did topolino really re-invent the wheel?

[Peter]

Alex Rodriguez wrote:

> In article
> <%[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
>>The only way I could see breaking the wheel is to destroy
>>the rim or crash something into the spokes causing them to
>>be damaged. To snap one of those spokes from stress would
>>be extremely difficult I would think.
>
>
> A twig in a spoke could cause damage that would eventually
> cause the spoke to fail.
>
>
>>As the spokes are irreplaceable you have to install a new
>>half of the wheel. Raphael from topolino told me that they
>>are roughly $100 and that includes all the spokes for a
>>1/2 side and a new hubshell (the hubshell joins the wheels
>>in the middle of the hub.
>
>
> $100 to fix wheel damage seems a bit steep. Especially
> when you consider that a broken spoke on a regular wheel
> would only set you back $20 or so.

?? Are those gold-plated spokes? If any shop wanted to
charge me $20 for a spoke I'd keep riding on a slightly
wobbly wheel to the next town.

 

[Jayofmontreal]

I have a friend who won't get a carbon fiber frame because
"if you smash it against the edge of a door, its gonna
break". The possible bad things that can happen from an
accident are many. Personally from an accident I am far more
worried about me than I am my bike. Bike fixes with money,
bad knee injuries -- well you're screwed for life.

I like the wheels, they ride great, you don't like them, you
don't have to ride them.

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"Alex Rodriguez" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article
> <%[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >The only way I could see breaking the wheel is to destroy
> >the rim or
crash
> >something into the spokes causing them to be damaged. To
> >snap one of
those
> >spokes from stress would be extremely difficult I
> >would think.
>
> A twig in a spoke could cause damage that would eventually
> cause the spoke to fail.
>
> >As the spokes are irreplaceable you have to install a new
> >half of the
wheel.
> >Raphael from topolino told me that they are roughly $100
> >and that
includes
> >all the spokes for a 1/2 side and a new hubshell (the
> >hubshell joins the wheels in the middle of the hub.
>
> $100 to fix wheel damage seems a bit steep. Especially
> when you consider that a broken spoke on a regular wheel
> would only set you back $20 or so.
> --------------
> Alex
>

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[Charles Ramsey]

My grandfather told me that any thing I thought was new the
old timers had allready thougth of I saw an antique car with
spoked wheels the drive side had twice as many spokes as the
non drive side and the non drive side was radially spoked
just like the new campagnolos.

 

[Bruce Frech]

"Tim McNamara" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Bruce Frech" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > I've never tired the Topolinos but I have used the
> > original Spinergys for many years. These had four pairs
> > of carbon fiber strips, and deep CF aero rim bottoms
> > glued to AL rims. They were flexible lateral but they
> > did absorb more of the road vibration then steel spoked
> > wheels.
>
> Yes, and they shattered causing imminent peril to the
> people using those wheels, hence Spinergy quietly withdrew
> them from the market without ever publicly admitting the
> failure of their design.
>

I guess I was lucky - I put in at least 100,000 miles (50k
times two wheels) on them and never had them fail except
when people put pedals in my wheel and ripped out a spoke.
But even then I was able to keep the bike upright and finish
the ride, although they were much more flexible laterally
with fewer spokes - floppy would be the word.

Yes I saw that webpage that years ago blasted them, but it
didn't impress me with any facts, just rumors. What was that
failure of the design you mentioned?

Bruce

 

[Tim McNamara]

[email protected] (charles ramsey) writes:

> My grandfather told me that any thing I thought was new
> the old timers had allready thougth of I saw an antique
> car with spoked wheels the drive side had twice as many
> spokes as the non drive side and the non drive side was
> radially spoked just like the new campagnolos.

Heh. The old timers weren't stupid. A gander through _The
Data Book_ published 20 years ago shows designs for
suspension forks and frames and all sorts of "new
innovations" going back 100 years. If the patent departments
seriously looked for prior art, it would be *very* difficult
to get a new patent for anything related to bikes.

 

[Tim McNamara]

Alex Rodriguez <[email protected]> writes:

> $100 to fix wheel damage seems a bit steep. Especially
> when you consider that a broken spoke on a regular wheel
> would only set you back $20 or so.

Or about $0.45 if you have rudimentary skills with a
spoke wrench.

 

[Dave]

Bruce Frech wrote:
>
> I guess I was lucky - I put in at least 100,000 miles (50k
> times two wheels) on them and never had them fail except
> when people put pedals in my wheel and ripped out a spoke.

Two wheels at 50K miles apiece does not count as 100K miles.
Only counts as 50K with a sample size of two. Your logic
would say that 100 riders each doing one mile would equal
doing a century. You know that isn't true.

-=Dave=-

 

[Fixey]

Originally posted by Tim McNamara
Alex Rodriguez <[email protected]> writes:

> $100 to fix wheel damage seems a bit steep. Especially
> when you consider that a broken spoke on a regular wheel
> would only set you back $20 or so.

Or about $0.45 if you have rudimentary skills with a
spoke wrench.

I take it you dont like your set Tim?

 

[Fixey]

I like mine, although I have to disagree with atleast one of the other guys who owns some, I feel every bump...this may be a tire thing(I use speedy at 125 PSI)...very unforgiving IMO, they roll good but not great but they climb extreemly well. I will pay 120 to fix em IF they do breack..no problem, they are a $2000NZ wheel, would you spend $120 to fix your STI levers if they broke. They arnt the only wheel like this btw, seen a similiar set (tubie) with a Deep V Carbon rim, I know Beloki uses some of these but cant recall the name (mabey made in Belgium) 3 x the price of topolino's though, and if you ping a spoke, trash can time...now that is scary

 

[Jayofmontreal]

Tires play a big part in the ride quality. I use to use
Veloflex Pave tires, which pump to 120psi roughly. The ride
on these puppies was terrible, low rolling resistance is not
a function of tire hardness, infact, a very stiff tire will
give more resistance, and low shock absorbtion.

