Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Bickering about bicycles, now with occasional tips about motorised vehicles
The Seldom Killer:
Bit strange if it seems to have a higher spoke count as the TLR is designed as a low spoke count , low weight, race ready wheel. I would expect a 24 spoke wheel but, unless you're doing proper cross country or cyclocross then you shouldn't notice a different. It may be a bit stiffer and therefore a fraction less comfortable at higher speeds depending on what tyre you're using. If you aren't happy with the current one, stick on a Schwalbe Kojak at mid pressure, a fine tyre well suited to utility cycling as well as longer recreational efforts.
Caleb:
WHY would they put a RACE ready wheel on my comfort bike that I am riding everyday to work to lose weight???????????
Sheesh.
I will take your advice and keep the new wheel at mid pressure. I was doing that anyway since it seemed to make sense for my situation.
I am sorry for complaining so much about this. I make nothing at my current job and I can't afford this nonsense and time wasted.
Akima:
I think "TLR" in Bontrager-speak simply means "tube-less ready". They apply it to a whole family of wheels ranging from low-spoke roadie rims to higher spoke-count mountain-bike wheels.
Spoke-count is not the only factor in wheel strength, but generally, other things being equal, a wheel with more spokes will be tougher, which is why you see higher spoke-counts on MTB wheels, and low spoke-counts on wheels intended for riding on smooth roads. Essentially, your weight, and the weight of all non-wheel parts of your bike, "hang" on the spokes at the top of the wheels, and sharing that over more spokes gives you a greater margin for error. There is also the issue of lateral stiffness, and generally speaking low-spoke count wheels are less stiff that wheels with more spokes (again other things being equal). The main driver for low-spoke wheels is aerodynamics, which is chiefly a racing concern.
These are rather abstruse points for a transport cyclist, but commuting can be hard on wheels. Most of the ride will be on smoothish tarmac/concrete etc. but it is not always possible to avoid areas where the surface has broken up, and sometimes you have to bunny-hop a kerb, or take radical avoiding action. My bike has 406mm wheels (the same size as most BMX bikes) with 32-spoke Velocity Aeroheat wheels. It is probably a bit over-built, but so far the wheels have stood up well.
--- Quote from: Caleb on 17 Sep 2015, 16:10 ---WHY would they put a RACE ready wheel on my comfort bike that I am riding everyday to work to lose weight???????????
--- End quote ---
Leaving aside the probability that they are just a bunch of pricks (which seems high given their comments on your weight), there is a significant problem with bike-shops in Australia focussing very strongly on cycle-sports, and this might be true in the USA too. There is only one bike-shop in Sydney (as far as I know) that specialises in transportation cycling. It is fair to say that this reflects the emphasis of the cycling industry generally, at least in the English-speaking world, and it leads to poor choices being offered to transport cyclists.
For example, there are plenty of "comfort bikes" on offer that are built on frames better suited to fast road riding than commuting, because manufacturers like to share the frames across a wide range of bikes. The tight clearances at the top of the forks, and sometimes the choice of brakes, don't provide clearance for sensibly-wide tyres, and the bikes are sold with narrow wheels and slim high-pressure tyres, which give a harsher ride, and require closer attention to maintaining pressure if you want to avoid pinch-flats. Then, to address the harshness, they fit suspension forks, adding an additional weight and complexity that would not be necessary if sensible wheels and tyres could be fitted. Unnecessarily high bottom-brackets on transport or comfort bikes built on sporting frames is another example of a "sport" feature being imposed where it is not fit for the purpose, and it can even lead to knee injury if the rider is not clued up.
The Seldom Killer:
Vaguely relevant to the thread and for those who are interested in such things, we have a new speed record for a human powered vehicle. Todd Reichert hit a speed of 85.71mph in a relatively big leap towards the holy grail of the 100.
More details here for those easily impressed by feats of radical engineering and swathes of carbon fibre*:
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/bm2015-todd-reichert-is-the-fastest-man-on-earth/
*raises hand
bhtooefr:
There is debate that I've seen in the past about whether cameraliner records are really legitimate, though, as the camera is a system required to ride the vehicle at all, and is powered from stored energy (nobody's running cameras and the displays off of dynamo hubs).
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