Am I about to lose my friend to Drillium Extremus?

Hi there.

I was over at a riding buddys house today to help him tune up an old
bike I gave him earlier this year.

I was shocked to see that he has come down with Drillium Extremus
Syndrome.

He has been busily drilling holes in just about every alloy component
on the bicycle.

Both chainwheels are drilled. The front and rear derailleur cages are
drilled as are the brake calipers and aero brake levers. He drilled out
the center portion of the down-tube shifters. He has even driled offset
rows of 1/8 inch diameter holes around the seat pillar where it is in
the frame. All these holes on all the parts have been given a convex
chamfer as well.

On top of that he has drilled his SR drop handle bars in two places on
each side so he can route the brake cable internally in the handlebar.
One hole is where the cable exits the brake lever and the other holes
are where the handle bar reinforcement is. Those holes were drilled at
an angle and thus are fairly long - at least 1/2 inch. They are just
the width of the cable housing.

He is even talking about drilling a series of holes in the middle
portion of each crank arm between the spindle and the pedal eye!

The gruppo is Exage 300.

I told him his bike is now an accident waiting to happen. He does not
believe me.

He also does not see the danger in drilling out his crank arms.

I told him I would post here and he could read the opinions of the
experts here on how dangerous he has made his bike.

Am I being paranoid?

Or is my fear that one of his drilled components will fail
catastrophically a legitimate concern?

I'd hate to lose his company on rides but as it stands I do not think I
could ride with him if he rides this bike now. I'm certain some
component he has drilled will fail suddenly and he could get seriously
injured or killed. We ride a lot of roads where traffic is 80 to 100
kilometres per hour. He is five feet ten inches tall and weighs about
170 lbs.

Thanks for any advice.

Peter

On 10 Dec 2006 21:16:25 -0800, "Sir Ridesalot"
may have said:

I told him I would post here and he could read the opinions of the
experts here on how dangerous he has made his bike.

Not all opinions will be expert; not all which are labelled (in either
direction) will be correctly attributed as to the authority of the
respondent. My opinions are worth what I charge for them.

Am I being paranoid?

I think not.

Or is my fear that one of his drilled components will fail
catastrophically a legitimate concern?

In the case of the der cage and the levers, the failure is unlikely
and the consequences are not necessarily catastrophic unless the
timing of the event is particularly bad. As for the seat post, this
is an area where I would junk a part that had been drilled; this
section of the bike is heavily loaded when the rider hits a bump, and
that's precisely when a failure can be most hazardous. As for
drilling the cranks, my recollection is that this is an area where
some machining to produce a groove down the middle of an otherwise
flat crank member was considered safe, but I don't recall seeing any
surviving parts that were drilled. The degree to which a hole in that
area would produce a stress riser during the twisting that occurs as
the crank reaches the horizontal part of the rotation would make me
*very* nervous indeed. I'd junk a drilled crank if it came to me on a
used bike.

I'd hate to lose his company on rides but as it stands I do not think I
could ride with him if he rides this bike now. I'm certain some
component he has drilled will fail suddenly and he could get seriously
injured or killed. We ride a lot of roads where traffic is 80 to 100
kilometres per hour. He is five feet ten inches tall and weighs about
170 lbs.

Weight all the information before making a decision, but if you're at
all unsettled when the verdicts are in, ride ahead of him so that if
he spills, you're not going to go down with him. That way, at least
you're still functional and able to assist and summon aid.


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On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:16:25 -0800, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

He is even talking about drilling a series of holes in the middle
portion of each crank arm between the spindle and the pedal eye!

This could qualify for a Darwin award. But he wouldn't actually have to
die, just hit the top tube with enough force....

I'd hate to lose his company on rides but as it stands I do not think I
could ride with him if he rides this bike now.

Well, I would not ride on his wheel.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Enron's slogan: Respect, Communication, Integrity, and
_`\(,_ | Excellence.
(_)/ (_) |

Sir Ridesalot wrote:

Thanks for any advice.

My input:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as possible so
if these components could be safely drilled, they would come that way. It
is just too obvious for them not to have thought of it.

If it was so easy to reduce the weight, why would Campag bother with all
that carbon in Record? If it could be safely done, their Record groupset
would come full of holes instead and be even lighter for it.

Some components do come pre-drilled. My 9-speed Veloce cassette for example.

Also, does it make things faster? I'd have thought it reduces weight at the
cost of aerodynamics, which at speed is more important anyway. I'm no
expert, but I'm pretty sure smooth surfaces should create less turbulence
than ones with holes in.

--
Jim

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:43:31 +0000, Jim Higson wrote:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as possible so
if these components could be safely drilled, they would come that way.

Exage?

--
JT
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John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:43:31 +0000, Jim Higson wrote:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as possible so
if these components could be safely drilled, they would come that way.

Exage?

A single hole (D=2.0m) through the bike is probably safest.

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:57:40 -0500, John Forrest Tomlinson
may have said:

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:43:31 +0000, Jim Higson wrote:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as possible so
if these components could be safely drilled, they would come that way.

Exage?

I think you misspelled "anchor" there.

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Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:38:26 +0100, M-gineering
may have said:

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:43:31 +0000, Jim Higson wrote:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as possible so
if these components could be safely drilled, they would come that way.

Exage?

A single hole (D=2.0m) through the bike is probably safest.

Monospoke wheels are what he really needs.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

In article ,
John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:43:31 +0000, Jim Higson wrote:

Component makers obsess about getting their product as light as
possible so if these components could be safely drilled, they would
come that way.

Exage?

Exactly. Drilling out one of Shimano's bottom end groups? Good grief.
Drilling out the handlebars, seat post and cranks? Stupidity!

Sir Ridesalot wrote:
[...]

On top of that he has drilled his SR drop handle bars in two places on
each side so he can route the brake cable internally in the handlebar.
One hole is where the cable exits the brake lever and the other holes
are where the handle bar reinforcement is. Those holes were drilled at
an angle and thus are fairly long - at least 1/2 inch. They are just
the width of the cable housing.

I've seen more than one photo of bars that broke from such abuse. This,
the seatpost, and the crank seems the poorest choices for drilling site
(of the ones cited).

Mark J.