Why yes, I do understand that reference, Popeye, even though it was feet, not toes.

(While the young'uns wonder WTF the, ah, "cyclists of a certain age" are talking about...)

My front wheel is wobbly. Why? When I track stand the brakes rub. Even if the brakes are waay open. I can wiggle the rim from pad to pad by hand quite easily. The spokes feel tight. The wheel is clamped into the fork tight. Do I need a new wheel? Is something broken? Do I need to take it to a bike shop?

How are the bearings that let the wheel spin on the axle? If you take the wheel out, can the axle rattle relative to the hub?

I fully expect to get derided for this, but so far I like this set up more than my Kurt Kinetic. Less set up time, better feel, about the same resistance. Eventually I'll use it for its intended purpose but for now its my recovery tool (and some training when winter arrives).

I think you just discovered why you crash so much!

Sounds like your bearings are shot. Hie thee to thine LBS!

Chuck, I had to laugh but this is probably what it deserved as a followup to the crashing comment.



furiousferret, put a towel down behind the rear wheel and a rug or something under the rollers. There are poor choices, such as you expected to be pointed out, and there are dumb decisions that might not readily appear to be so at first.

that looks like magnetic resistance on there?

anyway, who would deride you for using rollers? I used mine like that with a fork stand for the TT bike all the time.

Phew, I thought someone would make a rollers training wheels reference.

You either have really bad luck with equipment, or don't take care of it... how old is this wheel?

One season. But really - it's a freaking front wheel! What should I be doing, rocking it to sleep every night?

A while back I had Mavic Ksyrium wheels that were already many years old and I rode them for years until the rim was too worn out on one, and I ran straight into a curb in the dark and dented the other. Never touched the bearings. So yeah, if I have to service bearings every year I'm definitely not on the right wheelset. I'm too lazy for that s***!

I just want a bike that I can replace the chain and tires every 2 or 3 months, and replace gears, cables, and derailleur once a year. And infinity bearings made of pure diamond lol.

buy some racerims. I'm heavy and have like 35k miles on the cheaper hub option w/o problem.

You replace your derailleurs yearly?

Sealed bearing wheels require more maintenance than good quality sealed will under normal conditions.

Fork stands with rollers are pretty lame excepting TT bike use. I will admit to maybe one time in many years I would have liked to read a book or do anything but hold the bike upright for a few hours.

Rear only. The pivot points get loose and won't keep it aligned over time. Or it'll just get slightly bent from some unknown fall. Really all I know is after a while it just won't shift well. Half the time it's the cables and half the time it's the derailleur, and half the time it's both. Don't bother with the math.

Front seems to last forever.

What wheel is the front wheel now?

And I'll second racerim. My first set lasted 3 years only to die by having someone fall on the rear wheel during a crash. That set had White Industry hubs. My aluminum set has the base hub and are also close to 3 years old ... problem free.

Odds are it's the derailleur hanger that gets bent, not the derailleur itself. I've never had to replace a derailleur.

On a previous race bike I had a SRAM Red FD fall apart after a year or two. I replaced it with a DA 7800 that I had lying around until I could order a replacement but it worked so well I just left it on. Repurposed it again on my CX bike. It will probably last forever unless it gets damaged in a crash somehow.

Flo 30s. Also the rear rim seems to have a ding it it that causes noise while braking. Its annoying but still stops just fine. Damn I was hoping these things would last longer.

That happens also sometimes. But usually the new derailleur solves all shifting issues.

Surprised about the Flo, I've had no issues with the hubs on my front 30.

I think you are just hard on equipment and don't really take good care of it.

If you're denting rims, it means you're hitting something - pot holes, rocks, curbs - which you admit to hitting. Stop riding into that crap and things won't break.

And you shouldn't need to replace RDs that frequently. I've seen RDs break, but it's not a common thing. I would guess most of us get 100k miles on our RDs.

Also, from previous posts, I think you tend to ride through a lot of bad weather/conditions and don't always clean things off. That can lead to chains, cables, chainrings, and cassettes wearing out prematurely.

Lastly, I still don't think you've found a qualified mechanic to fix your bike.

Of the guys I know who post tons of miles every year, none of them go through equipment like you.

I've had a jockey wheel crack after only 18,000km or so but didn't have to replace the whole RD.

I had great luck with my equipment this year. It's been over 4000km since I've even had a flat (GP4000s II).

this.

I've had a couple of RDs stress crack on me and need replacement. Sometimes **** happens!