lip service

So I broke my lawyer lip cherry and finally got around to grinding
them off my fixed gear's fork and retouching the finish. It felt like
I held up a huge foam middle finger to the product safety commission
or whomever is responsible for these dastardly things that waste my
life away ten seconds at a time.

Do all bikes come with these now, or just the sub 1K stuff for us
plebes that can't be trusted to use a QR? I do understand their
usefulness with disc brakes of course--and they've saved my bacon with
the first disc brake bike I had--and hand only tightened the front
skewer mildly like I've always done. Hit the brakes and saw my front
wheel go all wappyjawed in the drops. No lips would have meant
amusement for all that could see, excluding me and my dental work.

landotter wrote:
So I broke my lawyer lip cherry and finally got around to grinding
them off my fixed gear's fork and retouching the finish. It felt like
I held up a huge foam middle finger to the product safety commission
or whomever is responsible for these dastardly things that waste my
life away ten seconds at a time.

Do all bikes come with these now, or just the sub 1K stuff for us
plebes that can't be trusted to use a QR? I do understand their
usefulness with disc brakes of course--and they've saved my bacon with
the first disc brake bike I had--and hand only tightened the front
skewer mildly like I've always done. Hit the brakes and saw my front
wheel go all wappyjawed in the drops. No lips would have meant
amusement for all that could see, excluding me and my dental work.

Most of my bikes have those darned things. One at least has a swing away
for quick releases. Since I have never spent over $100 on anything
without a motor I don't know about the 'yuppie cycles'.
Bill Baka

landotter wrote:
So I broke my lawyer lip cherry and finally got around to grinding
them off my fixed gear's fork and retouching the finish. It felt like
I held up a huge foam middle finger to the product safety commission
or whomever is responsible for these dastardly things that waste my
life away ten seconds at a time.

As I recall, some product liability plaintiff lawyer hired John Howard
to testify, and he made all sorts of ridiculous statements about the
dangers of quick-release levers.

I grind mine off when I get the fork.

Do all bikes come with these now, or just the sub 1K stuff for us
plebes that can't be trusted to use a QR?

AFAIK it's all of 'em. My new Wound-Up fork came with 'em, and I guess
I voided the warranty. Oh, well. I imagine all the pro teams get
theirs ground off, since wheel changes are too slow with lawyer-lips.

I do understand their
usefulness with disc brakes of course--and they've saved my bacon with
the first disc brake bike I had--and hand only tightened the front
skewer mildly like I've always done. Hit the brakes and saw my front
wheel go all wappyjawed in the drops. No lips would have meant
amusement for all that could see, excluding me and my dental work.

Problem wasn't the lawyer lips, nor their absence. Problem was not
tightening the Q/R properly.

--

David L. Johnson

If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
conclusion.
-- George Bernard Shaw

On Jun 18, 7:50 pm, "David L. Johnson"
wrote:
I wrote:

usefulness with disc brakes of course--and they've saved my bacon with
the first disc brake bike I had--and hand only tightened the front
skewer mildly like I've always done. Hit the brakes and saw my front
wheel go all wappyjawed in the drops. No lips would have meant
amusement for all that could see, excluding me and my dental work.

Problem wasn't the lawyer lips, nor their absence. Problem was not
tightening the Q/R properly.


Lawyer lips came before bicycle disc brake did they not? Coming from
rim brakes and being pretty confident in my ability to secure a wheel,
it was pretty surprising when I almost ejected it. Had no idea discs
put that amount of torque on a wheel. I think they're a good idea on
disc bikes where even securing with moderate pressure gives no
guarantee.

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:42:51 -0000, landotter wrote:

Do all bikes come with these now, or just the sub 1K stuff for us
plebes that can't be trusted to use a QR?

Nope. My Giant TCR came with them, and they immediately
encountered Mr File :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

landotter wrote:

Lawyer lips came before bicycle disc brake did they not?

That's not real clear, but probably true.

Coming from
rim brakes and being pretty confident in my ability to secure a wheel,
it was pretty surprising when I almost ejected it. Had no idea discs
put that amount of torque on a wheel. I think they're a good idea on
disc bikes where even securing with moderate pressure gives no
guarantee.

I think you probably aren't using as tight a Q/R as maybe you should on
your other bikes. I found out the hard way that you need to tighten the
Q/R tighter than just enough to hold the wheel. The wheel should be
secured in the forks even during a crash. I crashed into my buddy on a
tour, when we were out too late looking for a place to camp, and since
my Q/R was not very tight the front wheel ejected in the crash and my
fork dug straight into the road, and bent all to hell. Had the wheel
stayed in place, we might have been able to finish the tour, since
neither of us was hurt beyond a bit of road rash.

So, regardless of the type of brake, put the Q/R on as tightly as you
can by hand. The lever should leave an impression in your hand when done.

--

David L. Johnson

"What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
What are you on?"
--Lance Armstrong

On Jun 18, 11:39 pm, Michael Warner wrote:
On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:42:51 -0000, landotter wrote:
Do all bikes come with these now, or just the sub 1K stuff for us
plebes that can't be trusted to use a QR?

Nope. My Giant TCR came with them, and they immediately
encountered Mr File :-)

Since I am lazy, my lawyer lips encountered Mr. Dremel Tool and his
sidekick Grinding Wheel.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful