Rivendell magic?

[SadieKate]

I don't feel it's logical to compare the two situations using a mountain bike as an example.
Yes it's good to keep checking wheels and spokes, I do that. But I don't conclude that my wheel was "poorly built" based on the events I described.

OK, fine. How about a set of road wheels that my 200 lb hubby rode first and then I took over. Ridden over hill and dale. Never needed to be re-trued, tensioned, whatever . . . in 20+ years. You like this comparison better? You want the entire list of wheels we've ridden far more than 2,800 miles that haven't needed help? And unsuspended wheels on a bike that is crashed and slammed into rocks and ledges repeatedly are a pretty good example.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Did you ride them off the Empire State building or over Niagara Falls too? THEN I'd be truly impressed!


Hey, didn't they used to make heavier built wheels 20 years ago? Steel bikes were sure heavier back then. I remember my old Schwinn was built like a tank.

[SadieKate]

Lisa, you're going to look for any out, aren't you? Lessee, St. Patrick's Day gift 1986 or 7 - Saturae rims with the first bladed spokes on the market. Still have those puppies. Just came off the Mercian last summer. Weight will compare to any lightweight wheel of today. Never needed truing.

Wheels on my 200 lb hubby's cyclocross bike. 3,604 miles later. No truing.

Mavic/Chorus wheels with DB spokes and so light my husband won't even test ride the bike up and down the block. Bought in 1999 to go with the Litespeed but were immediately re-trued and tensioned by the same guy who built the Saturae wheels. Probably 10,000 miles on them now. Maybe more. Haven't been touched since.

Both hubby and I will jump speedbumps if appropriate. We respect our bikes but don't coddle them so the wheels get plenty of use.

So, what's your next reason for why 2,800 miles between truings is an acceptable level?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, you're going to look for any out, aren't you?

....So, what's your next reason for why 2,800 miles between truings is an acceptable level?

Well the only thing you quoted that I don't quite get is why the Mavic wheels needed to be re-trued right after you bought them.

Again, what I think happened with my wheel, the whole story this time: A spoke broke on my rear wheel. I took it to my LBS where they replaced that spoke. Actually, they replaced THREE spokes-- because upon close examination we discovered the REASON that spoke broke and two others were nicked/bent right near the hub. It had happened when I had adjusted my derailleur setting (not very well...I'm learning) and the chain came off while I was cranking up a hill. Apparently the chain jammed in there and nicked/bent several spokes near the hub before I stopped and put the chain back on. I didn't realize at the time that the spokes had been nicked. (I know better now and I check my spokes often) Anyhow, they replaced 3 spokes and I took the bike home.
It was shortly after that when I noticed my brake pad lightly skimming the rim back there and I could see the wheel was not straight when spun. It had been fine before the spoke incident. So I took it back and he said he needed to retension all the spokes, which he did and it's been fine since then. My feeling is that he did not properly retension the spokes all around when he replaced the 3 spokes, I suspect he rushed through the job or had one of his teenage mechanics do it. I feel that's why the wheel was not straight, not because the wheel itself was badly built.
It's an LBS that I would not go to for major bike work, because they have highschool boys working back there sometimes fixing bikes, but the owner himself had done a nice tuneup previously for me, and I trusted him to do the spoke thing. It is the nearest and most convenient place. Not sure if I'll use them anymore except for really easy stuff.
But look, if you've decided my wheels are poorly built, I'm not going to keep arguing about it. It's easy to judge other people's bikes. And I fully realize that you know way more about bikes than I do. I sincerely AM happy for you that you've had such good experiences with your bikes in the past. All I can do is keep muddling along the best I know how, learning more along the way. But I still don't believe my wheels are poorly built.

[xeney]

I think you have to go back closer to 30 years or longer to find many steel rims. And I think they are actually harder to keep true than alloy rims.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think you have to go back closer to 30 years or longer to find many steel rims. And I think they are actually harder to keep true than alloy rims.

Nobody mentioned steel rims.

[SadieKate]

Lisa, Schwinns built like tanks had steel rims. I made the same assumption that Xeney did - you were thinking steel everything on a bike.

[mimitabby]

one of my sons' friends has an old steel rimmed schwinn. It is SOOO heavy
and she works SOOOO hard going up hills. but she "loves" the dumb bike.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

one of my sons' friends has an old steel rimmed schwinn. It is SOOO heavy
and she works SOOOO hard going up hills. but she "loves" the dumb bike.

I remember my old blue girl's Schwinn when I was 12, the only bike that was ever my very own... until now with my blue Rambouillet. I had named it "Heather" (!) That thing was HEAVY, but I have no clue what the rims were actually made of!
Like when you revisit your old school and everything looks minute although you remember it all as being huge....I remember going up incredible mountains on my one-speed coaster brake Schwinn. But when I revisted those roads 35 years later and saw those giant hills....well, they were MICROSCOPIC! It made me feel proud to know the hills I can get up nowadays (though granted I have better gearing!) and that I'm come a long way since then. But I have not lost the MOST important thing- the feeling of childhood joy and freedom when I pedal along on my bike.