I just got referenced on the Chicago Cyclocross Cup website. It links to my new cross builds. Slamming deals.
Now if only my supplier was in stock with the Niobium rims...nothing will ever go my way I believe.
I'm selling through the site and direct through Bicycle Heaven.
Now all I need is wheel decals and a logo....anyone? Got lots of leads but nothing has come through so far...
Oh....and Game On
Showing posts with label Wheel Building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wheel Building. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
MMMmmmmm....powertaps
Just figured out I can sell custom Powertap builds at pretty competitive pricing. Check out my commercial site to email me for a quote if you're interested. I can beat just about anyone, if not everyone else out there.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sometimes I hate building wheels
Tonight I stripped the rim off of my new powertap and went to lace it up to my new rim (Kinlin Niobium XR-300 - 30mm). Everything went really well and slick. I was cooking along. Overhauled the hub so it now spins like butter. Prepped the spokes and rim. New Spoke prep which allowed me to realize that my old prep was getting....old.
So...it's late. I ALWAYS make a small stupid mistake when wheel building. It's like making a simple math error. It just sucks. It also always seems to happen when I attempt to build when it's late and my eyes are tired and I am already squinting.
...but no....not tonight right?? :(
I was in a hurry to start getting power numbers at the end of this season. I am in rocking form and I want to set some baseline numbers.
So....I laced the wheel. I get to about the last 5 or so spokes on the drive side when it dawns on me that the spokes are going to be just a tad too short. I check, double check, triple check all of the possible causes and see that I am doing everything right. Now I'm pissed. That means I calculated the spokes wrong...AGAIN. I HATE doing that.
But there's no way. This is a straight forward build. Spokes are within 2mm of each other. The drilling is straight up and I am using the same spokes with the same lacing on both sides. Short spoke on the drive side and long on the non-drive.....
....
.....right?......wait......does this thing have different size flanges? Is the bigger flange on the non-drive side because fo the torque transfer tube on this thing??!!
MOTHER F'R!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I swapped spokes.
Check the notes! Check the notes! I always tell myself to check the notes and verify everything multiple times but NOOOOOOooooo. I'm too smart for that.....
Hope your day was better.
So...it's late. I ALWAYS make a small stupid mistake when wheel building. It's like making a simple math error. It just sucks. It also always seems to happen when I attempt to build when it's late and my eyes are tired and I am already squinting.
...but no....not tonight right?? :(
I was in a hurry to start getting power numbers at the end of this season. I am in rocking form and I want to set some baseline numbers.
So....I laced the wheel. I get to about the last 5 or so spokes on the drive side when it dawns on me that the spokes are going to be just a tad too short. I check, double check, triple check all of the possible causes and see that I am doing everything right. Now I'm pissed. That means I calculated the spokes wrong...AGAIN. I HATE doing that.
But there's no way. This is a straight forward build. Spokes are within 2mm of each other. The drilling is straight up and I am using the same spokes with the same lacing on both sides. Short spoke on the drive side and long on the non-drive.....
....
.....right?......wait......does this thing have different size flanges? Is the bigger flange on the non-drive side because fo the torque transfer tube on this thing??!!
MOTHER F'R!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I swapped spokes.
Check the notes! Check the notes! I always tell myself to check the notes and verify everything multiple times but NOOOOOOooooo. I'm too smart for that.....
Hope your day was better.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Stupid Weak...and Aero
So...I'm sitting around after the horrible experience this morning and wanting to totally unload my guads (yes I know it's quads....it's a bike forums thing...crazy internet). I had borrowed a set of Zipp 404s from a friend and co-worker (also relative by marriage) for the TT that I didn't end up doing. They were in the car ready to return and I just thought maybe I should give them a test ride.
With my fatherly responsibilities in play for this evening I knew I wasn't going to be able to go on the Tuesday Night ride, but figured I could make it out on the route during the day. For those of you who don't know Zipp 404s are the hottest wheelset on the domestic poseur scene. They are insanely light, aerodynamic, made of carbon and $$$$$$$$$$.
They basically run $2,100 for the set. Seriously. I normally build wheels for around $400 a set. I wanted to experience them.
So I geared up and headed out. I got most of the way there before I realized I hadn't yet swapped out my mtn shoe for the correct road shoe yet. (Stupid!)
Once there I suited up and headed out. Now I said before that the 404s are a primo poseur wheel. I felt obligated to complete the total image - that or the fact that I was wearing bland no-name kit all morning "at the race" - so I donned a 2007 CSC jersey that I received as a gift from a different relative by marriage who happens to work for them. It's Euro and nice and tight. Think I blogged about it before, but it fits nicer now.
