 on mine. I recently replaced the seat and post, grips and put a chaintug on. The guy I bought it from built a chrome rim onto a WTP Pi hub which is pretty nice. I'm also running a Shadow interlock chain. Next up are the bars and sealed BB. For a little bling factor I'm running a red brake cable, red grips, and the seat has red accents with red guts. The frame is black with all the stickers removed. Looks pretty sharp.
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
How is your stem? Mine was drilled with the bolt holes all cockeyed. The stem and the seatpost are horrible.
yes, the seat and seat post were ridiculous. I replaced them before the seat fell off and the post punctured my ass.

The stem seems fine. It hasn't budged. I've heard reports of stripping and slipping, but I haven't seen it myself, even after a nose case which was hard enough to blow a tire of the rim. We'll see what happens when I get taller bars. (more leverage).
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
The stem seems fine. It hasn't budged. I've heard reports of stripping and slipping, but I haven't seen it myself, even after a nose case which was hard enough to blow a tire of the rim. We'll see what happens when I get taller bars. (more leverage).
Luck of the draw I guess.

Fedex dude didn't bring the bars and is now bobbing in a swamp and feeding critters. I totally forgot it was being shipped UPS. My bad.
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
33/15 is still a little too low. I need like a 34 tooth.
actually a 36 would be best. nobody makes 35's, or at least i haven't found one.

36/15 X 24 = 57.6
that'll be a strong gear, but not too hard that you can't get up hills.

i was running a 39/16 on my GL. 39/16 X 24 = 58.5 . hella fast for riding across town. not too hard for hills either if you get a cranking start at em.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,184
1,422
Central Florida
I have settled on 33/15. The area I ride in has lots of short run ups that favor quick acceleration.

I cut 3/4 of an inch off of each side of the Mosh bars. The Poverty stem has ended my creaking headset problems. The front end is perfect now.

The rigid bmx bike seems to favor more upper body strength. My arms are noodles after a long session.

I have seen some good advancement in my dirt jumping since I got this bike. I am always a little spooked on a 26. I feel like I am jumping a swing set or something.

 

A Grove

Monkey
Nov 20, 2007
497
0
State College, PA
so - i feel like I really want to get on one of these DK's for the price they're selling at... but my problem is will I be happy with it? Like - I could take that 250 and save for something I'd rather be on... input anyone?
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
I'm running 33-13 on mine. (~60") It feels pretty good once it's moving but doesn't accelerate that fast. At the track it's fine because I have a good roll in but when I ride park it tends to feel a little sluggish.

I just ordered some Eastern Dragon Bars (7.5" rise). They should be here in a couple of days. I think I'll be pretty happy with them. About all I have (or want) to upgrade is the stem and BB at this point.
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
so - i feel like I really want to get on one of these DK's for the price they're selling at... but my problem is will I be happy with it? Like - I could take that 250 and save for something I'd rather be on... input anyone?
1) what kind of riding do you want to do ?
2) what height/weight/age are you ?
3) do you already have other bikes ?