Saturday, April 11, 2009

Rim Trouble

My rim started wobbling pretty badly all of a sudden last week. I left it in the garage, bummed out from the wobble and the weather (snow, rain, cold, high winds). I tried to true the rim last night, and this spoke popped out when I was squeezing the spokes to see which ones were loose. I think the rim was cracked because I didn't have to squeeze very hard and it popped out. Good thing this didn't happen on the road. I ordered a Velocity Dyad rim today. I'm tired of screwing around with rims. Someday I'll order a 40-spoke rim from Peter White Cycles (link is on my blog link list). He offers a lifetime guarantee on rims he recommends for my style of riding and if he builds them.


I rode this baby today for 3 hours. I forgot what a great bike this is. It wouldn't work for touring, but I'm thinking about using it for my commute this week. I'll need to transfer my lights, and I won't be able to carry much. But I bet I'll get to work quicker!

This was my triathlon bike back in the mid-80's. Notice the subdued grey - not the bright red and yellow or bright pink and yellow crap popular back then.

6 comments:

Rat Trap Press said...

Looking and the bikes you ride I figure that you're over 6 ft tall. I could see buying a bomb-proof 40 spoke wheels for the back country roads you ride.

I like that old Trek! It's a nice subdued gray color.

Jon said...

Bummer about the rim. I suffered a cracked sidewall on a rim, last year, on my commuter.

The old Treks are classy, for sure, and they ride so nice!

Big Oak said...

Yep, over 6 ft tall & well over 200 lbs. I think I had the spokes too tight - just past the yield point. The rim ran true for close to 1,000 miles. I carry probably an extra 25 lbs. of clothing for work (boots, heavy duck coat, lunch, misc.) and apparently that helped stress the rim also. If I had the spoke tension right then I think the rim should have lasted longer. Anyway, 3,000 miles on that rim total.

Ben said...

Man that's a gorgeous old Trek. I too remember the rides of that vintage, heh, I remember my Dad talking me out of a ridiculously colored Cannondale back then. Love it.

Hope the new rim works out for ya, was the old one a stocker on a Cross-Check by chance?

Big Oak said...

Yes, it came with my Specialized Tri Cross. Supposedly I was able to ride off rode with those rims also. I've only used them for paved roads (albeit rough and bumpy paved roads) and gravel roads.

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