Mavic Askrium Spokes ?

[potsy]

Must remember to give my rims a good clean before Sunday, have just put a pair of new pads on the front, I think the others wore out on those descents the other week!!
I have read on here people using WD40 to clean them with, is this normal? I have no de-greaser so tend to just give them a wipe with a rag

 

[ColinJ]

Must remember to give my rims a good clean before Sunday, have just put a pair of new pads on the front, I think the others wore out on those descents the other week!!

Good point! I think mine are almost gone too. If necessary, I'll take the front brake shoes/blocks off my Cannondale. (I have some spare blocks somewhere but I can't remember where I put them.)

I have read on here people using WD40 to clean them with, is this normal? I have no de-greaser so tend to just give them a wipe with a rag

Hmm ... it sounds a bit iffy to me, does that, but perhaps it just evaporates to leave a sticky residue? I'd rather not risk it.

If you haven't got degreaser, why not use washing up liquid? Just make sure to rinse it off afterwards (apparently, it's supposed to be a bit corrosive because they put salt in it).

 

[potsy]

Well, I used the WD type stuff in the end, amazed at how much crap came off them

turns out they are silver

I'll test them out tomorrow whilst I'm behind you Colin, nice soft landing if it all goes wrong

 

[ColinJ]

I'll test them out tomorrow whilst I'm behind you Colin, nice soft landing if it all goes wrong

Not if you land on my bike!

 

[DTD]

Hope the OP doesn't mind me nipping in on their thread…


I recently got a Cannondale CAADX 105 cyclocross bike and am very pleased with it –my first 'road(ish) bike.


The tyres are slightly knobbly 700x35 which do a good job riding on less than perfect surfaces, but I wonder if sometimes of the time I'd be better off with something narrower and slicker.




Would it be a plan to get another set of wheels (the Aksiums seem a good candidate) put some slicker tyres on and swap them as needed with the wheel/tyre combo that came with the bike (Continental Cyclocross Speed, 700x35C tyres / Maddux DRX 6000 rims / Formula RB-51, RB-52 hubs). ?


Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully received.

 

[ColinJ]

The tyres are slightly knobbly 700x35 which do a good job riding on less than perfect surfaces, but I wonder if sometimes of the time I'd be better off with something narrower and slicker.

If the bike is only going to be used on roads then I'd go for fully slick tyres, probably 25Cs. I used to like Michelin Krylions in 25C size but there was a shortage when I needed new ones so I switched to 23Cs. I think the 25C size is a good compromise between comfort and weight.
As for running two sets of wheels - I tried it on a MTB and made the mistake of choosing a second set of wheels with a different rim profile to the originals. Instead of being a quick swap over, it was a right pain because I had to adjust all 4 brake shoes each time! Check that your new wheel rim profiles are compatible with the ones you have now.

 

[DTD]

Thanks for the tip about brakes – I imagine that would be a bit of a pain.

If it's not too daft a question (well as I don't know the answer it's not the question that's daft, just the questioner).
What measurement am I looking for when I check the wheel rim profiles to see if they match?

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks for the tip about brakes – I imagine that would be a bit of a pain.

If it's not too daft a question (well as I don't know the answer it's not the question that's daft, just the questioner).
What measurement am I looking for when I check the wheel rim profiles to see if they match?

I think the safest thing would be to actually try a would-be new wheel in the bike and see if the brakes were still aligned properly! Not much use if you are buying them mail order, unless you can try a mate's wheel first.

I mentioned that to someone else and he reckoned that one of the two pairs of wheels that I used must have been very strange because in his opinion, most wheel rims are the same profile.

I must admit, that pro riders don't seem to have a problem when they get replacement wheels from neutral service.

I think you'd have to ask someone who knows more about this subject than me. I just know that I had the problem and am flagging it up! I hadn't given it any thought until I got it wrong.

 

[DTD]

Cheers – off to the LBS I think