Brick Lane Bikes - How Lame Really?

(Mr east end Twunt skulks around shop, trying to feign interest in everything and anyone until the shop staff start to get annoyed at the disgusting smell emanating from Mr east end Twunt's general direction)
Lovely BLB shop person: Hi, can I help you?
Mr east end Twunt: (in broad mockney, desperately trying to conceal well-healed home counties background) Er, yeah... Hi man... Was looking to buy a fixed-gear, er, mine just got stolen (visibly blushes at his blatant lie)...
Lovely BLB shop person: Oh, so sorry to hear that... Which bike was it?
Mr east end Twunt: (beads of sweat forming on forehead) Er, um, it was a Parmigiano lo-fro track frame with, erm, full Billy Merckx components groupie-set... I'm pretty gutted, actually, it was pretty sweet... Yeah, really gutted, actually...
Lovely BLB shop person: O RLY?

Can't be arsed to finish this, but you get the idea...

Hahaha, quality.

This thread was a crock of shit from the off.

Thank Tynan for pastry goods and spreadable cheese.

... shut the fuck up!"

Please do.

I have just read through the majority of posts in this thread - laughing my tits off... I feel like i've taken a fucked up trip.I mean: chainbreakers, radial cheese, Mr east end twunt, Hipster Spice thingy, BLB. True forum madness.Awesome......

i really like this thread, it's got everything except a picture of edscobels new bike.

In retrospect saying "I have a Master's in Engineering" also makes me sound like a twat
i didn't think so to be honest, but on refection i'm surprised that the overwhelming majority of grossly overqualified forumongers didn't start listing their CV's as a response, there are few PHd heavyweights who lurk & 'there be dragons'. There is always someone better then you, so be cearful when you make assumptions.

On a different note, you actually write quite well now. I like the word vitriol, it made my day.

Radial is fucking pointless, good on them for advising against it, resistance from side to side impacts, e.g. hitting potholes going round corners etc etc is piss poor compared to 3X etc. The only reason I can see for radial is maybe for aero purposes so you can lace bladed spokes dead straight from hub to rim, but even then, I think you aren't left with a very resilient wheel.

True, radial is very stiff vertically, but not so good when there are side forces. However, it is pretty much optimal in terms of aero (not that I really care) and looks rather nice. Also on a front wheel there is never force applied to the hub directly (as there is on the rear) so it's not much of a problem. If it's low flange then there is the risk that having the force vectors normal to the flange means spokes may rip out and destroy the hub.

I try not to hit potholes at all and even the strongest 3x will not take well to that. A couple of years ago I hit a pothole on Holloway road, it blew the tire and fucked the rim. It was 3x and I was riding in a straight line.

In terms of cornering, radial is fine. The only problem is that the spokes might try and unscrew themselves slightly, but my wheel is pretty highly tensioned and stiff so I think that's OK.

I tend to check that everything is true on a fairly regular basis, so if there was a loose spoke or any deviation I hope I would notice...

32h Hybrid Crows Foot FTW.

Looks good, has great torque strength, and radial strength.

Only downfall might be that it's so stiff it's not too comfy when slamming in and out of potholes... but then, if you like the highly responsive kind of wheel it's perfect.

i really like this thread, it's got everything except a picture of edscobels new bike.

i didn't think so to be honest, but on refection i'm surprised that the overwhelming majority of grossly overqualified forumongers didn't start listing their CV's as a response, there are few PHd heavyweights who lurk & 'there be dragons'. There is always someone better then you, so be cearful when you make assumptions.

On a different note, you actually write quite well now. I like the word vitriol, it made my day.

Yes. There is always someone better, it's good to remember that I reckon. I'm not a retard, just that when I'm annoyed I tend to write in "valley girl meets internet geek".

So I'll say something along the lines of:

OMG I was in BLB and the guys was all like 35 quid to break teh chain and I was like "Oh no you din't!!!" And she was all like "HTFU", so I was like "WTF? 35 4 da chain? I donts roll like that."

And so forth.

The Hipster Spice Route is 110% awesome. If only for that, this thread is somehow worthwhile.

32h Hybrid Crows Foot FTW.

