MattyCiii
100 kW
To be clear, my intent in the quote above was not to bad mouth Utah Trikes. The Schlumpf/ATS drive is not very easy to come by, and I'm delighted stores like Utah Trikes, Cyclemonkey, and EbikesSF - stores who support the Speed Drive - are out there. All three have been a pleasure to deal with, are flexible, and charge what I believe to be a very fair price.MattyCiii said:My next setback: Utah Trikes just notified me their shipment from ATS did not contain any spanners, so I have to wait at least another month for their next order/shipment.
As luck would have it, Cyclemonkey reached out to me yesterday to say there was a delay in the parts I sourced through them - and the package would go out later that day. On a chance, I called them up (it's a very small company, possibly a one man shop) and asked if they carry the spanner tool I need. Neil (the owner) actually broke up a $49 tool kit to sell me just the spanner (and one other tool) I'm looking for at a very good price (basically the same price as the spanner I ordered from Utah). Having found a supplier of the spanner, I called Utah Trikes and cancelled my spanner order, which they did right away.
This is a good news story all around. Utah Trikes kept me informed about my order to keep my expectations realistic, based on events outside their control. A quick "sorry for the delay" e-mail from CyclMonkey turned into an opportunity for me and a sale for them. And of course none of this would be possible without ES User Accountant (who I purchased the Speed Drives from) and EbikesSF, who rented me the BB milling tool.
It sounds complicated - because it is. Again, this is a very small niche product. If I wanted simple I'd use a derailleur setup, like 99.9% of the other bikes out there, and be able to source tools and expertise from just about anywhere.