J
John Duval
Guest
I faded out of cycling temporarily about the time when
paired spoke patterns made their appearance. Old school says
that few spokes are bad news unless you are a feather
weight, but they seem quite popular on road bikes.
So is old school correct, or is there new technology that
makes these OK? Do the newer aero rim profiles make that
much difference?
In spite of my size (6'-6" 200+ lb) and high mileage, I have
never used anything resembling a tandem wheel on my retired
DF bikes, on or off road. In fact, they would more
accurately be described as "race day wheels" by smaller
riders than me.
On a DF I naturally used supplesse to spare my wheels, but
not an option on my Phantom II. Even the smooth clean roads
I ride now have the occasional pothole. The side loads are
nothing (compared to DF anyway), the 20" wheel is stronger
(so I have read), the frame has lots of passive suspension,
and I am thinking of a Pantour up front too.
Given all this, the Phantom II comes with wheels suitable
for a tandem for elephants. Overkill by a big margin I
think. But how far should I consider going for better
performance?
John
(remove 'spam' from my email address)
paired spoke patterns made their appearance. Old school says
that few spokes are bad news unless you are a feather
weight, but they seem quite popular on road bikes.
So is old school correct, or is there new technology that
makes these OK? Do the newer aero rim profiles make that
much difference?
In spite of my size (6'-6" 200+ lb) and high mileage, I have
never used anything resembling a tandem wheel on my retired
DF bikes, on or off road. In fact, they would more
accurately be described as "race day wheels" by smaller
riders than me.
On a DF I naturally used supplesse to spare my wheels, but
not an option on my Phantom II. Even the smooth clean roads
I ride now have the occasional pothole. The side loads are
nothing (compared to DF anyway), the 20" wheel is stronger
(so I have read), the frame has lots of passive suspension,
and I am thinking of a Pantour up front too.
Given all this, the Phantom II comes with wheels suitable
for a tandem for elephants. Overkill by a big margin I
think. But how far should I consider going for better
performance?
John
(remove 'spam' from my email address)