So there I am: Carbon Giant TCR with Dura-Ace, Zipp 404 wheels, wearing a CSC team jersey. I was all set to go out and be mediocre.
OK - serious part - the wheel review. I noticed a definite change from before. The bike didn't seem to lurch back in between pedal strokes (yes, I have a crappy spin). They seemed more jittery if that makes sense. The big thing was that I really didn't notice any real benefit....
...until I got them over 20 mph or pointed them downhill. I NEVER run my 12t cog on this course even with a group. I found myself in it every single time I had even a small downhill. It just kept going and going.
Climbing was...meh. I like my wheels better for climbing. My wheels are stiffer than these. The 404s kind of felt mushy at times. For the record I am 179 and can be brutal on my wheels...I took it easy on these. Climbing Braeburn did go extremely well though.
So even though I was going around this course solo I figured I would be matching or even bettering some of my normal times around it OTB. Wasn't far off. I really wasn't pounding it, but I ended up with the same speeds as normal.
You mean the wheels didn't make me fast??!!!!
Go figure.
Final assessment: If you have access to these for TTs then without a doubt use them. Will they make you faster in general? Not really. You can't buy speed. I think they are overkill for crits plain and simple. Road races...OK. Group ride domination...absolutely.
If you have the $$ burning a hole in your pocket and hate helping others with donations to charity then by all means add them to your arsenal (get it....Zipp Speed Weaponry?). If it's going on your credit card and you hope the monthly payments will still allow you to eat Ramen Noodles and occasionally drink a beer with the left over small change....then snap out of it. Stick with quality custom pre-builts.
If you're a "try"-athlete who thinks they need every single edge they can get in a race - so much so that you insist on climbing while in a full aero position - even though you are neglecting the fact that you are 50 lbs overweight....then please walk to your garage and package up your set and give them to a starving College Cat3 or 4 who could use them..........to kick my butt.
...or just polish them with a diaper and set a place of honor for them at the table.
With my fatherly responsibilities in play for this evening I knew I wasn't going to be able to go on the Tuesday Night ride, but figured I could make it out on the route during the day. For those of you who don't know Zipp 404s are the hottest wheelset on the domestic poseur scene. They are insanely light, aerodynamic, made of carbon and $$$$$$$$$$.
They basically run $2,100 for the set. Seriously. I normally build wheels for around $400 a set. I wanted to experience them.
So I geared up and headed out. I got most of the way there before I realized I hadn't yet swapped out my mtn shoe for the correct road shoe yet. (Stupid!)
Once there I suited up and headed out. Now I said before that the 404s are a primo poseur wheel. I felt obligated to complete the total image - that or the fact that I was wearing bland no-name kit all morning "at the race" - so I donned a 2007 CSC jersey that I received as a gift from a different relative by marriage who happens to work for them. It's Euro and nice and tight. Think I blogged about it before, but it fits nicer now.
So there I am: Carbon Giant TCR with Dura-Ace, Zipp 404 wheels, wearing a CSC team jersey. I was all set to go out and be mediocre.
OK - serious part - the wheel review. I noticed a definite change from before. The bike didn't seem to lurch back in between pedal strokes (yes, I have a crappy spin). They seemed more jittery if that makes sense. The big thing was that I really didn't notice any real benefit....
...until I got them over 20 mph or pointed them downhill. I NEVER run my 12t cog on this course even with a group. I found myself in it every single time I had even a small downhill. It just kept going and going.
Climbing was...meh. I like my wheels better for climbing. My wheels are stiffer than these. The 404s kind of felt mushy at times. For the record I am 179 and can be brutal on my wheels...I took it easy on these. Climbing Braeburn did go extremely well though.
So even though I was going around this course solo I figured I would be matching or even bettering some of my normal times around it OTB. Wasn't far off. I really wasn't pounding it, but I ended up with the same speeds as normal.
You mean the wheels didn't make me fast??!!!!
Go figure.
Final assessment: If you have access to these for TTs then without a doubt use them. Will they make you faster in general? Not really. You can't buy speed. I think they are overkill for crits plain and simple. Road races...OK. Group ride domination...absolutely.
If you have the $$ burning a hole in your pocket and hate helping others with donations to charity then by all means add them to your arsenal (get it....Zipp Speed Weaponry?). If it's going on your credit card and you hope the monthly payments will still allow you to eat Ramen Noodles and occasionally drink a beer with the left over small change....then snap out of it. Stick with quality custom pre-builts.
