In a message dated 7/17/02 8:35:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, oktoski@hotmail.com writes:
<< Sam Braxton, framebuilder, et al) in Missoula, Montana
would tell about timed wheel building races. I think they claimed
a time of around 3 minutes from a pile of spokes, rim and
hub to a rideable wheel. >>
Hard to imagine they could properly lube the threads and the nipple seat in
that time, much less spoke it. Of course if they were having a little contest
to get "bragging rights" to how fat they could put a wheel together, that's
one thing, but I don't buy they could build a top quality wheel in that time.
My two cents on rims:
Rims come in all variations of rigidity, from noodle to extremely rigid and
they ride differently. I'm a sew up guy, and when aero sew ups (shallow V
rims) first came out, I noticed a BIG difference in felt road shock through
the handlebars. Clinchers may be another matter, from an engineering
standpoint, the walls that hold the tire on act as stiffening flanges. Add a
modern deep aero V section to that and you get a darn stiff rim.
At the noodle end of the spectrum, remember those 200 gram gold colored Nisi
rims? They don't hold much tension, you HAVE to spoke them loose and you
cannot make up a lack of rim strength by just adding spokes. At 36, they were
flimsy.
Strong rims, that will hold a lot of tension, are a different animal, but I
still contend you can feel a difference between a deep V aero rim and a
traditional sew up rim.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA