Well thank you so much wrk101,

Usefull information. Nice to know that my wheel is nothing special and that my bicycle is not retro nor ancient. I meant the "ancient/ retro" bit in a sarcastic way.
I love my bike and have no need for it to be retro.


I suppose Amsterdam is just a bit different compared to a lot of places. The city is swamped with all kinds of bicycles.
Already 5 years ago I stared having problems having my bicycle serviced. Most shops are more interested in selling bicycles than servicing them. It wouldn't be a problem if the bicycle was new. The default answer that most shops give me when I ask them to have a look at a problem is: We can make an appointment for over 4 to 6 weeks.
In the end I decided to go to your run of the mill "city bicycle" repair man and when he had a look at it he said: "I think you should just buy a new bicycle, a carbon frame of that age is bound to fall apart at some stage". (Even though this frame still has a "life long" guarantee). The canals in Amsterdam need to be dredged frequently and the object that really seems to clog up the canals: old (mostly stolen) bicycles.


With that in mind I decided to turn to this bikeforum.

Thanks again,
Herman

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/wo...-pedaling.html