There was a time when bicycles were lovingly handmade by artisans who themselves loved the sport more than those for whom they built the machines. Lugs were filed to become Luggs; chain and seat stays were beautifully chromed for durability despite the grams it added to the frame’s final weight; spokes were chosen for their purpose and laced to hubs and rims in a pattern that suited the specific purpose the wheel was intended to serve. Throughout the process – from building the frame to manufacturing of the components – extra care was taken to make every element of the bicycle beautiful; these bicycles, when you are in their presence, radiate La Vie Velominatus.
As was customary at the time, components would be pantographed and frames repainted and rebranded, leaving behind little evidence of their origin. But hidden in the components and frames were symbols that the manufacturers stamped into their wares to preserve their identity; Colnago their Fiore, Cinelli their C, and Campa their Shield. These symbols have come to hold great meaning within the sport and we of a certain ilk scour the photos of our heroes’ bikes for evidence of their existence.
For a variety of reasons including cost, proprietary tube-shapes, and repeatability of production, these practices have largely died away in mainstream bicycle manufacturing; in fact, nearly every element in the art of bicycle building that requires attention and skill is slowing being eliminated from the craft. Ahead-set stems have replaced the need for a carefully adjusted headset and stem, sealed-bearing bottom brackets and hubs have eliminated the subtle touch required to hold a race in place with one hand while tightening the assembly with the other. By and large, the machines and riders are stronger than the terrain they race over, leaving little practical need for the attention to detail and customization that once came as a matter of course.
There is, however, one magical week of racing where the terrain is still stronger than the riders: the cobbled classics of de Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. This is the one week during which the Pros still require highly customized machines and we, as fans, can scour the photos of our heroes’ kit, looking for the symbols tucked away in the components to discern their origins. One such symbol is the brass badge affixed to the valve-hole on Ambrosio rims.
These rims are chosen by the Specialists for their strength on the stones regardless of what wheel sponsorship obligations might exist within the team. Their mystique is further deepened for those of us living in the States because they aren’t available here. It follows, then, that the Golden Ticket, as I call it, is something I’ve coveted for as long as I can remember (which, admittedly, isn’t very long and, upsettingly, keeps getting less long) but have never had a good enough reason to justify procuring from Europe. But Keepers Tour, Cobbled Classics 2012 provided the perfect justification to go about finding a set and I wasted no time in doing so. Upon arrival, the rims spent the better part of two weeks sitting in my living room or next to my bed, patiently waiting for me to pick them up and rub my thumb over the badge, just to reassure myself they were still there.
Not long after the rims arrived, I excitedly loaded a picture of Boonen in the 2010 Ronde and turned the laptop to show my VMH.
Frank: Hey, what do you see.
VMH: Boonen. Goddamn, he’s a stud. Don’t let me too close to him; I can’t be responsible for my actions.
Frank: What about his wheels.
VMH: What?
Frank: Don’t you see? He’s got my rims.
VMH: You can’t possibly know that.
Frank: Openly shows his exasperation by groaning audibly and rolling his eyes. Yes, I do. Check it. You can see the Golden Ticket on his back wheel. Its obvious as shit. What’s wrong with you?
VMH: Sighs, pours another glass of wine. Exits stage left. Hopefully not for good.
*Coincidentally, on the same day that this article was being written, Inrng published a similar (better) article on a related subject of hand-built wheels. Well worth the read: The Dying Art of Wheelbuilding
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I don't believe the modulation argument is valid, good modulation is easily achievable on a well set up road bike. It's a skill thing and if you can't do it with traditional brakes you'll not do it with disks. Occasionally, I'll have a casual wander amongst the masses over on rbr.com and it astounds me how many people haven't got a clue about how to brake when descending, not the mechanics of it, where and when to do it, nothing.
I would absolutely put them on any mountain bike (you will still end up on your 'rse or face if you haven't got the skill though) on account of the bigger contact area and the ability to work when covered in shit without destroying your breaking surface. Probably on a cross bike for the same reason but I've no experience there.
