I started for a ride Monday morning on the Ironman and did an all-around safety check, something I usually do before every ride but neglected the past couple of rides.
Vintage Wolber Super Champion Alpine rear rim cracked after a lotta years and thousands of miles. Great wheel while it lasted.
I noticed a new ticking/clicking sound this weekend but assumed it was just the new cleats. I've been riding the same Look Delta cleats I got in early 2018 after @
texaspandj sent me a pair of pedals. They were pretty worn out so I thought the new cleats were squeaking, but it sounded more like metallic tapping or ticking and was audible even while coasting.
I noticed the rear rim had a wobble so while I spun the rim to identity a few spokes to adjust quickly before riding I felt a snag on my fingers. Sure nuff, the rim was cracked in a couple of spots.I could see the red rim tape through the cracks. Not good.
Those Wolber Super Champion Alpine rims are from around 1989. Reckon they had a good life between the few thousand miles I put on them the past year, and whatever use the previous owner gave them.
These rims and the comparable Araya CTL-370 rims were considered the lightest practical clincher rims for most racing back in the day. There were lighter rims for time trials, track, etc., but most were considered too fragile for regular use.
I remember reading complaints that the Araya CTL-370 "SuperHard" (370 grams per rim -- not the entire wheel) were prone to spokes pulling through the rims like this, but so far my Arayas have been okay. Just one of those trade-offs for achieving a compromise between lighter weight and durability.
I figure I put over 2,500 miles on that wheelset last year on the Trekenstein, then moved the wheels to the Ironman after disassembling the Trek 5900 for servicing (which I started in January and still haven't finished). Strava sez I've ridden 3,300 miles so far this year, most of that on the Ironman. So, probably 5,000 miles on a 30+ year old wheelset. And our roads get more terrible all the time. Lots of chipseal now, lots of rough transitions with seams the size of small curbs. Not bad service for a lightweight rim.
These Wolbers were laced to some very nice Shimano 600 hubs, which are a notch above the Suntour GPX hubs on my Araya CTL-370 rims. The Shimano hubs have nicer metal dust caps and feel slicker and smoother -- although I doubt that translates to a faster me. My average speeds/times are the same on both wheelsets.
I'm always tempted by fancypants high zoot wheelsets, but I doubt I'll bother with anything special for the Ironman. I'll go for cheap and durable, something with Shimano or entry level DT Swiss components. I have another wheelset with DT Swiss sealed bearing cartridge hubs and they're pretty nice. All my other hubs have always been cup and cone with loose bearings, easy to service as long as the cones aren't chipped.
I'll save those nice Shimano 600 hubs for a DIY wheel build. Something I've wanted to try anyway.
Sorry to hear we won't see you this year, @
RobbieTunes, but I understand completely. Texans have been inconsistent in approach to the pandemic and it shows in our data.
I had an immunology appointment Monday morning and my Uber driver didn't wear a mask, despite the requirements. I didn't have time to wait for another driver and didn't want to get into a thing with a driver who already knows the company policy and decided it doesn't apply to him. So I took the ride but sent a note to Uber about it.
This is what Texas feels like nowadays.