Nice dish!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!
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.
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?
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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteCould 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteoops, 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteMike: 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.
ReplyDeleteWell 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.
ReplyDeleteMike: sorry to hear that. if you hear creaking from your bottom bracket in a day or two, you know why...
ReplyDelete