Fscking Shimano!!

Bleve said:

Absent Husband wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

whilst not the lightest rider in the bunch, hopefully not heavy enough
to buckle any wheels (unless that sprint program you put me on swells
my quads to triple-size!! *laughs*)

Has that been working at all? Have you gained any speed on your
downhill sprints?
Are you QUADZILLA?!

<snip>

Did someone call me?

T

Tamyka Bell said:

Bleve said:

Absent Husband wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

whilst not the lightest rider in the bunch, hopefully not heavy enough
to buckle any wheels (unless that sprint program you put me on swells
my quads to triple-size!! *laughs*)

Has that been working at all? Have you gained any speed on your
downhill sprints?
Are you QUADZILLA?!

<snip>

Did someone call me?

ultramarathon runner? Quadzilla? Nope 🙂

Bleve said:

Tamyka Bell said:

Bleve said:

Absent Husband wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

> whilst not the lightest rider in the bunch, hopefully not heavy enough
> to buckle any wheels (unless that sprint program you put me on swells
> my quads to triple-size!! *laughs*)

Has that been working at all? Have you gained any speed on your
downhill sprints?
Are you QUADZILLA?!

<snip>

Did someone call me?

ultramarathon runner? Quadzilla? Nope 🙂

As I transitioned to ultras, I had to start hanging out with ultra
runners, to make my quads look bigger. But remember, I'm a trail runner.
We're all bigger. Back to cycling this week (after injury) yay!

T

In aus.bicycle on 23 Jul 2006 20:40:28 -0700

Bleve said:

No. Alex rims are ok quality, not light, but plenty strong enough, and
you've got little wheels, which are stronger than big wheels. (20" on
your 'bent?). *and* you have more wheels to spread the load around too!

It's 20 at the front and 26 at the back.

More wheels? The rest of you are on unicycles?

(I'm on a SWB "highracer" high bottom bracket bike, although the other
day I was rather lusting after a TriSled....)

Zebee

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:25:56 GMT

Stuart Lamble said:

What about the 2005 (or was it 2004?) OCR3? Mind you, I'm strongly
inclined to buy a dynamo hub, which means a new wheel anyway ...

Indeed. You buy a dynamo hub, and of course you can't lace it to an
*old* rim....

Zebee

PHP/PHP quote='Absent Husband'Bleve said:

You actually *bought* a pair of them?!

YES!!! They cost me $100. The r540 (front) is approx 2yo and had done
about 8000km. The r550 (rear) is 1yo and had done roughly 2000km. I can
still easily see the rim wear indicator on both, and the hubs spin
smoothly & sweetly...

But remember what I was coming from. The CXP22's were a whole heap of
[censored]. Lots of spoke problems (I had to replace them once under warranty
already!!). And I was truing the rear wheel once every month. They
sucked big time.

Quoted message said:

Personal question time: what do you weigh?
At my LBS, we sell a reasonable number of lowend roadies with these
wheels on them, and generally suggest that riders greater than 80kg or
so upgrade the wheels either at purchase-time or as soon as they start
to break. If you're less than that, you might be ok though. That's
been my experience with them anyway.

I weigh 80kg's (down from about 90kg's 18 months ago... *grins*). So
whilst not the lightest rider in the bunch, hopefully not heavy enough
to buckle any wheels (unless that sprint program you put me on swells
my quads to triple-size!! *laughs*)

At any rate, I'm on a povo cycling budget. Whilst I lust after bling,
I'm riding an Orbea Enol using Sora running gear (with my s3xy Shimano
wheels *laughs*). I'm eyeing off the 'new' 10sp 105 gruppo, and am
saving up for that (whether it be onto my current frame, or a new bike)
- but 2 kids, school fees, kids' gymnastics & swimming lessons, etc,
etc, all have a much higher priority... 🙂

Cheers,
Abby[/QUOTE][PHP][/PHP]

Abby, you need to economise on the domestic front, and free up some wealth for your own needs. You need that 105; you owe that 105 to yourself. Hell, aim for Dura-ace and you might get Ultegra (or even a proper gruppo from Campag 😄 - group-set flame-war suit on).

Travis could help you with some handy wealth creation strategies, tax minimisation schemes and the like, but real savings, REAL savings my friend, come from within yourself, and by imposing severe austerity measures on those that you love, without them actually realizing it. They will thank you for it later on. These savings occur by tapping into your aggressive, selfish [censored] within (like I successfully have) and by having a look around and seizing opportunities.

