With the warm up in weather and lack of snow and ice, Ive flopped to freewheel. Its crazy! You can, like, go down hills effortlessly.

Seriously though, its a nice change of pace. Only thing is that its NOISY. This bog standard ACS Claws I got has the pawls of Thor. I put some gear oil in it in a solvent base, so well see if that quiets it. I do not want to go to the dark side and install a Shimano one.

February 2008. Maximusotter - "Wow folks, I just love this 10-speed derailleur!"

lol.

my freewheel dont make a noise. all the important bits were ground off ages ago.

Quote from: CeathreamhnanFebruary 2008. Maximusotter - "Wow folks, I just love this 10-speed derailleur!"

Hey now, watch it Bub! I may have a look at craigslist and build a 14spd road bike this spring. Might even make the right side clicky. Got a 7 speed corncob with next to zero miles in my parts bucket--and Im ready to use it.

Thing is, fixed or free--Ive ridden every single day in some shape or form for 360 out of the last 365 days. Have you? Ive ridden in the rain, the snow, the wind and the sun. Ive ridden in spandex and spds and in cargo shorts and clogs. Technology, schmucknology.

Ive also built three wheels in the last year, so its not like Im some sort of mechanical dunce.

well.


not much anyone can retort to that.

Id go fixed, if only I hjad the time to teach myself to build wheels

Fixed wheels are as easy as fronts to build as you dont have to dish. Just lace and tension. Do the initial tighten from inside the rim with an electric drill/driver. My first one took maybe three hours, and I was going slow, drinkin beer and being methodical. The lacing part is easy--but I still had to use a guide to remember the order.Getting them up to tension while keeping the thing round just takes patience. True it in the upside down frame of a bike with pencils rubber banded to the stays to keep the rim centered.

Its something to do instead of going out on a Friday.Three hours and dont forget the beer to keep you loose. I think any capable person should be building them in under an hour with a little practice.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

Do a standard 3X. Its strong and very simple to lace if  youre systematic about it.

Dont forget to stress relieve the spokes to seat them in the hub flange. My new fave way of doing this is to put the hub axle on a block of wood and firmly press down  on the rim, working all the way around and both sides. This will also relieve any wound up spokes.

I cant wait to build my next set, makes you feel like a real grown up wrench. Im still grinning from the first three I built--that are all still true as the day I built them.

I have a wicked guide written by a pro builder thats supposed to be the bees knees, shows you how to make all the tools/dishing guages etc you need for free too.  All Im lacking is the time, and to be honest its probably going to be at least May before Ill have that :shock:   Whoever said uni was a doss should try my course

Dood, I built my last three with a 99c spoke wrench, as I couldnt find my Park one. Dish, schmish--whack it in the frame and use a ruler and the stays. Rock and Roll is here to stay.

Ive never felt the need tbh, when Ive always had good wheelbuilders already at my disposal.  Atm, We have possibly the best in europe working for us.

Save money and get a little glow of pride--whats not to like? The difference between my wheel, and one built by a guy at my LBS, who is indeed good, is that mine took longer to build. He uses a tensionometer, I use my ear. He uses a truing jig, I use an old frame. So what? The end results are pretty much identical as far as durability. My dish might be 0.5mm off, but I can live with that. I also know what Im dealing with. Ive been truing and dialing in wheels for 20 years, and short of a broken spoke or two, wheels I tune, stay tuned.

Saving money rocks, I get Trade+Vat and no labour charges