How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.

[Rusty Vandura]

As in, I am totally astonished. The GravelKing tires I already had, but with innertubes. And the rims I had were I-don't-know-what-kind, but Shimano hubs and whatever, but the spokes were pulling through the rear rim. So my guru found me what he said was a good price on these Fulcrum 5 wheels and we mounted the tires without tubes and DANG! I rode this morning for the first time in two weeks and set two segment PRs on Strava. Like two sprockets faster. Wow. I just can't believe it.

[trivet]

A good set of wheels is the best upgrade you can make on a bike.

Better a mediocre bike with good wheels - than a good bike with mediocre wheels any day.

[Rusty Vandura]

@trivet It would seem. I am no kind of expert rider, but I am good with tools and mechanisms and machines and I have been riding this bike long enough on the same 10-mile morning route that I can really feel the difference. It's amazing. I think that removing the mass and material of the tubes also helps a lot. It's the only riding I do, my morning route several times per week and occasionally, I put on the 28-inch rims and some fatter tires for a cruise with Mrs. Vandura. No real desire to ride anywhere else. But I am pretty serious about that morning ride.

[Highlander]

@rusty-vandura Those Fulcrums are actually nicer than what I have on my fancy BMC road bike, or at least equivalent.

[spacekraken]

@Rusty-Vandura awesome!
goes back to looking at light 700c wheelsets for mine

[Rusty Vandura]

@highlander That's nice to know. I think they were about $350 the pair.

[Rusty Vandura]

@spacekraken I can forward you the link to where I bought those if you want me to.

[ITA97]

Rotating mass matters. It is probably the biggest single improvement you can make to a bike.

[VincentMalamute]

Those look nice.

I'll keep the option of buying a new mtb bike open but I'm leaning towards getting a carbon 29" wheelset for my Scott in place of the 27.5 Plus wheels. The Scott's geometry is so close to the new bikes I'm curious if light wheels will make it feel like them.

[Wrong Wheel Drive]

@trivet said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

A good set of wheels is the best upgrade you can make on a bike.

Better a mediocre bike with good wheels - than a good bike with mediocre wheels any day.

This is good to know. I have thought about getting an extra set of wheels for my MTB and putting road tires on them. Rather than getting a really cheap road bike, this seems like a better solution since I have no intent on taking road biking seriously. But just going on a 20 mile ride every once in a while would be nice and is a terrible idea on my Maxxis Minions.

[spacekraken]

@rusty-vandura sure! Thanks.

[BicycleBuck]

@wrong-wheel-drive said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

@trivet said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

A good set of wheels is the best upgrade you can make on a bike.

Better a mediocre bike with good wheels - than a good bike with mediocre wheels any day.

This is good to know. I have thought about getting an extra set of wheels for my MTB and putting road tires on them. Rather than getting a really cheap road bike, this seems like a better solution since I have no intent on taking road biking seriously. But just going on a 20 mile ride every once in a while would be nice and is a terrible idea on my Maxxis Minions.

DO IT!!!

Seriously. When I was in college, I only had space for one bike and it had to function as both my daily commuter and my weekend trail bomber. I bought a second set of wheels for the dirt and mounted slicks on the old set for commuting. It's a lot easier to swap wheels than swap tires.

[LooseonExit]

@rusty-vandura

Good wheels look good, make you feel fast, and actually make you fast. No downsides except to the wallet, which gets lighter and also makes you faster. So again, you win!

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@rusty-vandura the Fulcrum 5 is a decent wheelset for the money. However, given how often you ride, pay regular attention to the wheel bearings in them and (for the first little while) the spoke tensions.

I had a set of Fulcrum road/CX wheels once and found the bearings in the rear hub (especially in the freewheel) expired very quickly due to them being cheap on the grease. I replaced them with good quality Enduro branded bearings and never had another issue. I ended up selling them on with the bike.

[spacekraken]

@silentbutnotreallydeadly What does a failing bearing sound like? My bike picked up a very soft intermittent scraping sound-my first thought was brakes but checked them thoroughly and they make a very different sound as well. Happens pedaling and coasting, so drivetrain isn't it.

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

Must be quite a noise to hear it pedalling so it's unlikely to be bearings. Mostly it's just a mild grinding rumbling noise...

[VincentMalamute]

And maybe looseness in the wheel if you try to move the rim side to side? Like a bad car wheel bearing.

[Rusty Vandura]

@looseonexit I don't carry my wallet when I ride, so it wouldn't help.

[ST80MND]

@rusty-vandura I'm really appreciating the big ring. What is that, 38, 42 teeth?

[Rusty Vandura]

@st80mnd The big ring?

[BicycleBuck]

@rusty-vandura said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

@st80mnd The big ring?

The sprockets on the crank are typically called chain rings. He's asking how many teeth are on the largest chain ring.

[Rusty Vandura]

@bicyclebuck Woah. I'm supposed to know that? People should be asking me about my custom fabricated pant guard. I'll count and get back to him.

[BicycleBuck]

@rusty-vandura said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

@bicyclebuck Woah. I'm supposed to know that? People should be asking me about my custom fabricated pant guard. I'll count and get back to him.

For future reference:

This isn't the cleanest layout, but it's the most comprehensive one I can find on short notice. There are lots of additional details left out and this doesn't necessarily apply to mountain bikes and older road bikes. For example, the cassette on an old road bike is really a freewheel. The gears that you see hide the mechanisms underneath that make one a cassette and the other a freewheel. The "levers" in this diagram are more commonly called "brifters" - a conflation of brake levers and shifters. There are at least six different mechanical shifters, depending on application: downtube shifters, stem shifters, thumb shifters (two types), barcons, gripshifts, and brifters. There are several more, including electronic and automatic shifters, but you aren't likely to come across them. There's a whole collection of crazy handlebar designs from drops to straight and everything in-between. You've already seen several pedal designs.

We could set up a whole topic just talking about the various parts of a bike and how they've changed over time.

[Rusty Vandura]

@bicyclebuck Hi Buck, I have this funny relationship with bicycling where I just want to get on and crank the pedals and only learn anything when I am forced to. This is problematic since there is so much to know about a bicycle.

[BicycleBuck]

@rusty-vandura said in How fast? *Ridiculously* fast.:

@bicyclebuck Hi Buck, I have this funny relationship with bicycling where I just want to get on and crank the pedals and only learn anything when I am forced to. This is problematic since there is so much to know about a bicycle.

I have the opposite problem. When I find a new hobby or point of interest, I spend ridiculous amounts of time learning everything I can about it. Well, at least enough to be conversant.