So my original Alex AT-400 rims and Formula Track sealed hubs have done around 3k miles of winter riding in salt, grit, rain, farm overspill, snow, ice and always in the crappiest of weather. I suppose the wheels should have expired a long time ago but apart from a few grooves/ridges on the rims they are still in reasonable condition, still on the original bearings, even the original MX30 freewheel is still in use although I have cleaned and lubricated this numerous times over the last few years. I think if I manage to get through this winter the wheels will then be ready for the bin come springtime.
A couple of years ago I bought an ex velodrome bike which was fitted with Mavic CXP30 rims (never braked on) and Miche Primato hubs. The bike was later sold with another set of cheap wheels so I now had a set of Mavic/Miche spares for my S/S. Only problem was the rear hub is a single sided track hub with lockring threading. I suppose I could take a chance and fit a freewheel to the fixed hub, but as the fixed threads are a lot narrower than the freewheel threads there is a chance the freewheel will strip the threads leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere on a snowy day out. The thought of having to wait on Mrs GGJ finding me in the middle of nowhere doesn't fill me with confidence so the plan was to change the hub for a nice new Miche Primato flip flop hub. This would at least allow me the correct chain alignment with the option of a fixed gear on the opposite side should the MX30 ever die on me.
So a couple of weeks ago I went to my LBS with wheel and hub to have the hub changed over. Unfortunately the LBS was closed so back home and wheel & hub have been set aside waiting for my next trip to the LBS. On Sunday however I was offered a pair of ex track Dolan Navigator wheels with a flip flop hub for the cost of a few beers so decided to jump the chance and done the deal. Another wheelset that has never been braked on, but the front bearings were a little rough so I replaced them with some new FAG 6000 RSR bearings I had in stock, removed the NAVIGATOR decals and gave the rims a bit of a clean, fitted a fixed gear and a freewheel and some Gatorskins I had in stock, so we are now ready for the inevitable...
A couple of years ago I bought an ex velodrome bike which was fitted with Mavic CXP30 rims (never braked on) and Miche Primato hubs. The bike was later sold with another set of cheap wheels so I now had a set of Mavic/Miche spares for my S/S. Only problem was the rear hub is a single sided track hub with lockring threading. I suppose I could take a chance and fit a freewheel to the fixed hub, but as the fixed threads are a lot narrower than the freewheel threads there is a chance the freewheel will strip the threads leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere on a snowy day out. The thought of having to wait on Mrs GGJ finding me in the middle of nowhere doesn't fill me with confidence so the plan was to change the hub for a nice new Miche Primato flip flop hub. This would at least allow me the correct chain alignment with the option of a fixed gear on the opposite side should the MX30 ever die on me.
So a couple of weeks ago I went to my LBS with wheel and hub to have the hub changed over. Unfortunately the LBS was closed so back home and wheel & hub have been set aside waiting for my next trip to the LBS. On Sunday however I was offered a pair of ex track Dolan Navigator wheels with a flip flop hub for the cost of a few beers so decided to jump the chance and done the deal. Another wheelset that has never been braked on, but the front bearings were a little rough so I replaced them with some new FAG 6000 RSR bearings I had in stock, removed the NAVIGATOR decals and gave the rims a bit of a clean, fitted a fixed gear and a freewheel and some Gatorskins I had in stock, so we are now ready for the inevitable...
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