Looks good, has great torque strength, and radial strength.

Only downfall might be that it's so stiff it's not too comfy when slamming in and out of potholes... but then, if you like the highly responsive kind of wheel it's perfect.

I quite fancy trying different lacing patterns...how do you find spoke lengths for something like that - the length calcs i've seen just do 2x / 3x etc??

32h Hybrid Crows Foot FTW.

Looks good, has great torque strength, and radial strength.

Only downfall might be that it's so stiff it's not too comfy when slamming in and out of potholes... but then, if you like the highly responsive kind of wheel it's perfect.

Yups it's nice, but why not 36h crows? The hybrid crow is nice, but I think the "standard" 36h crow looks a bit better and is def as strong.

Billy Merckx !

ha ha ha, fucktards

I find the devil is in the detail, or perhaps its the spice of life

^^^ You should know....

now I'd say if you were to "clang"a radially spoked wheel in a hole, against a curb, etc, its far more likely to buckle beyond repair than a crossed spoked wheel, similarly if a spoke bust I'd expect a bigger waver with a radially spoked wheel against a crossed spoke one.But then I am only stiring the fires of Hades...........

I quite fancy trying different lacing patterns...how do you find spoke lengths for something like that - the length calcs i've seen just do 2x / 3x etc??

Sheldon has a link on his site to one about cool lacing patterns. For hybrid crows foot you need radial length spokes and 2x. Normal crows foot radial and either 2x or 3x depending on build

Sheldon has a link on his site to one about cool lacing patterns. For hybrid crows foot you need radial length spokes and 2x. Normal crows foot radial and either 2x or 3x depending on build

cool thx...

Never eaten pheasant.

Cheapest poultry out there - the posho's slaughter them in their thousands without any intention of eating them.

In similar news, me and a mate shot and stewed 4 squirrels the other day. Absolute bastard to skin them, even harder than putting on a Rubino.

Not wishing to spoil all this secondhand anecdote and speculation but can anyone point me to a peer-reviewed study of the relative merits (strength, aerodynamics, etc) of different lacing patterns?

I've heard squirrels are quite good to eat.

Watched Gordon Ramsay a few nights ago and he was eating Puffin. Must admit, they looked a bit too cute to eat - still would though.

They're nice, sort of a cross between rabbit and pork. Apparently when they turn up in restaurants they're normally billed as "flightless partridge".

Know what you mean about puffin. Cute but probably delicious.

I went to Iceland a few years ago and ate gannet. Fucking horrible.

I have always wanted to eat a pelican.

32h Hybrid Crows Foot FTW.

Looks good, has great torque strength, and radial strength.

Only downfall might be that it's so stiff it's not too comfy when slamming in and out of potholes... but then, if you like the highly responsive kind of wheel it's perfect.
been running that lacing in my rear wheel for a few months. still undecided, nice and stiff but snapped a spoke recently hitting a pothole on my way to an alleycat, one of the radials, ended it up taping it to the adjacent spoke to race. not 100% sure if it would've happened if it was 3x plus it was a bit of a pain sorting out the right length spokes at the time

[quote=teenslain;635378]

Mr east end Twunt: (in broad mockney, desperately trying to conceal well-healed home counties background) Er, yeah... Hi man... Was looking to buy a fixed-gear, er, mine just got stolen (visibly blushes at his blatant lie)...

Tarquin, looks like we have been rumbled on chap, best not mention the recent enquiry for those Chianti drop handbars and Papadelli bar tape from Fortnum and Mason - Hugo (Windsor & Old Etonian)

Not wishing to spoil all this secondhand anecdote and speculation but can anyone point me to a peer-reviewed study of the relative merits (strength, aerodynamics, etc) of different lacing patterns?

No, but 3x is safe. It's stiff and yet also good with sideways force. Crows foot, that's a whimsical lacing, stiff as 3x, looks better though (if you have 36h). Radial is the stiffest, never run it on the rear though. Also radial is the best in terms of aero but who cares really?

I would say on the back do 3x or crows. Do not even consider radial for the back. On the front, radial is good on a high flange, otherwise play safe and do 3x.