On Mar 5, 2:44 am, "D'ohBoy" wrote:
On Mar 3, 4:17 pm, Henry wrote:



On Mar 3, 3:07 am, "D'ohBoy" wrote:

Well, there were a lotta things said by various 'authoritative'
individuals about my new carbon wheels.

Firstly, and most importantly: braking is as good as with any of my
alloy rims! Did a coupla panic stops, and some more gradual braking
during bombing a hill, with an anticipated turn at the bottom type
braking. Yes, the brakes did require a bit more modulation but
certainly I was able to stop and control braking as well as ever.
Yes, the pads are more spendy (unless purchased in bulkish quantities
on ebay - which I did) but they do work quite well.

Secondly: no, I did NOT have to correct the spoke line.

Anyhoo, the wheels climb like a monkey, spin up nice and are only
mildly affected by crosswinds (30mm section). Went for a ride
yesterday in 15 - 20 mph winds and had a great time. 18 degrees
ambient. God it was great to get out on the bike again!

Sorry (oh, wait, not sorry at all), but you 'nattering nabobs of
negativism' were totally wrong.

D'ohBoy

the whole weight thing confuses me.
I see plenty of "heavy" riders with expensive bikes and bits and
wonder if it's a case of having deep pockets.
If I weigh 95 kilo's, will I go faster losing 5 kg's of lard or
spending $5k for a 5 kg lighter bike ?

Hmmm.... this is a question that has been put forth many a time. And
rather tired, like Master Fogel's weight/time/power charts.

Let me turn that question around: if carbon rims are merely a trendy
(AND dangerous) fashion statement, whose benefits are limited, why
don't we examine the latest crop of alloy rims? Uhhhh.... Jobst
believes that the MA2 is the best rim ever made. But you can't get
those anymore. So let's get some other rim. But anodizing weakens
the rim! And most rims now are anodized. Maybe wood rims are the way
to go. Course wood rims can burn. All you need is spark and oxygen
and those rims are toast! And can you really go that much faster on a
bike with drop bars? Really, somewhat dangerous as the brakes aren't
always right at hand and not really much of a gain there in terms of
aerodynamics. Flat bars, wooden rims now. Stainless spokes?
Really? What is the gain there? A little more durable than zinc
plated but mostly they just stay shiny. So now we have a flat bar
bike with wooden rims and zinc plated spokes.

Now let's examine frame materials. Carbon? According to some
'authorities' here, very very dangerous and poorly understood
material. So that's out. Alloy? Fails catastrophically! OMG,
Timmy, you get off that alloy frame right now, it's about to
explode! Steel? Well, now, if you are talking that newfangled
thinwall ****e, you might as well form it into a coffin. I'm thinking
like mild steel plumbing pipe. But welding is really just a fad. I'm
thinking threaded elbows etc... from the plumbing supply shop will do
the trick.

And what the hell is up with all those gears? Really, one only needs
one in the front and one in the back to go. And bearings? ummmm....
waste of time, just makes your workouts longer.

Now that I think about it, why the hell bike anyway? Too spendy. And
way too dangerous, what with all that alloy and carbon about. Maybe
just walk. Course, you'd need shoes for that. Plus, pretty damn
dangerous. People fall down all the time. I seen it on tv - the old
lady grabs some little device and whines 'Help, I've fallen and I
can't get up!'.

Screw biking. Screw exercise. You retro-whiners have shown me the
light. Someone point me at the cheese and bratwurst, I'm done with
exercise.

D'ohBoy

Oops.