On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 11:49:39 -0600, Todd Kuzma <
[email protected]> wrote:
>scott wrote:
>> I'm in the market for race wheels. I've raced on everything form Specialized trispokes (stiffest)
>> to Shimano 7701s (softest). I prefer stiff as possbile.
>
>Hmmm. In the test data that I have seen, the Specialized tri-spokes are quite flexible both
>vertically and laterally. This was confirmed by Jim Merz at Specialized when I spoke to him about
>it In September. He was on the team that designed those wheels, and he indicated that it was
>quite difficult to get adequate stiffness because the wheel lacked the triangulation found in
>most wheels.
>
>Furthermore, the stiffness of the wheel is not something normally detectable by the rider as even
>the most flexible wheel will deflect only a small amount compared to tires, fork, saddle, seatpost,
>bars, and stem.
>
>Todd Kuzma Heron Bicycles Tullio's Big Dog Cyclery LaSalle, Il 815-223-1776
>
http://www.heronbicycles.com http://www.tullios.com
>
My experience of Aerospokes is that the lateral flex was not enough to cause brake rub but plenty to
move a previously stable bike into a shimmy demonstration device as quite low speeds, <20mph. Of
course, a 12cm stem and cowhorns and long tribars all hanging out front miles from the steering axis
helped to lower the shimmy resonance frequency too. I'd expect all 3,4, and 5-spoke designs with
narrow connections to the hub to exhibit similar tendencies to varying degrees. I wonder what the
original poster meant when he said the Specialized wheels were the stiffest he'd used.
If you want stiff, get some 36 spoke track wheels with deep rims!
Kinky Cowboy
*Your milage may vary Batteries not included May contain traces of nuts.