Re: [CR]was: 3rd eye; heavy riders, dress sizes, now bike weight

(Example: Framebuilders:Bernard Carré)

To: rrose@normandassociates.com
Cc: tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 20:15:47 -0700
Subject: Re: [CR]was: 3rd eye; heavy riders, dress sizes, now bike weight
From: Mark A. Perkins <bicyclemark@juno.com>


On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 13:24:25 -0400 "Rich Rose" <rrose@normandassociates.com> writes: [snip] ...(late 1970's), it seems like 20lbs. was a pretty light bike. There were a lot of fine bikes
> in the 22-23lb. Range, but to get down to 20 or a little under you had to
> spend a lot more money. There was a sort of law of diminishing return,
> based on cost per ounce or similar?...

Rich and all:

In the early- to mid-'70's, I had my Jeunet 630, and later my Jack Taylor "curve-tube" down to around 17.25 lbs. I worked in bike shops for not much more than minimum wage in those days, and I didn't achieve that weight by spending lots of money. For starters, make your bike a 5-spd., using TA arms and chainring. How about using Weinmann 500 side-pull brakes, TTT superleggera handlebars, and the Unicanitor plastic shell saddle with the holes drilled in the shell (steel rails), and there was a Cyclo steel 5-spd. freewheel that was lighter than all others (14-18 of course), and leave the hoods off of the Weinmann levers. I will admit that the 17.25 # weight also included a set of Hi-E time trial wheels (including Hi-E rims - 40 hole rear & 28 hole front), and sub-250 gr. tubulars. Oh yea, one must drill his/her chainring (mine is still on the bike), brake levers (both eventually broke - but I saw the crack before it happened), Campy NR 5-spd. shift lever (still on the bike), and a few other items. I learned a lot from all of that lightweight stuff, like what not to drill, and what I could get away with drilling. I still ride on a drilled Shimano 48 T chainring on my regular road bike, which is a 14-spd., with Columbus SL (& 304 quarter-hard stainless steel), and weighs 20.5 lbs. My Jack Taylor still weighs around 18 to 19 lbs. (haven't weighed it in years though), and I trust all of the components at this point.

Nowadays, people equate Titanium with lightweight, but most don't realize that Aluminum is much lighter (and Magnesium, although lower in strength, is even lighter). In all cases one must use more material to equal the strength of steel (referring to frames here).

I worked in bike shops for more than 12 years, and one of the things I observed was that some riders could break anything, and others, like myself, never or rarely broke anything. My opinion is that it all boils down to two things, the first being bike preparation, and the other being how smooth a rider is. Sometimes it doesn't matter how well a bike is prepped if you put the right (or wrong?) person on it something will break eventually. In all of my years of cycling I believe I have broken one Campy axle (NR 6-spd.) and the rear on my MTB's Sturmey Archer Elite series drum-brake using a Dura Ace 7-spd. freewheel (same situation of long axle extension between dropout and bearings). I attribute the SA axle breakage to hard riding on a cobbley logging road in Mendocino County, Northern Calif., as well as the distance between bearing and dropout. I don't believe you can honestly say that it is just one thing that causes axle breakage though. There's usually more than one contributing factor. Oh yea, hard riding - I won and placed in races when I raced, so nobody can say I didn't ride hard. I'm just not as hard on my bikes as a lot of other riders are. Maybe that has to do with the fact that every component was precious, and I felt like I couldn't afford to replace anything.

Have a little extra fun at the Cirque for me, I'll be out in the Sierra foothills riding hard and training for the Fresno Cycling Club's 26th annual "Climb to Kaiser" in July. You're all invited to enter and come ride hard too, if you're so inclined contact me off list and I'll send info. This is a 150 mi./13,500 vertical ft. ride into the Sierra National Forrest and up to 9,300' Kaiser Pass above Hunting and Shaver lakes. This year we're adding a little extension so those who think they have to do a double century can do so. Not me, the 150 is tougher than most 200's. I believe there will also be a metric century. I rode the first year on my Jack Taylor 5-spd. (44-ring/14-24 freewheel - not recommended, but I was in great shape that year), and was 9th or 10th to the top. I rode my Klein Team Super the next 3-years, and was 5th to the top the second or third year. I'll be happy to finish before dark this year.

"Bicycle Mark" Perkins Fresno Cycling Club - Historian Fresno, California, U.S.A.

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