Re: [Classicrendezvous] normandy schmormandy

(Example: Framebuilders:Bernard Carré)

Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 08:45:13 -0500
From: Jerry & Liz Moos <moos@penn.com>
To: chuckschmidt@earthlink.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [Classicrendezvous] normandy schmormandy
References: <001801c0416e$bd6b2ea0$719afea9@chasds> <39FBCEB2.2F1C@earthlink.net> <39FC273A.DF92E403@penn.com>


Just thought better of one point in my post - no need for a treadmill, which introduces issues of wheel construction. Just attach the hub axle to an electric motor and measure the watts required to turn an unbuilt hub at a given rpm. Anyone know of this being done and the results documented?

Regards,

Jerry "instructor in Electrical Engineering lab many, many moons ago" Moos

Jerry & Liz Moos wrote:
> Smoothness is in the eye of the beholder, virtually any alloy QR hub properly lubricated and adjusted is infinitely better than a badly maintained example of the best hub ever made. I think the "smoothness' of Campy bearings
> is another of those beliefs that is 10% fact and 90% mystique. If you asked an engineer with experience in automobile and aircraft rotating parts but no knowledge of bicycles to rate hub smoothness, I'll bet he wouldn't find
> much difference between a properly adjusted Campy NR and a properly adjust Normandy Sport or basic alloy QR Shimano. I suppose one could measure smoothness, i.e. relative lack of energy loss to friction, by rigging an electric
> motor to a hub axle, running the wheel on a treadmill, and metering the electrical input it took to maintain a given speed. I'll bet the difference between one relatively good quality hub and another would be minimal. The
> most important factor in hub performance is lubrication and adjustment. I like Normandy Competitions (especially with Simplex QRs) because they are cool and French, others like Campy NR because they are cool and Italian,
> others like Dura Ace because they are cool and Japanese. No reason in that for not getting along.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
>
> Chuck Schmidt wrote:
>
> > "Can't we all get along?"
> > --Rodney King
> >
> > C. Andrews wrote:
> > >
> > > Jerry Moos wrote, in part:
> > >
> > > Why the Italian chauvinism? What about Stronglight 105 bis cranks, Mafac brake
> > > lever half hoods, Lyotard Berthet pedals, Normandy Competition hubs with Simplex
> > >
> > > ****I've rebuilt enough Normany hubs, Luxe and otherwise, to know that they were only ordinary at best, and often very rough, even with new grease, bearings, and careful adjustment. Not a hub for the ages, I can tell ya.