Its hard to say precisely where the line lays, but I’m certain I’m well on the wrong side of it. I never notice lines as I pass over them but I can usually tell after I have because it feels suddenly liberating to leave reason, sensibility, and convention behind. I find them very restrictive – claustrophobic, almost. They force me into the same old way of thinking, always within a set of parameters of what is accepted. Parameters are a good thing, to be sure – especially for everyone else – but since I wasn’t involved in defining The Universal Limits of Reason and Sensibility, I can’t be sure they’re calibrated correctly so I prefer to roam freely and am quite satisfied to be considered crazy for the time being.
Just like most of us, I started down La Vie Velominatus rolling along on the wheels my first bike arrived with. I trusted them to be indestructible and always carry me about safely. Then one day while racing my friend, I locked up the back wheel coming into a corner too hard and destroyed it, the illusion of The Indestructible Wheel riding up the road alongside the friend I had only moments earlier been locked in shoulder-to-shoulder battle with. It was also at this precise moment that I faced the reality that a wheel is not only destructible, but a basic element facilitating productive locomotion aboard a bicycle.
I spent the next month shingling the roof of my family’s cabin in Northern Minnesota earning the money to buy a replacement wheel. And, having recently shingled a roof, I was suddenly a Shingling Authority, discussing in depth the merits of choice in color, material, and shingle pattern of every roof I passed by. Similarly, upon having been subjected to the myriad choices of replacement wheel, after purchasing my replacement wheel, I was a new inductee into the The Order of the Wheel and noticed (and commented upon) every bicycle wheel that passed me by. Due more to the volume of by observations than their merit, I was soon thereafter indulged by my Cycling Sensei – my father – to help him curate the wheels for his custom Eddy Merckx.
At the time, choices were more limited than they are today; quality of hub varied greatly, as did the rims, spokes, and tires. Everything was limited to an alloy of some kind, though you could have any spoke pattern you wanted, as long as it was 3-cross. At the time there was also a choice between tubular and clincher, which was a relatively new option. We labored over the choices and wound up having two wheelsets built – one clincher and aero; one box-section and tubular – a choice I stand by today.
That was my awakening, but nevertheless, I have throughout my life as a Velominatus had only one wheelset per bike. The lightest for Bike #1. Whenever Bike #n came into play, it received its own wheelset; as with all the other parts on Bikes #2…n; a hand-me-down from Bike #n-1’s upgrade. (Using the Hand-Me-Down Upgrade Methodology, a single upgrade improves not just one bicycle, but several – with the added benefit of filling a longer period of time moving bits from one noble steed to the next.)
It was only recently, during preparation for the 2012 edition of Keepers Tour over the cobbles of Northern France and Vlaanderen, that I took my own place in the realm of the Specialty Wheelset – which also afforded me another of those moments when I was strangely aware of having crossed one of Those Lines. After all, a big, fat Dutchman can’t be expected to ride over the pavé of Paris-Roubaix – unleashing the awesome wattage of his artillery – on just any old wheelset; certainly not any of those wheels which I already owned. This called for a set of wheels purpose-built for the occasion. Rims, hubs, spokes, and tires were selected with great care and assembled (four times) in a wine-enhanced rite.
Riding these wheels is a pleasure highlighted by the fact that I don’t always ride them. They hang on the workshop wall in a wheel bag, waiting for the Right Occasion to ride them. Those occasions are often anticipated several days – if not weeks – in advance and deliberated over carefully. Then, when the choice is finally made to pop them in for the ride, I wrap myself in the delta between my regular wheels and these. This contrast, like the negative space in a great painting, is the area in which I dwell while riding them. The difference in tire type, width, spoke pattern, weight. The way the wheel feels when the pedal is engaged. The way the wheels and tires flex over a bump in the road or hug the pavement in a corner.
I’ve since embarked on a journey to get each road bike in the house – mine as well as the VMH’s – on the same drive train in order to be able to maximize the wheel-swapping effect. Each wheel is a new language, each tire a new dialect, and inner tube a new turn of phrase. To paraphrase the nursery rhyme: one for sorrow, two for joy, three for hills and four for stones.
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Something else interesting about this thread, that was brought up in the article: the technology of wheels these days is pretty astounding. My 'training' wheels on #1 are Mavic Aksium Race. Nothing too sexy about them, but after 1000's of K's and some pretty bad pothole/ road hazard shots, they are as true and round as the day I got them. While inexpensive ($250 new)now, they would have been a $1000 wheel set 15 years ago.
The out of the box hubs spin great too, and I've only had them apart once in 2 years, and as you know, it rains a lot here. Great multi purpose wheel.
@scaler911
Good point on wheels like the Aksium. There are lots of good bugetatus wheels out there.
If you've ever wondered how machines build wheels, check out this video:
@Buck Rogers
Usually, yes. I thought my way through this at some point and can't quite recall the conclusion. Stopping your bike relies on friction between the brake pads and the rim. Alu is a good conductor so the heat can escape while carbon is not, so the heat has nowhere to go. I'm guessing the cork break blocks neutralize that somehow so the rims don't get too hot or something along those lines.
I think Zipp has a surface on there that allows you to use the same blocks, not sure about Easton.
@teleguy57
I think the secret lies in the article: don't dwell so much on perfection, and enjoy the difference between the wheels and tires. And if you want a good, supple tire, get yourself a set of FMB's. THE BOMB.
@frank
Don't run carbon rims myself but the other issue I've seen mentioned is that the little bits of alloy brake surface that get embedded in your pads from your alu wheels will trash a carbon brake surface.
I went through this decision process earlier this year when I finally decided to replace the boat anchors I had previously been using as wheels, which had come with my bike.
I didn't have a huge budget, and decided that deep-dish carbon wheels were out of my price range, and I didn't want them to be my only set of wheels. I also thought that $1,000 wheels on a $1,200 bike would be a bit silly.
I settled on the lightest wheels I could find for a reasonable price, which were 22-mm deep aluminum clinchers from Revolution Wheelworks, which a few other folks like G'rilla had already used and liked. They were only $600 w/ shipping and have been awesome so far. I've even hit some nasty potholes and haven't had any issues yet.
@scaler911
Correcto! (This post is to benefit others -- you already know this) You need to ride race wheelsets as a civilian to make sure all is good before race day. Testing. Testing. Test your secret weapons before you try to race on them. Or fail on them!
@frank
Great info! One last question, sorry to bother you all with these questions, carbon rims are new to me.
So you put on cork brake pads, can you still run alu rims (which I have two wheelsets made out of) or will that screw up the cork for the carbon rims or not provide enough safe braking power/heat dissipation for the alu rims?
@frank
Tubular suck.
@minion
Went to art school and endured several years of that sort of stuff - you really need to wear corduroy to get the full effect
@Buck Rogers
I work at a bike shop and we've done tons of troubleshooting on this stuff for people. Basically, email the manufacturer, or give him/her a call and ask about your particular wheel. Some rims like cork pads, some don't care, and some absolutely require them. They coat the sides of their rims with a wide variety of surfaces designed to work with different brake compounds. Almost every company has an engineer who rides their wheels with a few different types of pads to see what they do to their rims, and there may be a really simple solution.
Generally what we've found is that if you're only going to be riding your carbon wheels infrequently, say a race here and there, using a regular brake pad is fine. But really, do contact the manufacturer. It's worth your time. Pad wear has been cited as the reason moreso than wearing through a rim. Basically, if you did a long descent on a carbon rim with a standard brake pad it could wear out before you reach the bottom (depending on the rim and the pad).
I would not recommend using cork pads on an aluminum track. It's a recipe for poor braking.