Current Projects chat and miscellany

After a bath in a mixture of boiling water, Viakal and Brasso, my drops, seatpost, seatclamp bolt and crankset are all shiny again...

The Basso is top-end stuff for the day, so it doesn't seem that unrealistic to be spending a reasonable amount on your wheels. I prefer classic looking wheels on older frames, but each to their own.

Regarding that Raleigh Team Banana, I'd personally keep the BB to avoid spending to much; it's plain-gauge steel, isn't it?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/img0578fz.jpg
Just bought this, Saxon track frame! Gonna get build as a ratbike!

apolloxl - are the bars quite bent, or am I imagining that?

Just bought this, Saxon track frame! Gonna get build as a ratbike!

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Shimano UN54 BBs are only £15.

Have you damaged it at all whilst removing? If it took 4 hours and elbow grease I would worry that this is the case.

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Poundland gets you a saddle clamp for that Raleigh seatpost if you need one.

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In that case give the Zipp 101 a look..

Zipp 101 is a lot more money, but may be even faster than the C50 Shimanos. I don't think the DA C24 is worth the extra over the RS80-C24, they are exactly the same rim and spokes so you're paying nearly £300 for some slightly lighter hubs.

it was just stuck! and wasn't really 4 hours of constant trying, I had a beer too. :P

have some rep

not keen on the deep rims, would look wrong on a thin tubed frame i feel.

Aesthetically, nowhere near as wrong as shallow rims on a fat tubed frame. 50mm rims on a standard guage steel frame will look fine.

Zipp 101 is a lot more money, but may be even faster than the C50 Shimanos. I don't think the DA C24 is worth the extra over the RS80-C24, they are exactly the same rim and spokes so you're paying nearly £300 for some slightly lighter hubs.

A while back you could get the DA WH-7850 wheels for £399 and the RS wheels rims were heavier, less sexy and lacked crabon.

You're right – things have changed and the RS wheels look the better bet.

thanks for all your advice guys, i've gone for the cheaper rs80s, only 350 here

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-road-bike-wheelset-28--700-c-wh-rs80-a-c24-cl/aid:520190

those da wheels would have made this by a long way the most expensive bike i had ever ridden, it made me nervous somehow. also, now i have another 200 t spend on beer.

I had the RS80 C24 and C50 for a while and the C50 are the ones I've kept. Stiff and not really comfortable at all but absolutely bombproof for the larger rider.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/img0578fz.jpg
Just bought this, Saxon track frame! Gonna get build as a ratbike!

Nice looking 30's (?) frame.
Got the forks too?

The pre-war British bikes had 'lots of seat post' = short seat tubes long top tubes.

Saxon built a really cool double seattube short wheelbase frame.

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/designs/hs-saxon.html

I had the RS80 C24 and C50 for a while and the C50 are the ones I've kept. Stiff and not really comfortable at all but absolutely bombproof for the larger rider.

Do you reckon that might be the tyre?

My 50mm rims are actually really comfortable- nicer than the Open Pro training wheels.

I was thinking that it might be tubs vs clinchers, as the tyres are Vittoria Corsa Evo CX on both sets of wheels.

Ran same tubes and tyres on each, C50 are way stiffer and have needed no spoke key attention at all unlike C24.

Good comparison then!

Jim re-tensioned my wheels a couple of days ago as I'd (finally!) got 100+ miles on them, need to go out again and see what they are like now, but they've been really good at transferring power when climbing/sprinting, yet not shaken my fillings out, which has been nice.

My old Ksyrium Elites used to rub on the brake blocks when out of the saddle giving it the beans, these not at all.

Conversely, my 808s flex noticeably more than my ksyrium es's. Make a better noise though.

C50 are way stiffer

Which is not to say that the 24s are deficient in that regard; no problems at all for 200lb of me sprinting like a loon with the brake pads run close to the rim. I bough my RS80s before the C50 version was even mooted, otherwise I'd have got the 50s, but for a shallow 16-spoke front wheel they are remarkably un-noodley.

After a bath in a mixture of boiling water, Viakal and Brasso, my drops, seatpost, seatclamp bolt and crankset are all shiny again...

How long did you put it in for?

Will it damage the metal at all?