Here's one of those questions I always wondered about, but never took the time to find out. What are the older Wheel Guides attached to the brake pads for? My guess was it had somethingt to do with centering the brake for adustments, just curious.

Guiding the wheel. Helps direct the wheel past the pads when changing wheels.

As though the wheel is going to end up going anywhere else except between the pads. For all the practical benefit they provide, I'm more inclined to think they were primarily a snob appeal gimmick -- the bicycle equivalent of curb feelers.

Ever tried a fast wheel swap without guides? You usually slam the wheel right into one of the brake pads.

Happens nearly every time if you're trying to change the wheel in a hurry - Murphey's law! Using guides helps to slide that sucker in correctly most every time.

Take care,

-Kurt

Hmm, does seem a bit questionable. But I'm not one for quick wheelchanges.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, well, Kurt's got curb feelers on most of his three-speeds, too.

Hahahahaha. Not true.

It's no secret that I am a cronic speedy wheel changer when it comes to the VLWs. If I find one of my tubes flat from a snakebite puncture from my last ride (I'll only swap fronts though) - it gets taken out and swapped with another wheel - this is, of course, immidiately before I head out on the original bike in question running the spare wheel, as I'm usually too lazy to bother changing the tire until the last minute nessesary...

Take care,

-Kurt

Did you give your tire a dose of antivenin?
Wheel guides!?! I always thought of them as cooling fins. You know, to dissipate all that heat build up from heavy braking--- or from braking a heavy PB!?!

I've always thought of them as a type of third-hand tool--makes it easier to squeeze the calipers together with one hand while securing the cable anchor bolt with the other. Wheel guides? Who would have thunk it?

Neal

Not a big-deal thing for us older guys, but these saved critical seconds in a race, and helped to prevent messing up brake alignment from bumping the pads when making a quick change.