It's been sort of a crummy few days for mechanicals. On Sunday I did that road bike thing on my RB-1. The front wheel slid in between the slats on the Bowl and Pitcher suspension bridge. I went over the bars; the wheel slid all the way down to the hub. Nothing broken, but the front wheel has a bit of a wobble to it and there's one of those super lame impossible to diagnose little creaky noises coming out of the bottom bracket chain ring pedal area. Errg!
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As for my RB-T dirt machine trail rider: I knew I was a bit rough on it last week in Bayview. I was doing too fast descending on rough, rocky, rooty, washed out logging roads. It was really fun, but I can remember at least 3 brutal rear wheel impacts that made me grunt on behalf of the bike.
I really shanked the rear wheel. I trued it up a bit last week and there was still a huge bump in it. So tonight, I attempted another full-on rebuild: loosening the spokes all the way and rebuilding it. There's a good dent (and is that a hairline crack?) in it and a pretty severe flat spot. I can't achieve equal tension, roundness, dish, and lateral trueness at the same time -- not even close. If I get reasonable lateral trueness and tension, there's huge bumps in it; by the time I work out the bumps, it slides out of truness and the tension goes to crap. By the time I fix true that out, the dish is off. It's frustrating and I'm no pro wheel builder. I can do a new Velocity rim pretty well, but this kind of stuff is beyond me.
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Oh. And I have a flat now too. Nice.
So, I'm running a 36 hole LX hub with a 700c Velocity Synergy OC rim. I'm wondering if maybe a Deep V rim would be stronger? All other things equal, which is stronger? The beefiness of the Deep V or the OC-ness of the Synergy?
Any opinions out there? Is there a better 36 hole rim to run with this? The hub is fine. Within reason, weight is not an issue. I want strong and I don't want to buy a new hub.
How about the Blunt? It's 28mm wide! Maybe the Dyad makes more sense?
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10 comments:
My Peugeot has the same creak. It developed this spring and has never gone away. I repacked bearings, broke a spoke, had the rear wheel rebuilt, tightened the chainring bolts and drank a lot of beer.
The beer helped.
But the creak remains.
Good luck, and please let us all know what stops it.
I think you need more tire, not more rim. I don't think that the Deep V is going to be any stronger for this type of use. All of that V would prevent a flat spot, but doesn't keep the rim from going out of plane.
Could you run more like a 700x38 instead of a 700x32 knobby? You'd have to ditch the fenders.
Alex: i have a 35 on there and even when the wheel is dished properly, i'm not comfortable with the wiggle room -- the tire I"m running has little knobs that stick out a bit too, so that makes for even less wiggle room if I don't want to hear the buzz. Did you check out the Blunt link? that's kind of what I'm leaning towards.
I don't have fenders on this bike.
I second alex's recommendation of more tire. most off roading exploits start at about a 2" or 55 mm tire for mtn bikes. cross bikes use 35mm, but they are way toned back on the terrain they cover(msotly road with a little bit of dirt). the best for off road with a little bit of asphalt i would put at about 40-45mm.
oops, just saw the extra link for the blunt, and the reference for the wider rim. this wider rim will make a wider tire. usually, they add about 1-2mm depending on the tire/rim combination going from a narrower rim to a wider one. i don't think it will make the tire rub your bike the wrong way, but something to keep in mind since you said you were uncomfortable with the current situation.
I still think a wider tire would be better. what about one without tread?
Rory: I'm trying to avoid the big honkin tires. Maybe that's the penalty for avoiding 2" knobbies -- screwed rims. I really don't like how fatter tires handle. The majority of this riding (time wise) is climbing up these crazy hills, where the narrower tires are easier to navigate.
I still need to loose another 15 pounds or so. Maybe that, compbined with a bit more finesse/bike handing skill and a decrease in speed is the real answer here.
Funny coincidence, I had always wondered if it was possible to sink a front wheel into the cracks at B&P bridge. I was out there on Saturday 7/5, riding 700x35 cross tires...couldn't get them into any of the cracks. What tires were you running? Maybe there was a troll under the bridge who had it in for you.
Mike: the place I fell in was right at the transition b/t the shore and the bridge on the west side. I'm running Riv Ruffy Tuffy's which are 28mm slicks made by Panaracer. They are true 28s. That's as skinny as I go for tires.
Well John, I did it. Tonight I joined the weekly "Tuesday night mountain bike ride" on my cross bike. Same 35mm tires, but this time it was after dark and I had forgoten my lights. Sunk a tire into the slats on the B&P bridge and endo'd it onto the wood. Luckily only my pride was damaged.
Mike: sorry to hear that. if you hear creaking from your bottom bracket in a day or two, you know why...
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