After a month on the Veloflex I switched to Vrdestein
Fortezzas, and have been on them ever since. They pump to
145, though I don't use them that high, and the ride is much
softer, but I roll much better on them.

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"Fixey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I like mine, although I have to disagree with atleast one
> of the other guys who owns some, I feel every bump...this
> may be a tire thing(I use speedy at 125 PSI)...very
> unforgiving IMO, they roll good but not great but they
> climb extreemly well. I will pay 120 to fix em IF they do
> breack..no problem, they are a $2000NZ wheel, would you
> spend $120 to fix your STI levers if they broke. They arnt
> the only wheel like this btw, seen a similiar set (tubie)
> with a Deep V Carbon rim, I know Beloki uses some of these
> but cant recall the name (mabey made in Belgium) 3 x the
> price of topolino's though, and if you ping a spoke, trash
> can time...now that is scary
>
>
>
> --
>
>

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[Andy Dingley]

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 16:16:40 GMT, "oveto" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Has anybody purchased/ridden the topolino wheels.

Not me.

But I do know a little about Kevlar, and I know how badly it
suffers under UV. If you have these wheels, store them dark
and watch for spoke problems if you ride outside of
Manchester or Seattle.

I like the way the spokes are "tied and wrapped" too - that
should stir up a few of the sacred cows around here.
--
Smert' spamionam

 

[R15757]

Peter Chisholm wrote:

<< Nelson Vales has a pair he got for free, and we are
waiting until he breaks one, like he has with just about
every wheel he has used..Mavic, Campagnolo, these,
shimano...

We try to build him a pair but...... >>

Cheetah is in Boulder? Right on....

Robert

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

robert-<< Cheetah is in Boulder? Right on... >><BR><BR>

He actually lives in Denverr but drives his great big
Mercedes up to Boulder often to ride and hang out. Really
nice guy, happy he likes to come here.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Jeff Starr]

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 16:16:40 GMT, "oveto"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Has anybody purchased/ridden the topolino wheels.
>
> Not me.
>
> But I do know a little about Kevlar, and I know how badly
> it suffers under UV. If you have these wheels, store them
> dark and watch for spoke problems if you ride outside of
> Manchester or Seattle.
>
> I like the way the spokes are "tied and wrapped" too -
> that should stir up a few of the sacred cows around here.

I finally took a look at their website. They are out of my
price range, but I would be more than happy to do some
product testing for them. I am easy on equipment, only
weighing around 157 lbs. They are interesting. Life is
Good! Jeff

 

[Dvt]

Carl Fogel wrote:
> When I looked at the site:
>
> http://www.topolinotech.com
>
> it seemed that among their numerous claims to improved
> technology was that the hub no longer bears much of the
> load, but instead passes it through at a slight angle to
> the opposite spoke--what you call the bending.

Any hub built with near-tangential spoking achieves the same
goal. A little bit of the flange is squeezed, but the hub
bears almost no radial load.

--
Dave dvt at psu dot edu

 

[R15757]

Peter Chisholm wrote<< He actually lives in Denverr but
drives his great big Mercedes up to Boulder often to
ride and hang out. Really nice guy, happy he likes to
come here. >>

Wow, cool. I'll have to keep an eye out. Back in the day
I used to watch Cheetah and Berryman and Gorski dicing it
up in C. Springs. His messenger stories inspired me to
become one myself. So, I guess, the guy was a bad
influence on me. ;-)

Guy like that should stay off the fru-fru wheels, eh? I
guess if you get everything for free...

cheers, Robert

 

[Fixey]

After reading some of the posts on this thread (mainly Tim's) and having just bought a pair myself I contacted the company asking them to explain the "misleading information" on there site. there response was very fast....

"I'm sorry, but you have to take these newsgroups with a grain of salt. I used to follow this one religiously a while back, but got turned off by the psuedo-authoratative responses when the authors were just putting forth their own (mostly negative) conjecture. I'm not knocking it - everybody is entitled to their opinion, right? Just try to take it in the context in which it is given, if you know what I mean.

Don't worry, we stand behind everything that is on our website. If you would like some clarification of any of the points, you are welcome to ask me. This is the designer here, no marketing hype. In the meantime, i recommend that you spend some time on your wheels and develop your own opinions.

Cheers,

Rafe"


Think I will take his advise, off for a ride....

 

[Jayofmontreal]

As I said in my previous messages, having spoke to Rafe a
number of times he's a very knowledgeable individual who
has been in the industry for a very long time. There are
several "experts" in this newsgroup who believe anything
not made in Italy is **** (except he is not Italian so what
does that mean?).

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"Fixey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> After reading some of the posts on this thread (mainly
> Tim's) and having just bought a pair myself I contacted
> the company asking them to explain the "misleading
> information" on there site. there response was very
> fast....
>
> "I'm sorry, but you have to take these newsgroups with a
> grain of salt. I used to follow this one religiously a
> while back, but got turned off by the psuedo-authoratative
> responses when the authors were just putting forth their
> own (mostly negative) conjecture. I'm not knocking it -
> everybody is entitled to their opinion, right? Just try to
> take it in the context in which it is given, if you know
> what I mean.
>
> Don't worry, we stand behind everything that is on our
> website. If you would like some clarification of any of
> the points, you are welcome to ask me. This is the
> designer here, no marketing hype. In the meantime, i
> recommend that you spend some time on your wheels and
> develop your own opinions.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Rafe"
>
>
> Think I will take his advise, off for a ride....
>
>
>
> --
>
>

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