Ideal Audax Bike

vorsprung

I'm doing some articles on my blog about my favourite audax bike discussing all the bits and pieces

My best bike part1 : the handlebars

My best bike part2 : wheels

amaferanga

That pipe lagging looks terrible. Can't you come up with something a little less unsightly?

alan_sherman

What do you need tri bars for anyway? It is a heavy map holder!

I agree fully with the wheels though, especially the dyno hub. The delux or 20R has even less drag than the SON 28, is much lighter, but has a slighlty narrower flange spacing.

vorsprung

alan sherman wrote:

What do you need tri bars for anyway? It is a heavy map holder!

I don't discuss this in the article but

1) tri bars give a different hand position and this is a comfort advantage on long rides
2) on the flat and under the right conditions there is an aero advantage that is worth 2 or 3kph or an energy saving
3) bizarrely the padding for the tri bars is better than the handlebars so on horrible buzzy roads the tri bars are better

I agree fully with the wheels though, especially the dyno hub. The delux or 20R has even less drag than the SON 28, is much lighter, but has a slighlty narrower flange spacing.

I do like the look of those delux hubs. They are available in lots of colours

vorsprung

amaferanga wrote:

That pipe lagging looks terrible. Can't you come up with something a little less unsightly?

The original folding arm rests looked terrible. Using no padding doesn't work. Pipe lagging is ideal as a padding material. Pity it looks so rotten but the stuff is only available in that neutral grey colour

The LHS side one in the photo does look a little bit "chewed". I have lots of pipe lagging and do replace it occassionally

calvjones

vorsprung wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

That pipe lagging looks terrible. Can't you come up with something a little less unsightly?

The original folding arm rests looked terrible. Using no padding doesn't work. Pipe lagging is ideal as a padding material. Pity it looks so rotten but the stuff is only available in that neutral grey colour

The LHS side one in the photo does look a little bit "chewed". I have lots of pipe lagging and do replace it occassionally

Why don't you lag under the bar tape then?

cougie

Or cover the pipe lagging in duck tape for a sci fi look ?

Personally I'd prob leave as it is. If it does the job well - not fussed on how it looks !

vorsprung

calvjones wrote:

Why don't you lag under the bar tape then?

I don't think that would work. The pipe lagging is too bulky and soft

vorsprung

Another article appears, about the frame

http://audaxing.wordpress.com/2010/09/0 ... the-frame/

It ends in tragedy

alan_sherman

Oh no!

The irony of the lifetime warranty sticker in that picture It seems strange for the crack to have propogated over both tope tube and seat tube.

Is it fixable? Maybe ask ask at Enigma as they are welding Titanium in the UK now.

Will you just get a new frame, if so what?

vorsprung

alan sherman wrote:

Oh no!

The irony of the lifetime warranty sticker in that picture It seems strange for the crack to have propogated over both tope tube and seat tube.

Is it fixable? Maybe ask ask at Enigma as they are welding Titanium in the UK now.

I have talked to Enigma and also an independent highly skilled welder. The consensus is that yes, it could be fixed but the reason it happened means that a reoccurance is likely

Will you just get a new frame, if so what?

That's the next blog entry but basically the front runners at the moment are something carbon with a big head tube like a Specialized Roubaix, Giant Defy Advanced or Bianchi Infinito

vorsprung

vorsprung wrote:

alan sherman wrote:

Will you just get a new frame, if so what?

That's the next blog entry ...

...and it is on the blog now "A New bike?"

cookiemonster

On carbon frames, you say "These are not available in a “Build to your shape” custom product from anywhere"

There are a number of places that will build you a custom geometry carbon frame: serotta, viner and parlee are three that spring to mind. The great advantage is that your titanium frame will suddenly look cheap...

biondino

"After riding in light rain it is a good idea to remove the hub, strip it down and check the bearings."

Yeah, to be honest if I was building a tough and reliable bike I might avoid these too. Jesus.

vorsprung

biondino wrote:

"After riding in light rain it is a good idea to remove the hub, strip it down and check the bearings."

Yeah, to be honest if I was building a tough and reliable bike I might avoid these too. Jesus.

(we are talking about Ambrosio Zenith hubs)

Before I did the Mille Cymru ride 1000km of Wales I did as you might expect. I checked everything I could check on the bike and replaced parts that were worn. The hub bearings were absolutely fine, plenty of grease which I replaced with clean grease.

The first 400km of the ride was dry. Then it rained for a couple of hours. It dried out. Shortly afterwards the hub bearings started their well known trick of self destructing. Yes, I did finish the ride but for the next 500km my gears were somewhat temperamental due to excessive play in the freehub

vorsprung

cookiemonster wrote:

On carbon frames, you say "These are not available in a “Build to your shape” custom product from anywhere"

There are a number of places that will build you a custom geometry carbon frame: serotta, viner and parlee are three that spring to mind. The great advantage is that your titanium frame will suddenly look cheap...

haha, yes! I think £3k to £6k just for the frame is a bit outside my budget

http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/serotta_custom_bikes.html