Street Machine - a Cautionary Tale

I have just got back from what has become an annual event, my two
weeks or so in France, in recent years with the Street Machine. Took
European Bike Express to Bordeaux with the intention of cycling to
Orange, with perhaps a bit of touring in the Camargue. In the region
of 500 miles or so I guess, over 17 days.

I took the Piste Roger Lapebie out of Bordeaux, a 55 km cycle path on
an old railway track. At about 45 km the freewheel on the Street
Machine broke. I had to push the last 10km to Sauveterre-de-Guyenne.
There was a cycle mechanic in what is quite a small town, who set
about getting a new freewheel. Over the next couple of days I came to
realise that the rear hub is not a well-known make at all. It had
something like "Quatro TX" written on it, but was not Shimano as I had
assumed. The shop was not able to source a freewheel. They were also
not able to source a new hub, something about 32 spokes not being
normal, all wheels of this type with disc brakes are 36 spokes m'sieu.
Anyway the inevitable French weekend then arrived, so I was stuck in
Sauveterre for 5 days altogether, eventually buying a complete new
back wheel. I then had to reschedule the rest of the holiday, 5 days
is a bug chunk of 17 to lose.

I must say I was very disappointed that the hub on such an expensive
bike (especially as I bought the disc brake and the transmission
upgrades) was of an unbranded variety where parts could not be sourced
easily. This is meant to be a touring bike after all.

So beware any Street Machine owners out there, your expensive bike has
some cheap components in it.

Pete

--

Peter Grange

Peter Grange wrote:
Over the next couple of days I came to
realise that the rear hub is not a well-known make at all. It had
something like "Quatro TX" written on it, but was not Shimano as I had
assumed.

According to
http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkt...us_0899_d.html
they at least used at some point a Sachs hub. Which isn't exactly
obscure or lamentable, even if the company no longer exists taken over
by SRAM).

The shop was not able to source a freewheel. They were also
not able to source a new hub, something about 32 spokes not being
normal, all wheels of this type with disc brakes are 36 spokes m'sieu.

Well, that's just cack, as a quick Google will tell you. There is no
trouble getting a 559 wheel for discs with other than 36 spokes. I
found a Mavic disc specific rear wheel with /24/ spokes at the first
place I looked (wiggle.co.uk).

So beware any Street Machine owners out there, your expensive bike has
some cheap components in it.

The default rear shock is certainly nothing special, though on this
occasion I wondered if you were just had by uncooperative mechanics...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:09:17 +0100, Peter Clinch
wrote:


According to
http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkt...us_0899_d.html
they at least used at some point a Sachs hub. Which isn't exactly
obscure or lamentable, even if the company no longer exists taken over
by SRAM).
I had my son google for what was written on the hub (or at least the
best I could remember, as the hub was in the mechanic's shop) and he
came up with nothing. Having google to hand is not something I had at
my disposition at the time.

The shop was not able to source a freewheel. They were also
not able to source a new hub, something about 32 spokes not being
normal, all wheels of this type with disc brakes are 36 spokes m'sieu.

Well, that's just cack, as a quick Google will tell you. There is no
trouble getting a 559 wheel for discs with other than 36 spokes. I
found a Mavic disc specific rear wheel with /24/ spokes at the first
place I looked (wiggle.co.uk).
In such circs, one is at the mercy of the locals. All this guy had
outside his shop was lawnmowers. I'm sure he was trying his best, I'll
try to break down outside a larger town with cyber cafes and stuff
next time :-)

So beware any Street Machine owners out there, your expensive bike has
some cheap components in it.

The default rear shock is certainly nothing special, though on this
occasion I wondered if you were just had by uncooperative mechanics...

Like I said I'm sure he was doing his best. My point is that if the
bike has components that can be identified it gets fixed quicker. The
hub had no manufacturer's name on it. Had it been a Sachs or any other
manufacturer proud of its name I'm sure it would have.

Pete.

Peter Grange wrote:

Like I said I'm sure he was doing his best. My point is that if the
bike has components that can be identified it gets fixed quicker.

Fair enough, but if he thinks all 559 disc wheels have 36 spokes then
that shows you that his best isn't necessarily something that lets us
pour blame purely on HPVel...

hub had no manufacturer's name on it. Had it been a Sachs or any other
manufacturer proud of its name I'm sure it would have.

Have you taken this up with HPVel yet, and if so what do they say? (and
if you haven't it's a valid point, so I'd suggest you do).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:16:53 +0100, Peter Clinch
wrote:

Peter Grange wrote:

Like I said I'm sure he was doing his best. My point is that if the
bike has components that can be identified it gets fixed quicker.

