Went out for an afternoon ride today, temp 85 and the trails were deserted. There's a trail I've ridden before in the Preserve that climbs up to a point near the A&W house. Once I get there I saw a cactus flower on up the hill to the west. I hadn't been that way before, so up I went, carrying M
r. K up the steep and rocky trail. After getting this shot of the flower, I contimued up to the top of the trail where there was a stone bench. My first thought seeing the bench was, great, there must be a reasonable trail down the other side. Not so. I toted Mr. K up and over a ridge, traversed a steep sidehill, over another ridge, then down a steep rocky switchback descent that only a really stupid rider would actually attempt on a bike. I picked up a familiar trail after about a half mile and continued my pedaling. While carrying Mr. K, I had the opportunity to gaze upon his hubs and contemplate their purpose.
The rear hub is a Shimano STX RC. I have no idea what that means, but I do know that, just like the front hub, the rear has held up since 1997 with a semi-annual cleaning, regreasing and reassembly. I really can't complain. There's no significant friction, it doesn't get sloppy after a few rides, and has never needed adjustments between maintenance sessions. Back in the last century when I was a regular bike commuter, I used to go through a set of hubs about every 2 years. That rate destruction included both steel hubs, which were total crap, as well as alloy hubs, which were better, but still didn't have much of a life span.
I wasn't going to discuss other components in this session, but I can't help it. I've been through several rims in my life and, other than the major preference for aliminum over steel, any well constructed rim is fine for me. So I bought my current set of rims from Nashbar because they were double wall and pretty cheap. The thing I like best about them is that they are Sun "MACH IV"!!! Keeping in mind that I am old fat & slow, what in the hell am I doing with rims that say "MACH IV" on them? I estimate that the fasted I have ever ridden this bike is Mach 0.0267, or about 20 mph, 32 kph for the rest of the world. Isn't Mach I something like 750 mph at sea level. If that's true, these rims ought to be good for 3000 mph. Aparently I still have a lot of conditioning to do before I am able to squeeze the maximum performance out of these rims. I could be like Anthony Hopkins in "The World's Fastest Indian."
r. K up the steep and rocky trail. After getting this shot of the flower, I contimued up to the top of the trail where there was a stone bench. My first thought seeing the bench was, great, there must be a reasonable trail down the other side. Not so. I toted Mr. K up and over a ridge, traversed a steep sidehill, over another ridge, then down a steep rocky switchback descent that only a really stupid rider would actually attempt on a bike. I picked up a familiar trail after about a half mile and continued my pedaling. While carrying Mr. K, I had the opportunity to gaze upon his hubs and contemplate their purpose.
So, what is it that we ask of hubs? Not much. We want them to rotate around an axle and do it with as little friction as possible. We also want them to do it for a long, long time. Mr. K's hubs have been doing exactly that for as long as I've owned the bike. They are the originals. The front is a Trek System 2. Trek used to do this thing where components were sold as System 1, 2 or 3. I don't remember whether 1 or 3 was best, but I do know that 2 was not. Anyway, I tear it down about twice a year, clean, regrease and reassemble it, and it seams to be just fine. Glad I didn't spend extra to get the 1 or the 3.
I wasn't going to discuss other components in this session, but I can't help it. I've been through several rims in my life and, other than the major preference for aliminum over steel, any well constructed rim is fine for me. So I bought my current set of rims from Nashbar because they were double wall and pretty cheap. The thing I like best about them is that they are Sun "MACH IV"!!! Keeping in mind that I am old fat & slow, what in the hell am I doing with rims that say "MACH IV" on them? I estimate that the fasted I have ever ridden this bike is Mach 0.0267, or about 20 mph, 32 kph for the rest of the world. Isn't Mach I something like 750 mph at sea level. If that's true, these rims ought to be good for 3000 mph. Aparently I still have a lot of conditioning to do before I am able to squeeze the maximum performance out of these rims. I could be like Anthony Hopkins in "The World's Fastest Indian."
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