Hi Scrod,

'14 soma rush or 5th anniversary Big block?

why?


thanks!

Every now and then I'll condition it with a little coconut oil but that's about it.

If yon plan on growing it out pretty long, steer clear from washing your face with soap that will will dry your beard out. Dry beard = broken hairs.

Hey Scrod,

I've been looking at 165mm and 167.5mm crankarms. I'm currently running 170's, but I'm curious as to which one I should switch to. I'm riding a 55cm Leader 725.

My measurements are here (bottom left corner).

Thanks!

They're both very nice framesets.

The decision largely depends on whether you want a 1 1/8" threadless or 1" threaded setup.

Crank arm length can't be determined by your measurements alone. In all honesty, you'll need to just pick one and try it.

Thanks for the info Scrod. Haven't checked out a pair of Soma's in person yet so I can't really judge them fairly, just wanted to see what other options I have. Thanks, also that beard info was helpful, never thought of conditioning with coconut oil I just might have to try that out.

it was one of the first things i tried, and it does seem softer this time around versus other attempts.

(we need a beard thread)

I can speak intelligently about beards! Much more so than bikes. I shampoo and condition once a week and use macadamia nut beard oil twice a week. This is especially important after you shampoo and condition because that dries it out. Either way, definitely oil it up. Makes it nice and soft and tames the fly aways if you have a wiry beard.

Darn, I was hoping that wouldn't be the case.

Which do you prefer? I know it's personal preference, but I was hoping to get some input of some sort before getting them.

If you're concerned about pedal strike in corners, your frame's bottom bracket drop (the distance between a line drawn through the hub axles and the center of your bottom bracket spindle) is also a factor. Bikes designed for fixed gear use tend to have less drop (higher bottom bracket) than road bikes to provide clearance for pedaling around corners. If your bike is a converted road frame, this may be an issue.

Thanks for the input! I mentioned earlier that I was on a Leader 725, and hopefully it's designed for fixed gear use or else I've been under the wrong impression this whole time

I went ahead and snagged a 165mm SG75 crankset for $160, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

I like 165mm arms on my fixed gear bikes, and not just for pedal clearance. The shorter arms make it easier to spin at high RPMs, which is helpful when riding downhill, for example.

FWIW, I had been using 170mm for a long time and recently discovered that my legs like 165mm better.

How consistent are the dimensions of h+son archetype rims and all city new sheriff hubs? I will be ordering all the bits to build some soon. Is it safe to trust published dimensions and if not could you measure a set that I buy so I can get spokes and all shipped at once?

Also, do you have/can you get white spokes (obviously if available from the manufacturer)? I want white spokes on either side of the valve stems and black every where else.

Why would they ever differ? I build wheels on a near-daily basis and never have any trouble with published specs.

We don't stock white spokes. Soma makes some but they are ****ty and only available in two lengths.

The reason they would differ is manufacturing tolerances. I would assume that most relatively decent rims/hubs with modern manufacturing practices have negligible variations. But, I have never built a wheel from scratch and many guides recommend measuring the components in hand instead of relying on manufacturers data (presumably because extremes in manufacturing tolerances are enough to necessitate ordering different length spokes).

If this is not the case, then I'm good to go. Thanks.

Even if tolerances did differ from rim to rim or hub to hub, the difference would likely be within a mm or (worst case scenario) two, which would make no real world difference in regard to spoke length.

What you say makes perfect sense and fits with my experience (which is very limited). For some reason a number of folks over in the mechanics forum keep telling everybody to not trust published numbers ans measure the ERD for themselves for every rim they get.

I think the major gotcha is that there is some variation between manufacturers over exactly how the ERD is measured. The same could be said for on-line calculators.

I've measured rims and hubs myself many times and always come out within a fraction of a mm from published specs. For example: if a published spoke hole diameter is 67mm and I come up with 67.2mm, that has no effect on anything whatsoever and it's safe to just call it 67mm.

I'd think there's be a bigger margin for variation and error when measuring by hand, wouldn't you?

Hey Scrod,

On single walled rims should I use rim strips or rim tape?

Thanks!

Either will work but I prefer using Velox tape for everything.

Thanks!
I got some cheap rim strips from the local Co op and i got 3 flats when I was off the bike. One person at the Co op said rim strips are best for single walled but everyone else says either will work.

any opinions on the IRD SS freewheel compared to the ENO

IRD makes a damn fine freewheel. I've got a multi-speed on my townie and sell the SS version to people all the time who want something good but don't want to spend White Industries money.