Aerospokes and Disc vs. Drum Brakes

I am considering purchasing an EasyRacers Gold Rush for loaded touring. I am 6'3" and 245 pounds
and with gear I will have a total load of about 300 pounds. I have come accross several
recommendations for Aerospokes in such a situation. I am in contact with Aerospokes directly, but I
would like some other opinions on this issue? I will also call Garder Martin of EasyRacers to get
his take on this issue.

What do you see as the pros & cons of going with Aeropokes vs. a regular style spoked wheel?

If I go with Aerospoke, should I go front and back, or would there be an advantage to go with
Aerospoke in the back and regular in the front, for example.

Should I get a tandem wheel / hub...or is the regular 700c wheel for touring adequate?

I am also considering getting disc or drum brakes to help with the braking, probably on the rear
wheel, for slowing down mountain descents and just in general improving the ability to stop quickly
with a 335 pound load (me, gear + bike). One dealer has recommended adding the Avid mechanical disc
brake for this purpose. Is the Arai drum brake possibly a better option? Other options?

Ken Huizenga Appleton, WI [email protected]

 

"Ken Huizenga" <[email protected]> wrote in news[email protected]:

> I am considering purchasing an EasyRacers Gold Rush for loaded touring. I am 6'3" and 245 pounds
> and with gear I will have a total load of about 300 pounds. I have come accross several
> recommendations for Aerospokes in such a situation. I am in contact with Aerospokes directly, but
> I would like some other opinions on this issue? I will also call Garder Martin of EasyRacers to
> get his take on this issue.
>
> What do you see as the pros & cons of going with Aeropokes vs. a regular style spoked wheel?
>
> If I go with Aerospoke, should I go front and back, or would there be an advantage to go with
> Aerospoke in the back and regular in the front, for example.
>

A friend has a TI Rush with a front fairing. He had frt & rr Aerospokes, and removed the front
because it made "a strange wind noise". He said it was not audible until he put the fairing on, and
he found it so irritating, he replaced it with a conventional spoked wheel.

> Should I get a tandem wheel / hub...or is the regular 700c wheel for touring adequate?
>
> I am also considering getting disc or drum brakes to help with the braking, probably on the rear
> wheel, for slowing down mountain descents and just in general improving the ability to stop
> quickly with a 335 pound load (me, gear + bike). One dealer has recommended adding the Avid
> mechanical disc brake for this purpose. Is the Arai drum brake possibly a better option? Other
> options?
>

Personally, I'd opt for front and rear Avid mechanical discs, or even hydraulics. The Arai is
generally used as a "drag brake" on tandems, and is kind of old tech.

 

Ken, I'm 6-foot-4 and about 215 pounds (give or take...). I might consider Aerospoke wheels if I
wanted to be absolutely sure that I had an indestructible wheel, but I've built my own wheels for 20
years without a broken spoke. Were I touring, *I* would consider the ease of repair in the field one
of the strengths of a conventional spoked wheel. At your weigh and load, a 48 spoke "tandem" rear
wheel might give you an extra measure of confidence, but many tandems nowadays are built with
36-spoke wheels, so even that may be overkill.

As to disc brakes: a conventional bicycle rim brake *is* a disc brake... one with the biggest
possible brake disc. This gives you the best possible mechanical advantage, the biggest heat sink
and the lightest possible brake mount... all good things when it comes to bicycle design. The only
downside is that you need to monitor the sidewall of the rim to eliminate the possibility of wearing
through it with the brake shoe. This isn't a real problem unless you choose irrationally lightweight
rims for your touring bike.

If you want more opinions, there's a discussion group on the Easy Racers site at
http://easyracers.com/vbb/ . I'm pretty sure Aerospoke wheels have been discussed in the past.

FWIW: my Tour Easy has Sun CR-18 rims built on Shimano 105 hubs, 32 spoke front, 36-spoke rear. For
reduced dish, the rear is spaced to the "mountain bike" width of 135mm. I wouldn't hesitate to load
up my bike and head across the country if I were assured of having a job when I got back.

