|
|
Welcome to Velo Vision magazine, covering specialised bikes, cycling as transport and human power. It's a quarterly dose of cycle inspiration.The current issue is Issue 16. The next issue is out early March 2005.
Search news story archive: |
Ceramic rims for small-wheel bikesRecent discussions on the HPV mailing list turned up an interesting source for those wanting ceramic-coated rims on recumbents, folders etc with small wheels... Opinions are somewhat mixed on the benefits of ceramic rims - some riders report improved rim life and great braking, but others thought they tended to eat/melt brake blocks - partly, perhaps, because the insulating effect of the ceramic coating gave the heat generated in the brake blocks nowhere to go. There's a long page here collecting emails from the author of the wheelbuilding 'bible' The Bicycle Wheel, Jobst Brandt, discussing the issue. (incidentally that site's index is a rather considerable collection of Brandt's generally robust opinions on, well, just about every part of the bike) But if you're convinced that ceramic is the way to go for longer-lasting rims, and your bike doesn't use the common 26" MTB or 700c road bike sizes, there is yet hope. Trialsin USA are a supplier of bits and bobs for the specilist trials rider - those are the ones who do improbably jumpy things. They use vaguely BMX-style bikes - with 20" (406 wheels). Trailsin have developed a ceramic rim coating they call 'Plazmatic' which they can apply to just about any rim it seems. See here for a page about it (a framed site, so you might have to start again at their homepage here if you want to explore further... There are some pre-coated 20" wheels available, too - but this stuff isn't cheap, whichever form you get it in. Coating a pair of rims will set you back $200... They also do some interesting-looking brake blocks for Magura rim brakes (which all pro trials riders use) (except those on disk brakes): I wonder if these are optimised for the slow-speed, high-precision braking needed for trials? Don't suppose anyone out there has tried them? If you have, please do add a comment... Thanks to Cody and several others for their posts to the [email protected] mailing list discussion. Posted on 30 March 2001 Your comments ...
|