Why, just from one paragraph in one post, I can see that you could save money by:

• home-schooling the kids (no more recurrent school fees); and
  
• combining their leisure activities - I see you're paying for both gymnastics and swimming lessons. Ever heard of synchronised swimming?? Combines both those activities, and has the added benefit of involving music (if they ever want to take music lessons or sh%t like that, you can lie to them about how they already having music lessons and synchro class);
  

On the next LA ride, I'll share with you my theories on:

• just how little kids actually need to eat to survive;
  
• how you can mix 'n' match and accessorize just one school uniform to look like a complete wardrobe full of clothes!
  
• why educational toys are soooo overrated;
  
• 101 playthings to do with a cheap, simple, humble pumpkin (including cooking and eating it!)
  
• why "learn or earn" is a stupid pilocy - and how "learn and earn" is within reach for all.
  

monsterman said:

Why, just from one paragraph in one post, I can see that you could save
money by:

- home-schooling the kids (no more recurrent school fees); and
- combining their leisure activities - I see you're paying for both
gymnastics _and_ swimming lessons. Ever heard of synchronised
swimming?? Combines both those activities, and has the added benefit
of involving music (if they ever want to take music lessons or sh%t
like that, you can lie to them about how they already having music
lessons and synchro class);
On the next LA ride, I'll share with you my theories on:

- just how little kids actually need to eat to survive;
- how you can mix 'n' match and accessorize just one school uniform
to look like a complete wardrobe full of clothes!
- why educational toys are soooo overrated;
- 101 playthings to do with a cheap, simple, humble pumpkin
(including cooking and eating it!)
- why "learn or earn" is a stupid pilocy - and how "learn _and_ earn"
is within reach for all.

All of those savings need to be balanced against the increased "cost" of
insanity associated with kids:
- home schooling - no comment required
- 2 leisure activities - provides twice the distraction to the kids
- cut back on food = more complaining = more stressed parents
- ahh the old mix n match wardrobe trick will come back to haunt you in
later years when all that built up bitterness from the kids explodes

DaveB

Tamyka Bell said:

Nah, fsck off!

I told Abby that you recommended ANYTHING but them. How many times did
I fscking tell him? But he wanted them. So rather than making him pay
full price, I told him when some got advertised second hand from the UQ
Tri club.

Grrr.

T

I've had mine for almost 3.5 years now and I (still) like them.

This is coming from someone who has gone through a quite a few pairs of low end wheels.

I'd never fiddle with spoke keys myself, particularly on a bike with less than the standard number of spokes - that sort of thing is best left to those who know what they're doing (ie. Ben at Brisbane Bike Sales in Albert Street).

Abby, you should have called me as I'm fairly sure Paulie's spoke key would do the job.

Lotte

Absent Husband said:

Over the weekend, I noticed my rear wheel was slightly out of true, so
figured that I should pull out the old spoke key and have a fiddle...

The rear is a Shimano r550, which I love by the way (yes, I'm aware of
its reputation!!). Anyway - first of all, I realised that I couldn't
access the drive side nipples unless I took off the cassette (the
nipples are near the hub)!!! *grrr*

Then, after I'd removed the cassette, I discovered that my old nifty
little BBB spoke key (that has 3 sizes for different size nips), was
too small!!

So today, I rang around a few bike shops to find out if they had a
spoke key that would fit (and I could buy). Turns out that I have to
buy a special Shimano spoke key, because they are the only ones that
make 'em that size... *grrrrrr*

I stilll love my Shimano r550 wheels. But not quite as much as I did a
week ago... *grins*

Cheers,
Abby

Abby, if you're stuck I can make you one easily enough 🙂

Email me on my _real_ email addy, not this one

Karen

--
"Sometimes I think I have a Guardian Idiot - a little invisible spirit
just behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile" -
Jake Stonebender

[PHP][/PHP]

DaveB said:

monsterman wrote:
All of those savings need to be balanced against the increased "cost" of
insanity associated with kids:
- home schooling - no comment required
- 2 leisure activities - provides twice the distraction to the kids
- cut back on food = more complaining = more stressed parents
- ahh the old mix n match wardrobe trick will come back to haunt you in
later years when all that built up bitterness from the kids explodes

DaveB

[PHP][/PHP]

DaveB, here at Monsterman Inc, we've thought of everything, and we've got all bases covered.

