Originally Posted by Doug28450 (Post 18298210)

Which one of you will bail me out of a foreign jail?

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298241)

...besides Trinidad-Tobago again, Cuba is the one place I'd like to visit in the Caribbean. Everyone I know here who's been has enjoyed it a lot, and I'm a big fan of some of the music there.:)

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298244)

...I can work with the Mexican cops, because I understand the system. If you get tossed in the clink in Haiti, I'm terrified of the place. I have this idea that all the cops there are holdovers from the Duvalier days, so you're on your own there. :twitchy:

Originally Posted by f4rrest (Post 18298254)

7 days no bikes?

Originally Posted by Doug28450 (Post 18298258)

Unfortunately.

Maybe there is a stationary bike on the ship. Naaaaa.......pass.

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets (Post 18298264)

You can probably grab a beach cruiser or the like at one or more ports of call.

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298241)

...besides Trinidad-Tobago again, Cuba is the one place I'd like to visit in the Caribbean.

Originally Posted by UnfilteredDregs (Post 18298243)

Sooooooo..... I'm putting 35mm Bon Jon Pass extralite tubeless tires on my 52mm wheels for a hoity-toity gravel ride this weekend. Ha! :roflmao2:

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets (Post 18298269)

Oooh-la-la. Fat road tires on the deep dishes. Tres chic!

One day I'm gonna splurge on a pair of the 26x2.3" version of those tires.

Originally Posted by UnfilteredDregs (Post 18298279)

I'm looking forward to it. I've heard nothing but good things about Compass... I'll probably never go back to a skinny tire if they're as plush and bouncy as I've heard...

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298137)

...even an alloy nipple will usually last a while unless the spoke within it is a tad too short. so if youi are breaking the same nipple, it makes sense at this point to swap that one out for brass, and to make certain that the spoke is extending all the way up through to the head, past where the nipple comes out of the rim.

Otherwise, if they are cheap-assed machine built wheels, and nobody ever worked them over to balance the tensions and relieve the bends, might not be worth paying someone else to rebuild.

OTOH, they might make an excellent learning project for you. If you are gonna continue racing, and continue being poor, and are not quite good enough yet for a sponsorship, you need to learn as much as you can about tension spoked wheels, their care, construction, and feeding. Going faster on a budget was what got a lot of us into wheels in the first place. it did me, anyway. :)

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298137)

...even an alloy nipple will usually last a while unless the spoke within it is a tad too short. so if youi are breaking the same nipple, it makes sense at this point to swap that one out for brass, and to make certain that the spoke is extending all the way up through to the head, past where the nipple comes out of the rim.

Otherwise, if they are cheap-assed machine built wheels, and nobody ever worked them over to balance the tensions and relieve the bends, might not be worth paying someone else to rebuild.

OTOH, they might make an excellent learning project for you. If you are gonna continue racing, and continue being poor, and are not quite good enough yet for a sponsorship, you need to learn as much as you can about tension spoked wheels, their care, construction, and feeding. Going faster on a budget was what got a lot of us into wheels in the first place. it did me, anyway. :)

Originally Posted by Bunyanderman (Post 18298305)

That seems like good advice, I appreciate it. If I do continue racing I should definitely have a better understanding of my bike. But thinking that far into the future only skews your vision of reality.

I'll drop the wheel off and see what they have to say about them after they get them in person.

Originally Posted by Doug28450 (Post 18298153)

Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas.

Depart Fort Lauderdale

Stops in:

Haiti, Dragon Coaster
Jamica, Dunn's River Falls
Cozumel

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets (Post 18298268)

+1! Actually I'd like to hit a LOT more of the Caribbean. So far I've only hit Jamaica, Caymen Islands and a buncha the Florida Keys.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 18298209)

Wow! Looks like Cuba has BO. Or maybe just head lice. Wouldn't want to stop there.

Originally Posted by 3alarmer (Post 18298241)

...besides Trinidad-Tobago again, Cuba is the one place I'd like to visit in the Caribbean. Everyone I know here who's been has enjoyed it a lot, and I'm a big fan of some of the music there.:)

Originally Posted by f4rrest (Post 18298254)

7 days no bikes?

Originally Posted by Doug28450 (Post 18298258)

Maybe there is a stationary bike on the ship. Naaaaa.......pass.

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets (Post 18298268)

+1! Actually I'd like to hit a LOT more of the Caribbean. So far I've only hit Jamaica, Caymen Islands and a buncha the Florida Keys.

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets (Post 18298336)

Is everyone excited about the new 47mm threaded bottom brackets???

Originally Posted by LAJ (Post 18298599)

I had a set of "hand built" wheels that I kept breaking nipples on. I also would get mystery flats, and when I traced it on the tube, there was never anything in the tire or rim. Come to find out, the spoke tension wasn't high enough. The mystery flats were cause by the spoke/nipple popping the Velo Plug out enough to bite the tube. I was proud of my diagnosis, and the repair was increased spoke tension and brass. I just retired those Fusions at well over 20K, and built up the BHS 31W with CX-Rays, around the AC Hubs.