Don't want to blow my own horn but I posted a link to the Road equipped disk bike Canyon built at comment 79. Interesting take from them from a constructors standpoint, though I don't get the logic of disks. Heavier brakes that, the better you get, the less you use? Meh.
I think wheel companies (Zipp) are looking at the cross market and trying to get a wedge in there to stop people using the same wheels for road and cross. I can easily see cross having broad uptake, because course designers can get more spectacular stuff for the pros to ride, and the rank and file will want to copy. That and tire performance in cross has a lot more scope to improve with discs than with road tires. But road? Meh.
Can't wait till teh intarweebz is filled with crit crashes of riders grabbing a handul of disk brake in a panic stop.
@frank
well stated
@Oli
Still confused, are you talking angle parallel or perpendicular to the page?
Above is the correct spoke spacing on either side of the valve. The spokes are near parallel to the valve.
This is WRONG! If the valve was between the next pair lower in the photo would be even worse, but ideally the valve should be between the pair above where it is.
What is so awful about this is that every time you pump the tire with the wrong spoke configuration you curse the extra beer you had while lacing the spokes. And of course, this wheel is rock solid and won't allow me any further excuse to put the effort into correcting it.
@DerHoggz
What?? @jimmy is onto it.
Well, disk brakes will revolutionize (!) wheel design. The rim need only support the tyre. Carbon is a remarkably shitty surface to use for brake material. The heat dissipation qualities make it dangerous. Bet they said the same things about sti levers, free wheels and clip less pedals, all stuff we take for granted.
Oh. And aero bars. Ask LeMan.
Say goodbye to pretty low spoke count wheels, as the braking forces generated at the hub will need a greater spoke count to transfer the force without breaking. OK for shallow al and carbon rims, but who wants a 28 spoke 808 front?
I'm not going to put discs on my road bike to get a marginally better performing carbon rim, since 90 percent of my time is on al rims tapping out base miles or on shop rides.
I'm sticking to my curmudgeonly position that disks add weight for something that, the better you are, the less you'll use. Heavier fork, heavier calliper (maybe), more spokes, heavier hub, trickier maintenance, to get? Lighter rims.
Ok, that is what I thought you meant originally.
Low spoke counts can suck it as far as I am concerned, as well as this garbage radial crap. Not in favor of disks though.
@Eightzero
Carbon is not a shitty material for braking; that is a myth. Carbon does not conduct heat the way metal does, but that's not always bad, as a matter of fact. Heat dissipation from alu rims is a much bigger problem because it melts the glue that holds the tires to their rims. In my estimation, more crashes have been caused by alu rims than carbon ones.
Tires glued to carbon rims stay on. Given the choice, I'll take tires that stay on my rims any time over a tire that comes off, irrespective of stopping distance. It's called "catastrophic failure", and it scares the shit out of me. By the way, if you're riding clinchers and braking a lot on descents, you stand an excellent chance of overheating your pads and calipers and suffering a failure that way.
Cycling takes skill. Cycling well takes even more skill. To get up to a dangerous speed takes more skill than that. Stopping, it follows, should also take skill. Disc brakes will not remove this fact, and if it revolutionizes anything, it will only be in the new ways people find to fuck themselves up because they lack the skill for the job they're asking of themselves.
Bottom line? If you're descending fast, any number of things can suck very quickly, and anything that sucks can suck really badly and very intensely, more quickly than you can comprehend. I've experienced this first-hand and spent more time in emergency rooms that I care to recount. Cycling is dangerous. Don't like it? Fine, don't go fast.
It boggles my mind that the $10,000 Cervelo R3ca has a geometry tuned for a recreational cyclist and not a racing cyclist. Thats the direction we're headed in, and I have no patience for it.
It is not "dangerous" when something requires skill. We need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator and start accepting the fact that everything worth doing requires time, dedication, and skill. Nothing worthwhile comes for free.
I'll say it one last time: disc brakes on a road bike is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. It will only cause trouble.