Of course, you'll have to subscribe via our website for the full personal plan - (see www.monstermanmoneymadeeasy.com), but what I can tell you for free DaveB, is that a well executed plan invariably involves you being off with your independantly wealthy second wife (after your vasectomy, performed by our friendly surgeons) well before all those "increased costs" you've mentioned become your problem😄

Zebee Johnstone said:

In aus.bicycle on 23 Jul 2006 20:40:28 -0700

Bleve said:

No. Alex rims are ok quality, not light, but plenty strong enough, and
you've got little wheels, which are stronger than big wheels. (20" on
your 'bent?). *and* you have more wheels to spread the load around too!

It's 20 at the front and 26 at the back.

More wheels? The rest of you are on unicycles?

(I'm on a SWB "highracer" high bottom bracket bike, although the other
day I was rather lusting after a TriSled....)

Heh! Obviously I'm not the only one who tends to think 'bent==trike.
Probably because the idea of reclining on only 2 wheels freaks me out a bit.

--
BrettS

Absent Husband said:

I weigh 80kg's (down from about 90kg's 18 months ago... *grins*). So
whilst not the lightest rider in the bunch, hopefully not heavy enough
to buckle any wheels (unless that sprint program you put me on swells
my quads to triple-size!! *laughs*)

So are triple sized quadriceps dodecariceps?

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:19:24 +0800

BrettS said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

(I'm on a SWB "highracer" high bottom bracket bike, although the other
day I was rather lusting after a TriSled....)

Heh! Obviously I'm not the only one who tends to think 'bent==trike.
Probably because the idea of reclining on only 2 wheels freaks me out a bit.

Try it, you might like it 🙂

Balance is no harder than an upright, I figured it out in the time it
took me to get my feet on the pedals.

Zebee

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

By "lowend" do you mean 105 or Ultegra equipped bikes? Coz they come on
a few of those, from various makers.

The groupset is not the determiner of lowend or highend bike, it's just
a symptom 🙂

The Inexa's and Racelines we sell to the groupset chasers ("I want the
cheapest Ultegra/105 bike I can get! don't care if the frame is flexo
the jellyframe, the chainstay brace stops the back wheel being fitted
when inflated and the forks made of wet spaghetti and it rides like a
BMX with a cracked seatpost, damnit I want Ultegra and I won't pay more
than $2000 for it!"😉 all come with them, as do a lot of the Cannondale
Synapse's (definately not a lowend frame & fork, but they cut the costs
elsewhere for the Al alloy version, the wheels .. the wheels ...).

Quoted message said:

FYI:

R-550 wheels are a replacement for the truly woeful R-540 wheels (man,
am I sick of replacing spokes in those) and are actually QUITE a bit
better than them. They have far fewer failures and wobbles, and
engineeringly, keeping the nipples at the hub is a good idea (lower
circumferential rotating mass). HOWEVER, they're more difficult to true
and replace spokes in than conventional wheels (hence thread topic),

And that's *when* you can get spokes from Shimano ... we had a lot of
supply issues with them early on in their release cycle.
By reports, the R560 is actually an ok wheel. We haven't sold many,
and have had none come back.But IMO, the R550 (and the R540, of course)
is junk. They -look- fast. They -are- [censored]. They're less [censored] than
the R540, sure, but they're still [censored]. I have one at home at the
moment, but I don't trust it for anything except the spin trainer and
the bloke who owns it doesn't want it back 🙂 A few of the riders I
coach have them, and most of them have horror stories about them too.
A few have been lucky and haven't broken them yet, and might not do so.
It may be a quality control problem with them, and these guys have
been lucky and got some that didn't have spokes made from britalloy.

Quoted message said:

suffer fatigue under heavier riders who do a lot of k's (low spoke
count is bad for this), but are good for weekenders who want a
relatively fast wheel for low $ input (try $400/pr vs.
Mavic/Bontrager/Velcocity/Wheelcraft $750-1000/pr for same nominal
spec, yes, material quality prob. differs). Don't be a wheel snob.

I'm the furthest you'll get from a wheel snob, I recommend cheap 32
spoke wheels built up around open pros or some heavier rim and 105 hubs
most of the time.

