Woman Builds Wheel
Jan. 2nd, 2006 09:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninevirtuesYou may have noticed, in these virtual pages, that I don't talk about bike maintenance very much. I mean, bicycles are simple, elegant machines. Like all machines, they require maintenance. That is, work. Work that you must know how to do, in order to ride fast.
And, mostly, I have no idea how to do it. I can change a tire; I can lube my chain; I can wash my bike. That is about all. Enter![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rstapleton, former bike mechanic, who eyed my PowerTap hub lustfully, offered to teach me how to build a wheel to accommodate the said hub, and bought the rim and spokes to accomplish same.
(A PowerTap hub goes on your rear wheel and measures the wattage you produce while riding. That means you can track your performance and train with power. I bought one of the early models years ago, and brought it with me when I moved here.)
Brief geeky digression-- There are four ways to gauge your training effort:
- perceived exertion, ie how hard you feel you are working. This is pretty reliable for most people, but for an athlete, hard data about your training is better.
- heart rate (how hard your body is working). Can be affected by temperature, surroundings, length of workout, amount of rest you've had.
- speed (how fast you are going). Not very reliable. After all, terrain and wind affect speed-- not just your efforts.
- power (how much power are you producing). Ah, the best way. If I produce 220 watts on the bike for 20 minutes, I can go and repeat that effort anytime-- uphill, downhill, inside on the trainer, outside on the road in a ferocious headwind.
Right then. Back to the wheel: Last night, R showed me how to lace the spokes-- that is, attach them to the hub, resulting in an object that looks like a spiky, loosely attached octopus with greased ends; then attach the spokes to the rim, lacing them so that each spoke goes over two others and then under a third one before coming to rest in its assigned spoke hole.
The result: An object that looks remarkably like a bicycle wheel, but that is very loosely put together. Next week, we tighten things, so it will be a wheel that one can actually attach to a bicycle and use. We probably also discover that the battery in the hub is dead, and replace that. Then we are likely to discover that the battery in the computer is dead, and replace it too.
But... a wheel! I built a wheel! (with substantial help fromrstapleton). Wheeeee!
And, mostly, I have no idea how to do it. I can change a tire; I can lube my chain; I can wash my bike. That is about all. Enter
rstapleton, former bike mechanic, who eyed my PowerTap hub lustfully, offered to teach me how to build a wheel to accommodate the said hub, and bought the rim and spokes to accomplish same.(A PowerTap hub goes on your rear wheel and measures the wattage you produce while riding. That means you can track your performance and train with power. I bought one of the early models years ago, and brought it with me when I moved here.)
Brief geeky digression-- There are four ways to gauge your training effort:
- perceived exertion, ie how hard you feel you are working. This is pretty reliable for most people, but for an athlete, hard data about your training is better.
- heart rate (how hard your body is working). Can be affected by temperature, surroundings, length of workout, amount of rest you've had.
- speed (how fast you are going). Not very reliable. After all, terrain and wind affect speed-- not just your efforts.
- power (how much power are you producing). Ah, the best way. If I produce 220 watts on the bike for 20 minutes, I can go and repeat that effort anytime-- uphill, downhill, inside on the trainer, outside on the road in a ferocious headwind.
Right then. Back to the wheel: Last night, R showed me how to lace the spokes-- that is, attach them to the hub, resulting in an object that looks like a spiky, loosely attached octopus with greased ends; then attach the spokes to the rim, lacing them so that each spoke goes over two others and then under a third one before coming to rest in its assigned spoke hole.
The result: An object that looks remarkably like a bicycle wheel, but that is very loosely put together. Next week, we tighten things, so it will be a wheel that one can actually attach to a bicycle and use. We probably also discover that the battery in the hub is dead, and replace that. Then we are likely to discover that the battery in the computer is dead, and replace it too.
But... a wheel! I built a wheel! (with substantial help from
rstapleton). Wheeeee!
