cid499

I could have sworn I saw a thread on this earlier, but I can't find it anymore.
SO, I will have to ask the question again.

I have an old set of track rims that have pretty steeply-angled sidewalls. Are these for braking? If not, is there a safe way to make them brake-friendly?

abeyance

Lace a disc hub to the rims.

in other words, no.

the rims are not built for the large amount of pressure a brake puts out ( if you don't believe me, put your wrist between some calipers and squeeze the lever hard). You will collapse the rims. Put them on ebay ( i saw a set of nos rims go for almost 3k, so you never know)and buy a set of deep-v's or open pros.

cid499

That's unfortunate because the rims are laced to the ever-infamous "Sovos" track hubs, which had the track side threads stripped by the previous owner.

Without knowing the track threads were stripped, I picked up the wheels on ebay. I had been trying to sell these on CL as a single-speed wheelset, but I guess they are useless as a track wheelset OR a single speed wheelset.

Any suggestions?

blickblocks

Return it to the seller? Sounds like a scam, selling someone stripped track wheels. Obviously they're useless as is.

cid499

I'm unfamiliar with ebay/paypal policy regarding items wrongly advertised.


This is the original auction link: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...7881&rd=1&rd=1

Was any wrongdoing committed on seller's part that I can argue?

Phil

Igneous Faction

That dude totally shafted you. Now, whether or not he knew the hub was stripped is still unclear. It seems that maybe he doesn't know anything about track racing or technology.

Still, he sold you a product that was essentially useless and did not describe it as so.

LóFarkas

I'm guessing you still made a hell of a good deal if the wheels are in good condition. $37 for a wheelset plus tyres plus rubber cement?

Looks like it's a racing wheelset, so the stripped threads shouldn't quite make them useless.
If these were mine, I'd just rotafixa a cog on the freewheel side, and run a front brake.
That said, if the fixed side is clearly stripped, I'm sure you could get your money back. Paypal/ebay always protect the buyer very vigorously, I am told.

BostonFixed

Contact the seller, tell him what's up- he might refund some of your money, and you can still leave him neutral or negative feedback as a last resort.

morbot

didnt we just conclude that you cant run a brake on these rims

jacobs

for $37 just keep the tires and call it a day.

megatron

did you really think you were getting a dope wheelset for 40 bucks? obviously something had to be up with them.

operator

Well he might not've put $37 as his max bid And how the hell did the other bidders know it was stripped?

Igneous Faction

He's saying if he was using them to race. No brakes on a velodrome. No need to back-pedal, ever. Since all the force acting on the hub will be rotating it forward he could ride with confidence.

blickblocks

What in the world are you talking about? The whole point of this thread is that this guy is asking if he can use brakes on rims not designed for them. We got off on a tangent about the stripped threads, and then people started suggesting to use brakes...even though we are talking about how he can't use brakes!!!

deathhare

Do rims like that really crush with brakes? Ive seen people riding with brakes and track rims quite a few times.

Igneous Faction

I was clarifying for morbot what Lofarkas was saying.

I think...?

blickblocks

I'm not sure. Aero rims are basically box rims with a second wall for the "aero" part, I don't know what you'd be "crushing" with brake calipers since that's just a single wall of aluminum, and then your tire. This guy has tubular rims though, so it's a bit different.

cid499

Lots of responses here, thanks all. I'll probably sell the wheels to somebody who has a use for them. I don't plan on doing any track racing, so they're no good for me.

If any body in the sfbay wants them, let me know. Rims are 32h NISI Moncalieri Laser tubulars.

LóFarkas

Oh, sorry. Was thinking of just a rear wheel for a moment. Of course the front has the same rim.

deathhare

Yeah, im talking about tubular track rims.

Retem

the break would brobably wear through the rim or not grip very well causing some sort of failure eventually I know planty of people who run brakes on all kinds of rims that aren't really made for rim brakes

megatron

hey somebody, buy my wheelset with shot hubs.

cid499

Thanks for your ever-insightful commentary megatron.

I'm not trying to sell these as a good wheelset for SS or fixie conversion. As somebody stated before, they might be useful for somebody who wants to run these "rotafixed" where minimal backpedal force is needed.