My wheels are making me nuts! ;)

Roger Zoul wrote:

Rick Onanian wrote:
:: On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:58:37 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
:: wrote:
::: Rick Onanian wrote:
::::: They couldn't loan you a wheel to ride while they rebuild it? I
::::: mean, for all your trouble and everything...
:::
::: I'm going to get my bike with a loaner rear wheel in a few minutes.
::: Thanks much for the idea.
::
:: Sheesh, I said something, and it actually _helped_ somebody? Wow.
:: Hell must have frozen over... BFG
::
:: Er...you're quite welcome. Happy to help. Etc.

I was suprised that they put a brand new wheel on it, with a new tire, too.


As long as it's not Tom Slick selling you a new (and better) wheel and
tire...
Tom Slick was a Yankee Trader who sold clocks in the 1800's in New
England by having people look after his clock til he got back in the
Spring. By then they couldn't part with the lovely thing.
Bernie

"Daniel Crispin" wrote in message
.. .
Ok Bernie, full story then

I weight 280, the bike is an aluminium frame hybrid with front suspension
and seat suspension.

Well, Daniel, you beat me. I'm about 40 pounds lighter, but still
overweight.

The guy told me the spokes were not stainless steel. I don't know what
comes bellow stainless steel,
steel maybe? He said they tendend to dull out, become white and break
rather quickly comparer to higher
quality spokes.

I'm not an expert (see below when I mention Jobst), but stainless ain't what
you need. It is strength.

I had the wheel checked at a repair store, they don't sell bikes. Guy
seemed competent when I talked to him.
He said around 40$ to rebuild the wheel, which is what everyone seems to
agree on being a good price. He
simply said that it was not a great solution because of the low quality of
the spokes.

So there seems to be a consensus that you have low-quality spokes. Can you
get a truly independent opinion (perhaps a bike shop on the other side of
town?)

Right now I am hesitating on 3 choices:

From where I am sitting, this sounds as if your spokes don't have enough
tension. My guess (and I am not an expert here) is that the spokes are
loose enough that they lose tension at some point in the wheel rotation
because of your weight and the [presumed] under-tensioning of the spokes.
This is a sure way to make the spokes fail early and often. One way to
check this is to see if greater-tensioned spokes (freewheel side of the rear
wheel) fail less often than the others.

The true expert, in my opinion, is Jobst Brant. Author of "The Bicycle
Wheel" and believed by many (myself included) to be a guru and a saint.
Google for him. Jobst posts often in ba.bicycles, so you may wish to try
that notesgroup.

As for myself, I ride a very old bike (Mike J. of Chain Reaction has already
been mentioned in this thread -- he and I rode together in high school
before he went into bicycling big-time and I became a sedentary
couch-potato). 36-spoke wheels that I built myself on Phil Wood hubs. They
haven't been trued in at least 10 years and are arrow-straight. I'm 230/240
(depends on the season) so put a bit of stress on these (now archaic and
overbuilt by today's standards) wheels.

One way or an other the racket has got to stop, it's driving me insane...
sounds like I am dragging a bunch of beer cans behind me.

You'll get there. Hang with it.

- Skip

In article ,
says...
Ok Bernie, full story then

I weight 280, the bike is an aluminium frame hybrid with front suspension
and seat suspension.

The wheel itself have dual wall (is that the right term?) rim made by
Shining Extro (never heard of them)
and the middle part (moyeux in French) is from an other company I never
heard of: Joytech.
The guy told me the spokes were not stainless steel. I don't know what
comes bellow stainless steel,
steel maybe? He said they tendend to dull out, become white and break
rather quickly comparer to higher
quality spokes.

I had the wheel checked at a repair store, they don't sell bikes. Guy
seemed competent when I talked to him.
He said around 40$ to rebuild the wheel, which is what everyone seems to
agree on being a good price. He
simply said that it was not a great solution because of the low quality of
the spokes.

I ride on roads only. I don't jump sidewalks or do anything drastic. I
will of course hit a bump or pothole once in
a while but I try to go around them when possible. I 'have added a rack to
the rear and got 2 bags to go on it.
I use it to do my grocery among other things and that can sometimes add 50
or more pounds directly on the wheel.

Right now I am hesitating on 3 choices:

1. Have the wheel re-tentioned for 40$

I'd recommend this option; it should get you through at least a few
years of use.

2. Have the wheel re-tentioned and change the spokes for 40$ plus about 36$
for the spokes (total 76$)
3. Buy the wheel he suggests with the dual walled rim, Deore center piece
and high quality anodized spokes for 95$

One way or an other the racket has got to stop, it's driving me insane...
sounds like I am dragging a bunch of beer cans behind me.

....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 20:13:31 -0700, Bernie
wrote:
Tom Slick was a Yankee Trader who sold clocks in the 1800's in New
England by having people look after his clock til he got back in the
Spring. By then they couldn't part with the lovely thing.

Did clocks need constant supervision in the 1800s?
--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian wrote in
:

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 20:13:31 -0700, Bernie
wrote:
Tom Slick was a Yankee Trader who sold clocks in the 1800's in New
England by having people look after his clock til he got back in the
Spring. By then they couldn't part with the lovely thing.

Did clocks need constant supervision in the 1800s?
--
Rick Onanian

Yeah the batteries lasted only 24 hrs or so.

Rick Onanian wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 20:13:31 -0700, Bernie
wrote:

Tom Slick was a Yankee Trader who sold clocks in the 1800's in New
England by having people look after his clock til he got back in the
Spring. By then they couldn't part with the lovely thing.


