[CR]endangering old rims

(Example: Bike Shops:R.E.W. Reynolds)

To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Bianca Pratorius" <biankita@comcast.net>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:39:25 -0500
Subject: [CR]endangering old rims

I've taken to training on a newly designed and executed criterium track in Broward County Florida. It's 800 meters of pristine concrete that has grass run offs to protect the riders. There are a few sort of tight but not too tight turns in the track that come at the end of fast sections. One could and I do easily hit speeds in excess of 20 mph during the execution of one or two of these turns. A friend of mine said that he could see his rim flexing into the brake blocks during the turns. In other words this is a crit track specially designed to allow lots of speed in the turns, so much so that braking may not be necessary if one times it right. Is this the kind of track that discourages the use of older equipment like rims that have undeterminable numbers of miles in them? Do rims (not spokes) have a limited life span for this kind of hard riding or does a well built or carefully rebuilt rim have the same safety factor as a NOS version of the same box section rim? All my bikes have the original rims with new spokes laced 3X. They are as tightly laced as I know how to get them. Are they safe for repeated use for a mid weight rider?

Garth Libre in Miami Fl USA