Hi,
Early last year I replaced my quality Mavic wheels with a cheap set of wheels. The spokes on the Mavic,s where showing signs of fatigue as they were often snapping. A cheap pair of wheels were duly bought whilst I got the Mavic,s rebuilt and the cheapie wheels have stayed on the bike ever since ( up until yesterday that is)
Yesterday's evening ride, I was met with a familiar "ping" noise, and sure enough a spoke had let go. A gentle ride back home I decided to reinstate the Mavic,s into service once again.
A quick tyre swap, and whilst my hands were dirty a deep clean of the drive train soon got it looking shipshape again.
The rear derailleur was given a tweek to except the Mavic,s 5 speed freewheel ( the cheapo wheel has a six speed) and I hadn't got a tool to swap them over.
The cheap non branded wheels look very smart on the bike with all the flash stickers stating there "this and that" and almost make the old pug look like it's ready to take on the Chris Froomes bike lol :-) ,but in reality the hubs were cheap old notchy things and the spokes were painted up black mild steel, massed produced somewhere in China.
The Mavics on the other hand have polished Michie hubs which are silky smooth and laced with butted stainless steel spokes and look very retro. A 50 mile bike ride today really made me realize just how much a good set of wheels can affect your ride for the better. The first couple of miles into my ride, I was instantly impressed by how much smoother the bike felt underneath me. The rough road surface now somehow felt much more muted ,and all the harsh vibrations that once buzzed through the seat and handle bars now seemed much less. As the cheap wheels where deep sectioned, they would often catch a side wind ,and would feel slightly unpredictable , but the Mavic,s being " old school" I had none of this today. I was a little reluctant to fit the 5 speed freewheel back on ,but even that's worked better for me today compared to the 6 speed block. The down tube friction shifters needed less precise movements to get the chain to sit on the desired gear, and as its a narrower block the chain alignment was less contorted with the front chain rings. All these small improvements actually made my 50 mile ride today somewhat of a breeze. I got back home feeling a lot less fatigued from the constant buzz of the rough roads and the endless fiddling around with the gears to make them run smoothly. It can be the smallest of things on a bike that can make or break a longish ride to either being easy or hard going.
No doubt I've bored you all to sleep now with all this ,but thought I would just share my limited knowledge and thoughts on our great lesuire/sport of cycling :-)
Early last year I replaced my quality Mavic wheels with a cheap set of wheels. The spokes on the Mavic,s where showing signs of fatigue as they were often snapping. A cheap pair of wheels were duly bought whilst I got the Mavic,s rebuilt and the cheapie wheels have stayed on the bike ever since ( up until yesterday that is)
Yesterday's evening ride, I was met with a familiar "ping" noise, and sure enough a spoke had let go. A gentle ride back home I decided to reinstate the Mavic,s into service once again.
A quick tyre swap, and whilst my hands were dirty a deep clean of the drive train soon got it looking shipshape again.
The rear derailleur was given a tweek to except the Mavic,s 5 speed freewheel ( the cheapo wheel has a six speed) and I hadn't got a tool to swap them over.
The cheap non branded wheels look very smart on the bike with all the flash stickers stating there "this and that" and almost make the old pug look like it's ready to take on the Chris Froomes bike lol :-) ,but in reality the hubs were cheap old notchy things and the spokes were painted up black mild steel, massed produced somewhere in China.
The Mavics on the other hand have polished Michie hubs which are silky smooth and laced with butted stainless steel spokes and look very retro. A 50 mile bike ride today really made me realize just how much a good set of wheels can affect your ride for the better. The first couple of miles into my ride, I was instantly impressed by how much smoother the bike felt underneath me. The rough road surface now somehow felt much more muted ,and all the harsh vibrations that once buzzed through the seat and handle bars now seemed much less. As the cheap wheels where deep sectioned, they would often catch a side wind ,and would feel slightly unpredictable , but the Mavic,s being " old school" I had none of this today. I was a little reluctant to fit the 5 speed freewheel back on ,but even that's worked better for me today compared to the 6 speed block. The down tube friction shifters needed less precise movements to get the chain to sit on the desired gear, and as its a narrower block the chain alignment was less contorted with the front chain rings. All these small improvements actually made my 50 mile ride today somewhat of a breeze. I got back home feeling a lot less fatigued from the constant buzz of the rough roads and the endless fiddling around with the gears to make them run smoothly. It can be the smallest of things on a bike that can make or break a longish ride to either being easy or hard going.
No doubt I've bored you all to sleep now with all this ,but thought I would just share my limited knowledge and thoughts on our great lesuire/sport of cycling :-)
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