a midway bikelog

tuning up and dropping out

Despite the optimism of my last post, i’ve had to drop out of the Ragnarok 105 for this year. Since i wrote last, i got me 2nd nasty bout of the flu for this year, and i’m still coughing crap out of my lungs. So even if i had a chance of building up a little fitness, i think my reeling immune system would probably conspire to put me back in bed yet again. So, i’m out, and not all that happy about it. I’m trying to think long-term though, and it’s not all THAT nice out yet anyway, right?

As a way to help keep my mind off riding for a bit, i decided to finish building a wheel i’d been collecting parts for. It’s a motley collection of weird parts; used Mavic G40 rim, NOS generic Suntour hub, used Simplex Q/R, and new Wheelsmith spokes; so i decided to give it an equally odd lacing pattern. Here is is:

It’s a 2-leading, 2-trailing pattern, a take-off of the much cooler-looking 3-leading, 3-trailing pattern that requires a 36-hole wheel. Alas, this is a 32-hole, so i get a 4-point cross instead of a big triangle. Still kinda neat, and seems pretty solid so far.

This will be the front wheel on my city fixed gear, to go with the nice rear wheel i built earlier this winter. Unlike that wheel, with its shiny new parts, this one only cost about $40. The rim isn’t perfect, but i’ll happily live with the 1mm dip it has in one spot for a cheap, experimental wheel. Now to just get healthy enough to put some miles on it…