Re: [CR]Campagnolo pista hubs....flange heights

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme)

In-Reply-To: <04ca01c439b6$874c4450$0000a398@DXROOM>
References: <40A3FDDF.7070604@erols.com> <p06100500bcc9cd1ecfee@[10.0.1.5]>
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 10:41:03 -0400
To: "Angel M Garcia" <wa2vuy@mindspring.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Sheldon Brown" <CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Campagnolo pista hubs....flange heights


At 9:22 AM -0400 5/14/04, Angel M Garcia wrote:
>In the small accumulated pile of stuff I have I found some articles on
>wheelbuilding by Dick Swann. My old-timer friend says he worked at one time
>for Kopps in Princeton, NJ, as a wheelbuilder and that he was English(?). I
>guess some here would know him? Here are some of the things he said
>(material is undated):

Dick Swann wrote as "The Question Man" for _Bicycling!_ magazine for a number of years. He makes Jobst Brandt look mellow by comparison. He would have made a fabulous Internet flame warrior. As it was, he was heavily involved in letter-to-the-editor flamewars. I seem to recall three things that would really set him off:

1. Calling a saddle a "seat." I'm with him here, thoug I don't make a habit of scolding people about it.

B. He made a distinction between "wire-on" and "clincher" tires, excuseme, tyres, based on some long extinct type of "clincher."

III. I recall particularly vicious flame wars over "spindle" vs. "axle." One faction said that wheels have spindles and bottom brackets have axles, while the other faction said the opposite. The distinction was based on whether the part in question rotated or not.
>1) .....resilient small flanged wheels used by stage race riders differ
>greatly from the tied, large flanged wheels favored by hill climbers....
>2)....the very object of using a large flange hub is to stiffen the
>wheel....
>3.....Circuit races (crits, Kermesses, etc.): on small tight courses with
>many corners, it is best to use a large flange hub to steady the bike in the
>many (often sharp) corners. Also, with the numerous accelerations that must
>occur on such courses this large front hub wheel prevent wheel whip (me:
>what is wheel whip?!)
>4) ...Timetrialing: do use small hubs for lightness and halving wind
>resistance....
>5)...Hillclimbing: The front wheel has to be extra strong; in some events
>the rider is off the saddle with his weight on the front wheel for up top
>75% of the distance...
>6)....Sprinting: Large or medium size hubs...
>7)....Paced racing: use largest flanged hubs available...
>8)....Track timetrialing: small flange hubs....
>9)....Team pursuiting: "heavy" large flanged wheels
>
>for each of these categories he has suggestions for spoke counts, spoke
>gauges, when wheels should be tied and soldered, etc.

This stuff is all the classic "myth and lore" that Jobst Brandt disparages. I'm with Jobst on this one.

Sheldon "Flange Size Is An Aesthetic Issue" Brown Newtonville, Massachusetts +-----------------------------------------+ | Man invented language to satisfy his | | deep need to complain. -- Lily Tomlin | +-----------------------------------------+ --
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