Did clocks need constant supervision in the 1800s?
--
Rick Onanian

Yes they did. They had to be wound each week (with a beautiful brass
key). Poppa usually did the job. Owning a clock was a novelty, and
added prestige to the owner. The clock was usually a "parlour" clock,
cased in oak with nice carving and a gong or bells that rang out each hour.
My impression of the stories I read back in my youth was that the
caretakers of his clocks would not take a step down by giving up the
clock. What would the (clockless) neighbours think?
If you can find his stories, they were done with good humour and wisdom
about the human condition.
Best regards, Bernie

Thanks Bernie

I do try to balance the load when possible. Sometimes I only bring one bag,
when I go to work for instance,
I was thinking of finding a bag that would sit on top of the frame instead
of clipping to the side. Have not
seen any when I purchased mine but I am sure I can find some.

I think I will have the wheel re-tentioned... if it gives me anymore problem
I will replace it.

"Bernie" wrote in message
...
Daniel Crispin wrote:

Ok Bernie, full story then

I weight 280, the bike is an aluminium frame hybrid with front suspension
and seat suspension.

I owned similar, but no suspension forks.



The wheel itself have dual wall (is that the right term?) rim made by
Shining Extro (never heard of them)
and the middle part (moyeux in French) is from an other company I never
heard of: Joytech.

Never heard of them either. Sounds like cheap Asian parts... but that's
not uncommon.


The guy told me the spokes were not stainless steel. I don't know what
comes bellow stainless steel,
steel maybe? He said they tendend to dull out, become white and break
rather quickly comparer to higher
quality spokes.

Straight gauge galavanized steel spokes. My mechanic considers them to
be fairly low quality compared to stainless steel spokes.



I had the wheel checked at a repair store, they don't sell bikes. Guy
seemed competent when I talked to him.
He said around 40$ to rebuild the wheel, which is what everyone seems to
agree on being a good price. He
simply said that it was not a great solution because of the low quality
of
the spokes.

He may be correct.



I ride on roads only. I don't jump sidewalks or do anything drastic. I
will of course hit a bump or pothole once in
a while but I try to go around them when possible. I 'have added a rack
to
the rear and got 2 bags to go on it.
I use it to do my grocery among other things and that can sometimes add
50
or more pounds directly on the wheel.

Keep the load balanced. Between you and the groceries you are carrying
lots. FWIW, I weigh about 205 lbs these days and broke several rear
spokes and eventually destroyed a rear wheel doing similarly. The
solution was a properly tensioned wheel (Deore hub, stainless spokes,
double wall rim, discounted to about $100 cad). I kept on loading
everything I wanted to put on it!
Q: do you have 700c or 26 inch wheels?



Right now I am hesitating on 3 choices:

1. Have the wheel re-tentioned for 40$
2. Have the wheel re-tentioned and change the spokes for 40$ plus about
36$
for the spokes (total 76$)
3. Buy the wheel he suggests with the dual walled rim, Deore center piece
and high quality anodized spokes for 95$

Well, it's your call. The wheel sounds like a cheapie, so I would not
spend the $76. You will quite possibly get a lot of miles out of the
$40 retensioning...
#3 is possibly the best choice, but personally, I don't know.



One way or an other the racket has got to stop, it's driving me insane...
sounds like I am dragging a bunch of beer cans behind me.

One way or the other, the mechanic you are seeing now can make that
noise go away. You definitely need a properly built wheel right away.

Best regards, Bernie
(this has been very interesting)

Thanks David, that is what I decided to do. Cheapest and since a well built
wheel is
not supposed to have the problems I have, that sounds like the thing to do.


"David Kerber" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Ok Bernie, full story then

I weight 280, the bike is an aluminium frame hybrid with front
suspension
and seat suspension.

The wheel itself have dual wall (is that the right term?) rim made by
Shining Extro (never heard of them)
and the middle part (moyeux in French) is from an other company I never
heard of: Joytech.
The guy told me the spokes were not stainless steel. I don't know what
comes bellow stainless steel,
steel maybe? He said they tendend to dull out, become white and break
rather quickly comparer to higher
quality spokes.

I had the wheel checked at a repair store, they don't sell bikes. Guy
seemed competent when I talked to him.
He said around 40$ to rebuild the wheel, which is what everyone seems to
agree on being a good price. He
simply said that it was not a great solution because of the low quality
of
the spokes.

I ride on roads only. I don't jump sidewalks or do anything drastic. I
will of course hit a bump or pothole once in
a while but I try to go around them when possible. I 'have added a rack
to
the rear and got 2 bags to go on it.
I use it to do my grocery among other things and that can sometimes add
50
or more pounds directly on the wheel.

Right now I am hesitating on 3 choices:

1. Have the wheel re-tentioned for 40$

I'd recommend this option; it should get you through at least a few
years of use.

2. Have the wheel re-tentioned and change the spokes for 40$ plus about
36$
for the spokes (total 76$)
3. Buy the wheel he suggests with the dual walled rim, Deore center
piece
and high quality anodized spokes for 95$

One way or an other the racket has got to stop, it's driving me
insane...
sounds like I am dragging a bunch of beer cans behind me.

...

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

Daniel Crispin wrote:

Thanks Bernie

I do try to balance the load when possible. Sometimes I only bring one bag,
when I go to work for instance,

me too, but I think it's done damage to my rear wheel in the past.


I was thinking of finding a bag that would sit on top of the frame instead
of clipping to the side. Have not
seen any when I purchased mine but I am sure I can find some.

I got a decent one (Axiom) a few years ago - it's a "rack trunk" type
attached with velcro straps. Works very well.



I think I will have the wheel re-tentioned... if it gives me anymore problem
I will replace it.

Sounds practical, and feels like it would be the reasonable first thing
to try.
Have a great ride!
Bernie

If you can find his stories, they were done with good humour and wisdom
about the human condition.

It was an honor to work that job.

--

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