Originally Posted by
metamichael
My stock BB wore out in less than a year, which was disappointing. I've binned it, otherwise I'd weigh it for you. But maybe you'd still want to replace it for a higher quality BB.
On the subject of comfort, I can't imagine riding around with anything other than Big Apples. I moved my BAs straight from my Dahon onto my Swift when I got it. Been running them for 3 years now (in London), though I did a session last summer to seal up a number of small cuts and scrapes. The front still looks good. Back tire got its first puncture in January, which I could have repaired, but it was looking pretty worn so I changed it out for new.
Michael
They roll really well in 'real world' conditions. For a while my run into town always seemed to have me meet a guy about the same size as me on a skinny wheeled road bike. With the rough surface of the roads around here, he regularly mentioned he had trouble keeping up with me -- until we hit an incline, and the Brooks flyer + IGH / drum brakes + rack and bag + fenders on the swift all took their toll.
At one point, I swapped the Big Apple's for Kojaks. Of course, I met the same fellow and we did our silly little race. I was bouncing around the road so badly I couldn't get anywhere near the speed I normally did on that stretch.
Nothing scientific here, but it convinced me that for riding around on less than ideal road conditions, fat 'n light is where it's at!