Fair enough, but if he thinks all 559 disc wheels have 36 spokes then
that shows you that his best isn't necessarily something that lets us
pour blame purely on HPVel...

Ah, sorry, just read my post again, I didn't mean to say "All". I did
say "not normal", and meant to say "Normally" rather than "All". I
guess he was being guided by what his suppliers were telling him,( I
know he phoned at least 3) and it may have reflected what they stock
to cover "Normal" situations. All this is being done in French of
course. My French is a lot better than the average Brit, having worked
in France before, but it's getting a bit rusty. It has at least now
been augmented by the words for Hub, Spoke, Rim, Freewheel and even
Inch which I never had much call for before.
We would never have got into the realms of 32 vs 36 bit hubs if the
guy had been able to say "what you need is a xxxx freewheel". An
example of how situations just get further complicated.

hub had no manufacturer's name on it. Had it been a Sachs or any other
manufacturer proud of its name I'm sure it would have.

Have you taken this up with HPVel yet, and if so what do they say? (and
if you haven't it's a valid point, so I'd suggest you do).

I have every intention of taking it up with them. I'll let you know
what the response is.

Pete

Peter Clinch, Medical Physics IT Officer, wrote:
Peter Grange wrote:
Like I said I'm sure he was doing his best. My point is that if the
bike has components that can be identified it gets fixed quicker.

Fair enough, but if he thinks all 559 disc wheels have 36 spokes then
that shows you that his best isn't necessarily something that lets us
pour blame purely on HPVel...

Here in the "colonies", [1] mountain bikes with 32-spoke disc brake
wheels are quite common.

[1] As Mr. Larrington likes to write.

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

Peter Grange wrote:
...
I took the Piste Roger Lapebie out of Bordeaux, a 55 km cycle path on
an old railway track. At about 45 km the freewheel on the Street
Machine broke. I had to push the last 10km to Sauveterre-de-Guyenne.
There was a cycle mechanic in what is quite a small town, who set
about getting a new freewheel....

I must say I was very disappointed that the hub on such an expensive
bike (especially as I bought the disc brake and the transmission
upgrades) was of an unbranded variety where parts could not be sourced
easily. This is meant to be a touring bike after all....

Is it really a freewheel and not a freehub? [1] A disc brake compatible
freewheel would be a rather rare bird, and freewheels in general have
only been OEM specified on rather inexpensive bicycles for the last
decade or more. If the cluster is 8, 9 or 10-speed, it is almost
certainly a freehub, since 8-speed freewheels were known for breaking
axles and soon discontinued, and 9 and 10 speed freewheels have not been
commercially made.

[1] See http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html for clarification.

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

Tom Sherman wrote:

Is it really a freewheel and not a freehub? [1] A disc brake compatible
freewheel would be a rather rare bird, and freewheels in general have
only been OEM specified on rather inexpensive bicycles for the last
decade or more. If the cluster is 8, 9 or 10-speed, it is almost
certainly a freehub, since 8-speed freewheels were known for breaking
axles and soon discontinued, and 9 and 10 speed freewheels have not been
commercially made.

Early Streetmachines were 8 speed rears, mine's 5/6 years old or so and
is a 9.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:43:55 +0100, Peter Clinch
wrote:

Tom Sherman wrote:

Is it really a freewheel and not a freehub? [1] A disc brake compatible
freewheel would be a rather rare bird, and freewheels in general have
only been OEM specified on rather inexpensive bicycles for the last
decade or more. If the cluster is 8, 9 or 10-speed, it is almost
certainly a freehub, since 8-speed freewheels were known for breaking
axles and soon discontinued, and 9 and 10 speed freewheels have not been
commercially made.

Early Streetmachines were 8 speed rears, mine's 5/6 years old or so and
is a 9.

Mine's 9 speed too.

I guess technically it is a freehub, judging from sheldon's article.
The article does say however that the ratchet can be replaced
separately, and I did see it separate from the wheel in the mechanic's
shop. There was a screw thread on it.

Pete

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:28:36 -0500, Tom Sherman
wrote:

Peter Clinch, Medical Physics IT Officer, wrote:
Peter Grange wrote:
Like I said I'm sure he was doing his best. My point is that if the
bike has components that can be identified it gets fixed quicker.

Fair enough, but if he thinks all 559 disc wheels have 36 spokes then
that shows you that his best isn't necessarily something that lets us
pour blame purely on HPVel...

Here in the "colonies", [1] mountain bikes with 32-spoke disc brake
wheels are quite common.

Perhaps the USA is what HP consider their main market to be, so the
bike is kitted out for what is common over there. A quick, not
statistically valid, search on google.fr does suggest that hubs are
available in France with 32 or 36 options though. Of course what's
available on google is a bit different from what's available in rural
France.

Pete