Speaking of snobbery, I ran dura-ace through my madone yesterday
(replaced the 10sp ultregra with 10sp D-A) and I can't tell the
difference except the brakes feel a touch more sensitive, but that may
just be the new pads. The 10sp ultegra will get shuffled onto my 1400
(57,000km and still going!) this week so I have a wet weather bike
again 🙂 My 105 shifters (9sp) still work but are a bit sloppy after
some 10's of thousands of gear changes. The only real difference is
weight and stiffness of the brakes, I reckon, now I've put a lot of k's
onto 105 and Ultregra to make a comparison ....

Quoted message said:

Every step is a step on the way to greatness, if only acknowledged as
such . . . 🙂

Unless it's a step backwards 🙂

I thought the 560s were just a polished rim (maybe stiffer
extrusion/alloy?) version of the 550s. Design is the same. Perhaps
they've admitted their mistake. No good making cheap wheels out of Open
Pro's when they're $120 RRP plus build. 105 hubs are pretty bloody good
for the price, tho'.

I've got an Ultegra/Dura-Ace bitzer and I can't tell the difference
between the bits, which get swapped off when they wear out. Noice,
cheap groupset, the Ultegra 10sp.

Even a step backwards is movement created by the desire for something
different, thus speaketh guru MH 🙂

Cheers, MH

Zebee Johnstone said:

It's 20 at the front and 26 at the back.

*If* the build is OK, and the hubs are OK, Alex rims shouldn't give you
any trouble. There was a pair floating around on one bike for a while, but
I can't remember what. Never had a problem, which indicates it was
probably on my wife's bike, but it still got out a fair bit.

In my experience Deore hubs or above will last a long time if you keep an
eye on the bearings. A mid range rim in a well built wheel will last a lot
longer than a premium rim in a crappily built wheel.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
And you don't think the government lets you buy _real_ tinfoil do you?
-- D.C. Ross, the Monastery.

Zebee Johnstone said:

Balance is no harder than an upright, I figured it out in the time it
took me to get my feet on the pedals.

The trick is remembering it long enough to get your feet back off.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
I want you to remember, I intend this breast
satirically. ~Coupling, "Flushed,"

Absent Husband said:

Is there a general opinion out there on "is it more difficult to true
low spoke count wheels"??

The principle is the same. However, you've generally got higher tension to
deal with, and fewer spokes to spread tweaks across. OTOH you've got fewer
spokes to turn the wrong way...

I've only played with one low spoke count wheel (Bonty Race lite or some
such that got bent a bit in transport) and it felt pretty simple to me.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"I've found that nurturing one's Zen nature is vital to dealing with
technology. Violence is pretty damn useful too" - Lionel Lauer

LotteBum said:

I'd never fiddle with spoke keys myself, particularly on a bike with
less than the standard number of spokes - that sort of thing is best
left to those who know what they're doing (ie. Ben at Brisbane Bike
Sales in Albert Street).

Abby, you should have called me as I'm fairly sure Paulie's spoke key
would do the job.

Lotte
--
LotteBum

That's a good point dude.

Is there a general opinion out there on "is it more difficult to true
low spoke count wheels"??

Note that I'm not talking the whole schamozzle, just minor truing...

Cheers,
Abby

On 2006-07-24, Absent Husband (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

At any rate, I'm on a povo cycling budget. Whilst I lust after bling,
I'm riding an Orbea Enol using Sora running gear (with my s3xy Shimano
wheels *laughs*). I'm eyeing off the 'new' 10sp 105 gruppo, and am
saving up for that (whether it be onto my current frame, or a new bike)
- but 2 kids, school fees, kids' gymnastics & swimming lessons, etc,
etc, all have a much higher priority... 🙂

You can probably buy a very upmarket bike if you sell the two kids --
perhaps more depending on who buys.

Then no money necessary on the other items listed.

--
TimC
I was going to compile a list of innovations that could be
attributed to Microsoft. Once I realized that Ctrl-Alt-Del
was handled in the BIOS, I found that there aren't any. --unknown

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:50:03 +1000

Random Data said:

*If* the build is OK, and the hubs are OK, Alex rims shouldn't give you
any trouble. There was a pair floating around on one bike for a while, but
I can't remember what. Never had a problem, which indicates it was
probably on my wife's bike, but it still got out a fair bit.

They've managed so far... THe hubs are a brand I've never heard of
"formula" although the front is of course a dynamo. It's the posh
German one and they have a good rep so that should be OK.

Haven't seen any whinging on the various bent sites so as kerb hopping
on a bent is a trick *I* most definitely haven't mastered I'll assume
the wheels will cope.

Zebee