Easton Circuit bike wheels

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:32 pm

These wheels have an effectively silent freewheel! The clicking I've taken for granted with all bicycle freewheels is simply gone. (Okay, it can be heard very faintly with my head next to the axle, but that's not a real-world circumstance.) I really hope that silencing doesn't haunt my biking now...

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:20 pm

This means you'll have to watch out closer for pedestrians, since they won't hear you at all now

nici · Post by **nici** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:59 pm

I was never really concerned with a silent bike.. I chose the strongest components, i didn't want something breaking when landing a five meter drop

I still managed to trash several wheels, some axles, shifters, brakes, saddles and bottom brackets...

quality stuff, some pretty rough riding. So normally the only noise was tire noise and the brake disks howling, if it wasnt me cursing

As for the freewheel, Shimano had silent freewheels almost ten years ago. They used rollers insted of cogs, and they required some occasional lubrication to not start slipping.

Anyway, using some good and thick grease in the freewheel can mute the sound. Finish Line stuff is good

Disassembling one is easy, and you should do it at least once a year anyway.

kentc · Post by **kentc** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:16 am

being an ex-messenger i'm more into fixed wheels. all you hear on fixed bikes are the elegant sounds of skipping and skidding. ofcourse, since they're single speed you always have a perfect chainline and therefor no noise from the drivetrain. and the looks... stunning.

not my bike, belongs to a friend in copenhagen.

nici · Post by **nici** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:17 am

I was a messenger about five years ago, and the bikes here were normal MTBs. With deore and acera parts so they wore out pretty damn fast. Basically sheit. No fixed bikes. I know fixed bikes are used elsewhere though

Bike messengers are a dying breed though, most of the stuff goes online nowadays..

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:26 am

I'd love to build a fixie some day! (But I think I'd chicken out and include a front brake.)

My guess is that the Eastons' silence won't be a big deal on the road, what with wind noise and all. But it definitely surprised me.

kentc · Post by **kentc** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:37 pm

nici wrote:Bike messengers are a dying breed though, most of the stuff goes online nowadays..

haven't you read (or seen as it was made inte a movie) johnny mnemonic? the more valuable information gets the higher the demand for guaranteed 100% hacker free communication.

i refuse to see a profession that is as old as civilisation become extinct in our time.

ps. i was in helsinki this summer for the vii european bike messenger championships. next year the worlds are coming to dublin - that's gonna be one hell of a party!

@HammerSandwich

skip the front brake! the bike is so much more beatiful without all the cables and attachments. you'll learn to ride a fixie in no time and skipping/skidding will become second nature to you. just like coasterbrakes or handbrakes you learn to go for the skid in an emergency stop - no problem! thousands of messengers worldwide wouldn't survive if it was hard to learn!

nici · Post by **nici** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:01 pm

Im not familiar with johnny mnemonic.. Most of the stuff i delivered was letters, videotapes, dental prosthetics(sp?quite a common package btw), and seriously thick memos from the city counsil(or something similar), though i might have been carrying very sensitive, classified stuff but it's not like it says "CLASSIFIED, TOP SECRET" in big red lettters on the package...

But i do understand the argument, now that i think about it

Btw bike messenger is a good job, it's physically hard but you get excercise and fresh(well, relatively fresh) city air while working. Very much possible to do while studying, and all the excersize will make you feel better

I always loved the expressions on peoples faces when i rode down some steep stairs with me bike carrying a bag full of documents

Mind you, it's even cooler when thirty chaps ride down some stair simultaneously

Urban freeriding was cool at that point, now it's more "north shore" and downhill, too bad i can't be part of it anymore.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:14 pm

nici, since you know about the topic than I do...

I once read that stuff like this (bike couriering) basically kills your knees in five years. Is this true?

nici · Post by **nici** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:04 pm

Well biking can be hard on your knees yes.. Probably more so if you ride a fixed bike, mosty because you only have one gear, and also becaue you brake with your legs to some degree. But i dont have extensive experience with fixies so im not the best person to comment on that

Adding a freewheel and diskbrakes would reduce the stress, and you could still run single speed if you want.

I think it's safe to say that most active bikers don't have knee troubles, but if you have weak knees or joints that wear easily it's probably not a good idea to bike for a living. Obviously you have to configure your bike so you can use all of its potential, meaning you need the correct position. It will make biking more enjoyable, and be easier on your body including the knees.

I am sure there are people who have ruined their knees in five years or less, but that's a minority. The thing is that you only hear about the unlucky ones, not the ones who have biked actively for fifteen years and still have healthy knees.

The knees also wont just go poof one day, they will wear over a long period of time. If you start feeling your knees are not okay you should probably bike less though, all is not lost yet

Besides, all the excersize you get in this work can only be good

kentc · Post by **kentc** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:09 am

nici wrote:I think it's safe to say that most active bikers don't have knee troubles, but if you have weak knees or joints that wear easily it's probably not a good idea to bike for a living. Obviously you have to configure your bike so you can use all of its potential, meaning you need the correct position. It will make biking more enjoyable, and be easier on your body including the knees.

second that. i know messengers personally that have been working for 10-15 years with no problems! atleast one of them is brittish and as such parties hard pretty much every day of the week. no problem.
another friend of mine hadn't been working for a year, went back on the bike and went for it. knees busted within two weeks, had to gear way down and was back on his old gearing in a couple of months.

any talk of fixed busting your knees is complete bullocks, though there is something to be said of single speed (see above).

regards, kent - retired after only 3 years of messaging but still riding atleast 20km/day.