Aero rims - good for touring?

doofy said:

I'm seeing some of those Aero rims, the synthetic ones, with 5 spokes.

Are they good for touring, or just speed?

Haven't used one, but while the conventional tourer market may be very
conservative the recumbent one is less so, and the tourers all seem to
come with traditionally high numbers of traditional double butted
stainless steel spokes.
Of course, if your idea of a touring load is a credit card and a spare
shirt it's much less of an issue than if it's camping gear for a week.

(Aero /rims/ shouldn't be any more or less of an issue than flat rims, I
think it's the spoking arrangements that need looking at, and touring is
potentially heavy loads over a rough terrain so more is probably better
than less).

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 [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Of course, if your idea of a touring load is a credit card and a spare
shirt it's much less of an issue than if it's camping gear for a week.

Nope, self supported.

Quoted message said:

(Aero /rims/ shouldn't be any more or less of an issue than flat rims, I
think it's the spoking arrangements that need looking at, and touring is
potentially heavy loads over a rough terrain so more is probably better
than less).

The spokes are integral to the rims, so I didn't delineate between the two.

doofy said:

The spokes are integral to the rims, so I didn't delineate between the two.

Okay, though be aware that if you ask for an "aero rim" by itself it
will often be taken as meaning one with an inner surface tapered towards
the hub, and doesn't specify any particular spoking arrangements. Most
often seen on disk specific rims without a braking surface.

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 [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

doofy said:

The spokes are integral to the rims, so I didn't delineate between the
two.

Okay, though be aware that if you ask for an "aero rim" by itself it
will often be taken as meaning one with an inner surface tapered towards
the hub, and doesn't specify any particular spoking arrangements. Most
often seen on disk specific rims without a braking surface.

Pete.

Thanks Pete. When I posted, I didn't realize aero was a generic term,
and was referring to the Aero brand.

doofy said:

Thanks Pete. When I posted, I didn't realize aero was a generic term,
and was referring to the Aero brand.

I'd not come across them... so I've learned something too! :-)

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 [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

doofy said:

Thanks Pete. When I posted, I didn't realize aero was a generic term,
and was referring to the Aero brand.

I'd not come across them... so I've learned something too! :-)

Pete.

Well, almost Aero anyway.

http://www.aerospoke.com/

Damn, its hard being a newbie. ;-)

"doofy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm seeing some of those Aero rims, the synthetic ones, with 5 spokes.

There are AeroSpoke reviews in several places, www.bentrideronline.com.

Quoted message said:

Are they good for touring, or just speed?

36/48 spoke "regular" wheels can be made plenty strong for touring.
My TE is currently using 32 spoke OCR rear wheel since I dinged
the 36 spoke OEM rim. If I were going cross country, I might replace
the rim and put the 36 spoke wheel back on, but for my last two
week-long tours, I've used the lighter OCR wheel without any problems.

Aerospoke wheels are heavier than "regular" wheels, but the difference
probably doesn't amount to much overall compared to the overall
self-supported touring gear...

They will lighten your wallet, of course! %^)

I'd rather take the $500-700 and spend it on other things, lighter tent,
stove, tail fairing, GPS,...

Jon

Jon said:

"doofy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm seeing some of those Aero rims, the synthetic ones, with 5 spokes.

There are AeroSpoke reviews in several places, www.bentrideronline.com.

Quoted message said:

Are they good for touring, or just speed?

36/48 spoke "regular" wheels can be made plenty strong for touring.
My TE is currently using 32 spoke OCR rear wheel since I dinged
the 36 spoke OEM rim. If I were going cross country, I might replace
the rim and put the 36 spoke wheel back on, but for my last two
week-long tours, I've used the lighter OCR wheel without any problems.

Aerospoke wheels are heavier than "regular" wheels, but the difference
probably doesn't amount to much overall compared to the overall
self-supported touring gear...

They will lighten your wallet, of course! %^)

I'd rather take the $500-700 and spend it on other things, lighter tent,
stove, tail fairing, GPS,...

I was just wanting to avoid having to repair spokes. Of course, I've
never lost a spoke on a bike, but I've never done touring either.

doofy said:

I was just wanting to avoid having to repair spokes. Of course, I've
never lost a spoke on a bike, but I've never done touring either.

Carrying and replacing spokes on a conventional wheel on a tour is a
lot easier than getting an Aerospoke repaired (basically you'll have
to box it up and send it back to the manufacturer).

Of course, some say the Aerospokes are "bombproof", but as with
anything else, some have had problems (the BROL forum has one such
thread, I think).

I would also think that Aerospokes are more susceptible to suicide
squirrels.

Victor Kan said:

doofy said:

I was just wanting to avoid having to repair spokes. Of course, I've
never lost a spoke on a bike, but I've never done touring either.

Carrying and replacing spokes on a conventional wheel on a tour is a
lot easier than getting an Aerospoke repaired (basically you'll have
to box it up and send it back to the manufacturer).

Of course, some say the Aerospokes are "bombproof", but as with
anything else, some have had problems (the BROL forum has one such
thread, I think).

I would also think that Aerospokes are more susceptible to suicide
squirrels.

As opposed to homicide squirrels:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070614/od_nm/germany_squirrel_dc_1;_ylt=AgCKGz2IiJO1puuXNl92aNcE1vAI

Ok, I'm biting, do some people get squirrels in their spokes? Seems
possible.

doofy said:

Ok, I'm biting, do some people get squirrels in their spokes? Seems
possible.

Ah gess dey do:

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2005/12/squirrel-suicide-attack.html

"doofy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm seeing some of those Aero rims, the synthetic ones, with 5 spokes.

Are they good for touring, or just speed?

I've got them, they do both very well

"doofy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jon said:

"doofy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm seeing some of those Aero rims, the synthetic ones, with 5 spokes.

There are AeroSpoke reviews in several places, www.bentrideronline.com.

Quoted message said:

Are they good for touring, or just speed?

36/48 spoke "regular" wheels can be made plenty strong for touring.
My TE is currently using 32 spoke OCR rear wheel since I dinged
the 36 spoke OEM rim. If I were going cross country, I might replace
the rim and put the 36 spoke wheel back on, but for my last two
week-long tours, I've used the lighter OCR wheel without any problems.

Aerospoke wheels are heavier than "regular" wheels, but the difference
probably doesn't amount to much overall compared to the overall
self-supported touring gear...

They will lighten your wallet, of course! %^)

I'd rather take the $500-700 and spend it on other things, lighter tent,
stove, tail fairing, GPS,...

I was just wanting to avoid having to repair spokes. Of course, I've
never lost a spoke on a bike, but I've never done touring either.

Previously I never lost a spoke either but liked the way Aerospoke's looked
and now have roughly 15,000 on them