Bass wheels in the UK?

[Mike Crumpton]

Why doesn't anyone stock these things? Does anyone know who's got them? There is the contrabass shoppe at an outrageous £76 plus £8 postage or bassbags.co.uk which has the most amatuerish least informative retail site I've yet seen for about £50 - but no pic or info.

I've seen cb shoppe one and it's fine indoors but would I really want to wheel through the city with that - let alone some of the more rugged venues I've visited.

I could order one internationally of course but I'd rather not.

Yeah and I do have rucksack straps on my case and I'm convinced this is not safe for me let alone the bass but lets not discuss that .

[fdeck]

You could buy an American wheel, but ours are designed for driving on the wrong side of the road

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Mike Crumpton

I could order one internationally of course but I'd rather not.

I see no problem with buying stuff like this from the best place, wherever it happens to be - I've bought bits and pieces from Bob Gollihur and he is one of the best guys on the net to deal with..

We no longer have any manufacturing industry to support in Britain...sad - but just a fact of life now!

[Mike Crumpton]

My bass wheel arrived from Bassbags - the price was VAT exclusive - I wsn't paying attention - and to say I was disappointed with what looks to me like a badly made overpriced pile of junk that looks as if it will damage the bass is an understatement. Looking on the web I notice it is the same wheel all hail Bob carts his beloved Kay around with. However, this is the unchromed version and you could land a jumbo jet on one of these tyres - soft special rubber Bob? - yours might be - this ain't and it is the same wheel without a shadow of a doubt.

The wheel isn't centred with the pin into the bass (niether is Bob's) which to me indicates that it will try to twist. It isn't super lightweight so when you pick it up the wieght will add a twisting motion to an endpin socket not designed for such. And the shaft looks more 9mm than ten but I'll measure that with callipers later.

This is one of those dollars for pounds things we see over here, £48 for the wheel ($45 at Bob's'S) £9 for the VAT, £5 for the carriage - I feel ripped off and should have got one of the Contrabass Shoppes overpriced do-dahs even if their wheel is too small to give a smooth ride on a rough pavement. This thing looks as if it's gonna shake the bass to bits.

Ah well - you get what you pay for. I notice other US shops sell the Ideal 'Easy Rider' bass wheel too. Mind-you, I might be wrong it could be superb product masqerading as a home made botch job. They've over tightned a nut on the spindle and craked a nylon washer - normally I wouldn't care but for £60? In comparison the CB Shoppes £85 inc postage and VAT looks cheap - it's mig-welded stainles steel - not rattle apart nuts (they use three on the axel partly as a spacer it seems) bolts from B&Q (our version of home depot).

As I said, this could all be a misjudgement and finding them on Bob Gs site did cheer me up a little since the man doesn't sell junk. I might not be appreciating the hidden qualities of the design or the shock absorbing qualities of the tyre. It won't pucture no matter what you roll it over - take that you Gaines wheel users!

[Mike Crumpton]

I can't use the edit funtion on this pc BTW.

Whilst on the subject of things I hate about this wheel, the pin length into the bas is just 8cm about 3" 3/16ths and the bass is going to rest on a rough hex nut not much larger than the pin and guranteed to mangel the endpin without a further protective washer of some discription. Surely Bob's can't be this bad.

[Freddels]

Can't you just contact the seller (and without telling them off) and ask to return it for a refund? Tell them that it just doesn't fit/work/etc. with your bass.

[bribass]

Originally Posted by Mike Crumpton

I can't use the edit funtion on this pc BTW.

Whilst on the subject of things I hate about this wheel, the pin length into the bas is just 8cm about 3" 3/16ths and the bass is going to rest on a rough hex nut not much larger than the pin and guranteed to mangel the endpin without a further protective washer of some discription. Surely Bob's can't be this bad.

Mike,

I've been using the Kolstein wheels for like 20 years. Besides changing the rubberized wheels every four years or so, they hold up pretty well and they mount on shock absorbers and velcro to the lower bouts of your already padded case so when you hit a crack in the city pavement it does not send the vibration thru your end pin.
Manuverability is pretty good on most surfaces except gravel. Check it out.

http://www.kolstein.com/Merchant2/me...ory_Code=wheel