Bike Anti-Porn - When Things Go Wrong

ahh that green bike can be split in two,

nice. i saw that thing only recently, its a really nice idea.

i really like VB's bike, super nice in the flesh as well.

ahh that green bike can be split in two,

nice. i saw that thing only recently, its a really really really expensive idea.

Proper luxury that, his frame couplers, and rear hub, cost more than my geared and fixed together!... and then some.

what about the bloody cranks!
780 quid!

yours would look better with a small spacer and a flat stem. And before you say it, I don't buy the more structurally sound with no spacer argument, not with a 1cm spacer at least :-)

You buy the engineering logic with 5cm of spacers, but suddenly the laws of physics change when it's only 1cm?

That fork has an aluminium steerer, so the "carbon must be mollycoddled" argument goes out of the window, although there isn't much evidence that carbon steerers are more prone to failure than aluminium when used correctly.

The position is spot on, so any change to the spacer stack would need a different stem, and that stem was cheap - it's my beater, not my pet project.To ease the minds of those worried about my safety, my Look has the stock 20mm conical spacer under the stem, which requires a stem with a slight negative angle which should please the conservative aestheticians here.

I've been advocating a spacer above the stem clamp longer than the carbon fork manufacturers have, and the logic applies regardless of steerer material. The carbon makers only have particualr cause to get on board because carbon sufferes first when people overtighten their stem bolts to overcome the stem walking up the steerer, but the root cause is simple mechanics independent of the material properties.

what about the bloody cranks!
780 quid!

i hope I would never spend that much coin on a pair of cranks, unless I was absolutley minted, like, scrooge mcduck swimming in a vault of gold minted.

that's how much my s not green motorbike cost!

i hope I would never spend that much coin on a pair of cranks

Adjusted for inflation, I spent more on my CQP Ti cranks (>£500 back in 1993); the money is soon forgotten, but the cranks are a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

i thought i was indulging myself with my record pistas!

fair point. which of your bikes are they on?

I don't seem to have much luck with cranks, have been through a fair few pairs! maybe would be different if I bought some at that price.

I thought i was indulging my self with my old nuovo records!

fair point. which of your bikes are they on?

They're on the Rourke

are they splined? look a bit like profiles...

are they splined? look a bit like profiles...

No, square taper. Long term project is to convert to a bigger 2-piece axle with a Hirth joint in the middle, but that's going to be expensive.
Ti bar + custom Hirth joint + welding the axle stubs to the cranks = scrooge mcduck swimming in a vault of gold

if it aint broke why fix it?

think i can predict the answer - part of your pursuit of stiffness/efficency?

part of your pursuit of stiffness/efficency?

In this case, part of my pursuit of wasting money on pointless toys. I have cheap Campag Mirage UltraTorque cranks on my race bike in pursuit of efficiency.

You buy the engineering logic with 5cm of spacers, but suddenly the laws of physics change when it's only 1cm?

Yes, that is exactly it. To take to a logical extreme 1cm of spacers will be okay whereas 100cm of spacers may not.

And it doesn't matter that it's your beater, we are talking about aesthetics not money and you are the self proclaimed king of aesthetics :-)

Yes, that is exactly it. To take to a logical extreme 1cm of spacers will be okay whereas 100cm of spacers may not.

That's not physics, it's cost engineering. I agree that a 1cm spacer will leave the thing stiff enough, but it's still not as stiff as it could be. Lets face it, a 531 frame seemed to be stiff enough, since even burly sprinters could hammer the hell out of them back in the day and they didn't seem to be wobbling all over the track, but that didn't stop them switching to carbon frames several times as stiff as soon as they could. It's all about acccumulation of small gains, innit?

Agree, but the question is can you actually notice the 1cm? Be honest now.

And even if you can notice it, think about the aesthetics, somebody please think about the aesthetics.

I think that no spacers looks better than any spacers.

so, running no spacers on alu steerer is ok yeah?

Agree, but the question is can you actually notice the 1cm? Be honest now

Of course not, but that's true of a great many of the marginal gains. I don't think I could even notice the difference between the Prolite and the Look if they didn't look different, since the contact points are identical in shape and identically located.

so, running no spacers on alu steerer is ok yeah?

Yeah. Personally I'd have one 5-10mm spacer, though. Maybe.

Don't think that's an option on this build... From my estimation there is gonna be just enough steerer tube. Thinking about it now though, may even be s steel steerer! Doh

I'm confused. Why is there a need for a spacer?

There isn't. I'd just like one there coz I'm weird,.

Back to a point I've argued previously - how much better does it look with the chain nice and toight in the big chainring with the derailleur tensioned?

this much