Jeff

"Ken Huizenga" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am considering purchasing an EasyRacers Gold Rush for loaded touring. I am 6'3" and 245 pounds
> and with gear I will have a total load of about 300 pounds. I have come accross several
> recommendations for Aerospokes in such a situation. I am in contact with Aerospokes directly, but
> I would like some other opinions on this issue? I will also call Garder Martin of EasyRacers to
> get his take on this issue.
>
> What do you see as the pros & cons of going with Aeropokes vs. a regular style spoked wheel?
>
> If I go with Aerospoke, should I go front and back, or would there be an advantage to go with
> Aerospoke in the back and regular in the front, for example.
>
> Should I get a tandem wheel / hub...or is the regular 700c wheel for touring adequate?
>
> I am also considering getting disc or drum brakes to help with the braking, probably on the rear
> wheel, for slowing down mountain descents and just in general improving the ability to stop
> quickly with a 335 pound load (me, gear + bike). One dealer has recommended adding the Avid
> mechanical disc brake for this purpose. Is the Arai drum brake possibly a better option? Other
> options?
>
> Ken Huizenga Appleton, WI [email protected]

 

Jeff Wills wrote:

> As to disc brakes: a conventional bicycle rim brake *is* a disc brake... [...] The only downside
> is that you need to monitor the sidewall of the rim to eliminate the possibility of wearing
> through it with the brake shoe.

Down side #2: they don't work terribly well when it rains.

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected] 120318.news.dfncis.de:

> Jeff Wills wrote:
>
>> As to disc brakes: a conventional bicycle rim brake *is* a disc brake... [...] The only downside
>> is that you need to monitor the sidewall of the rim to eliminate the possibility of wearing
>> through it with the brake shoe.
>
> Down side #2: they don't work terribly well when it rains.
>

Downside #3: on a really long, hard descent the rim can actually heat the rim enough to a)melt the
tire to it or b)make the tube pop.

rorschandt

 

I've owned several tandems. On the Burley, the Arai rear drum was only effective as a drag brake. I
wouldn't rely on it to stop us in general use. OTOH, my Bikee E2 has f/r Avid mechanical disc
brakes. They are, in a word, terrific!

BentJay

 

Having used conventional brakes all my life and for the last year or so using exclusively disk
brakes (Greenspeed tandem and customized Haluzak), I can tell you that I MUCH prefer the disks.
Their only downside is slightly more weight. On the up side, they are finely modulated, powerful in
all conditions, easy to adjust, quiet (squeeking a virtual non-issue), and they look damn cool.
Disks are not NEEDED in most cases, but they sure are nice and provide some peace of mind,
especially for a big guy like you with a load. On long mountain descents, you'll be glad to have
them. For a very nice touring bike with disk brakes standard, check out the Longbikes

Good luck, Scott

rorschandt <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected] 120318.news.dfncis.de:
>
> > Jeff Wills wrote:
> >
> >> As to disc brakes: a conventional bicycle rim brake *is* a disc brake... [...] The only
> >> downside is that you need to monitor the sidewall of the rim to eliminate the possibility of
> >> wearing through it with the brake shoe.
> >
> > Down side #2: they don't work terribly well when it rains.
> >
>
>
> Downside #3: on a really long, hard descent the rim can actually heat the rim enough to a)melt the
> tire to it or b)make the tube pop.
>
> rorschandt

 

"Ken Huizenga" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected].rdc-kc.rr.com>...
>
> What do you see as the pros & cons of going with Aeropokes vs. a regular style spoked wheel?
>
> If I go with Aerospoke, should I go front and back, or would there be an advantage to go with
> Aerospoke in the back and regular in the front, for example.
>
> Should I get a tandem wheel / hub...or is the regular 700c wheel for touring adequate?
>
> I am also considering getting disc or drum brakes to help with the braking, probably on the rear
> wheel, for slowing down mountain descents and just in general improving the ability to stop
> quickly with a 335 pound load (me, gear + bike). One dealer has recommended adding the Avid
> mechanical disc brake for this purpose. Is the Arai drum brake possibly a better option? Other
> options?
>
There are several GRR riders in my club who are using Aerospokes. They're just about bulletproof. I
don't know about any extra noises made by the front wheels, maybe that person was just being extra
sensitive. For brakes, definitely go with the Avid Mechanicals. The only problem with discs is the
$118 upcharge for disc brake hubs on the Aerospokes.