If you're a "try"-athlete who thinks they need every single edge they can get in a race - so much so that you insist on climbing while in a full aero position - even though you are neglecting the fact that you are 50 lbs overweight....then please walk to your garage and package up your set and give them to a starving College Cat3 or 4 who could use them..........to kick my butt.
...or just polish them with a diaper and set a place of honor for them at the table.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sometimes I hate wheelbuilding.
Wheel building can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. There really aren't a lot of really good resources for specific technical questions or aspects of building. I am too lazy to accurately model the stuff in a CAD program...although at some point I will need to, but that's top secret. So you end up having to make assumptions and just going with it.
Multiple times I have said...."it's just a mm. I should be able to compensate for it."
What's got my panties in a bunch right now is Mike Garcia's (well really they are Formula's) paired spoke drilling on his serenity rear hub (Formula RB217 or some such nonsense). Mike is just plain wrong when it comes to using an appropriate "X" variant to do spoke calculations.
He always says to use x.15. So to calculate the lengths needed for a 2X using that drilling you need to use a 2.15X in the calculations. He's burned me twice with that now. You end up with spokes that are about 2mm too short.
I can compensate for 1mm....not 2mm.
In my rush to put together the order list for the current 2 wheelsets I am building I paid little attention to a small change one of the recipients made. He changed the rear confirguration that I had put together for both sets from a 28 spoke 3X to a 24 spoke....leaving it 3X. Right now I have spokes running into the axle as they take the spoke line across the flange.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb (me), dumb, dumb, dumb.
So in short....tonight I am an idiot. I was also an idiot when I approved the builds and ordered the parts. The Chinese engineer that designed the paried spoke hub flange on that hub is also an idiot. Paired spokes......idiot (sorry Keith).
Now I get to play "are you an idiot" with every LBS in the area tomorrow looking for the spokes I need. My guess is that I will find more than 1 idiot tomorrow. I will most likely end up having to order an additional batch from Cambria bike. At least with the Fredcast coupon you can usually get free shipping.
Sometimes wheels suck.
Most of the time they make you feel like you have tapped into the zen of the physical laws of the universe. Feeling the tension play between the components, massaging the assembly into a state of permanant static being. Knowing that when the rider takes them out turns the first pedal stroke they are going to think, "wow. Holy crap that's a big difference!"
I live to provide that. I can only imagine the feeling for me is not unlike what some operators feel when they have put forth their best effort in the manufacture of a weapon going to war. You know when you've tapped into the essence of the wheel while building and you know that, because it is well built, it will become an instrument of pain to be wielded by insanely skinny men on the steep slopes and windy flats of your local hammer ride.
Multiple times I have said...."it's just a mm. I should be able to compensate for it."
What's got my panties in a bunch right now is Mike Garcia's (well really they are Formula's) paired spoke drilling on his serenity rear hub (Formula RB217 or some such nonsense). Mike is just plain wrong when it comes to using an appropriate "X" variant to do spoke calculations.
He always says to use x.15. So to calculate the lengths needed for a 2X using that drilling you need to use a 2.15X in the calculations. He's burned me twice with that now. You end up with spokes that are about 2mm too short.
I can compensate for 1mm....not 2mm.
In my rush to put together the order list for the current 2 wheelsets I am building I paid little attention to a small change one of the recipients made. He changed the rear confirguration that I had put together for both sets from a 28 spoke 3X to a 24 spoke....leaving it 3X. Right now I have spokes running into the axle as they take the spoke line across the flange.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb (me), dumb, dumb, dumb.
So in short....tonight I am an idiot. I was also an idiot when I approved the builds and ordered the parts. The Chinese engineer that designed the paried spoke hub flange on that hub is also an idiot. Paired spokes......idiot (sorry Keith).
Now I get to play "are you an idiot" with every LBS in the area tomorrow looking for the spokes I need. My guess is that I will find more than 1 idiot tomorrow. I will most likely end up having to order an additional batch from Cambria bike. At least with the Fredcast coupon you can usually get free shipping.
Sometimes wheels suck.
Most of the time they make you feel like you have tapped into the zen of the physical laws of the universe. Feeling the tension play between the components, massaging the assembly into a state of permanant static being. Knowing that when the rider takes them out turns the first pedal stroke they are going to think, "wow. Holy crap that's a big difference!"
I live to provide that. I can only imagine the feeling for me is not unlike what some operators feel when they have put forth their best effort in the manufacture of a weapon going to war. You know when you've tapped into the essence of the wheel while building and you know that, because it is well built, it will become an instrument of pain to be wielded by insanely skinny men on the steep slopes and windy flats of your local hammer ride.
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