# New wheels coming today... w00t!



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

So I decided to splurge a bit and buy some Easton EA70 wheels for my road bike.  They've got all around good reviews, decent weight for a clincher, and um... at $400, if you can believe it, are considered an "entry level" performance wheel.  You'll find road wheel sets, decent quality, can be any where from $500 - $1000 and on up to $3k - $4k for something top of the line.







Ridiculous?  Yes I think so too, but I was left with no alternative.

I started examining my current wheels, my Spinergy Rev X superstiffs-






Which developed a reputation for sudden, catastrophic failure.  It was mostly with their earlier models, and from what I've read, unless you see cracks starting in the composite, they're not likely to fail.  I decided I didn't like the design though.  The failure mode comes from those rivets that help secure the spoke to the rim.  The rivets, because of their small size, create areas of high stress, and typically that's where cracks form.

So these new guys, desipte the fact I'll have to deal with truing them, which I hate, should be stronger for the terrible roads around here, will be a tad lighter, and should be much less affected by cross winds.


----------



## MRGisevil (May 21, 2009)

Blah blah blah blah mumbo jumbo. Accept my friend request!


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

MRGisevil said:


> Blah blah blah blah mumbo jumbo. Accept my friend request!



Facebook is teh banned at work.

Bookface.






Shut up.


----------



## bvibert (May 21, 2009)

Looks pretty rad, but I know nothing about roadie wheels.


----------



## MRGisevil (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> Facebook is teh banned at work.
> 
> Bookface.
> 
> ...



You shut up! Stupid loser. I hope one of your spokes breaks when you try to put your wheel on your bike and stabs you and you bleed all over your favorite shirt and it never comes out not even with Tide super duty!


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

bvibert said:


> Looks pretty rad, but I know nothing about roadie wheels.



General ideas about weight and durability carry over from MTB wheels.

A lot of road wheels today won't have 3 crossed spokes, since the extra strength isn't necessary.  Everything is less beefy in general.

And a lot of racing wheel rims are made for what are called tubular tires, sew ups, or lace ups.  Basically, the tire is a tube, with a tube in it.  The tube shaped tire has holes that you sew together on the inside, and then you actually glue them to the rim.  They're lighter that "clincher" rims (what you're used to on your mtb), but there's no changing a flat on the road, so only racers with support cars that carry extra wheels use them.

Well, some recreational riders use them too, but I think they're stupid for doing so.


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

MRGisevil said:


> You shut up! Stupid loser. I hope one of your spokes breaks when you try to put your wheel on your bike and stabs you and you bleed all over your favorite shirt and it never comes out not even with Tide super duty!



Meh, shows what you know.  I use Zout on all my really tough stains.

Test it on an inconsipcous spot for color fastness, then soak the stain for 5 minutes and wash as indicated.


----------



## MRGisevil (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> Meh, shows what you know.  I use Zout on all my really tough stains.
> 
> Test it on an inconsipcous spot for color fastness, then soak the stain for 5 minutes and wash as indicated.



Your face is a spot color fastness.


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

MRGisevil said:


> Your face is a spot color fastness.



At least I know how and when to open a fireplace damper.


----------



## MRGisevil (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> At least I know how and when to open a fireplace damper.



Woah. Pump your breaks, kid. You about to cross some ****in' lines :evil:


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

MRGisevil said:


> Woah. Pump your breaks, kid. You about to cross some ****in' lines :evil:



Haha, you're just mad because you can't punch me through the internets.


----------



## MRGisevil (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> Haha, you're just mad because you can't punch me through the internets.




Yes...the trans-internetal travel still has me vexed. But fear not! As we speak I'm currently working on a solution to overcome this little handicap; soon I'll have a super badass Matrix style solution to how to punch you in the face thru the web!!


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)




----------



## bvibert (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> General ideas about weight and durability carry over from MTB wheels.
> 
> A lot of road wheels today won't have 3 crossed spokes, since the extra strength isn't necessary.  Everything is less beefy in general.
> 
> ...



The radial lacing and general lack of spokes freaks me out a little.  How do the spokes attach to the hubs on those wheels, it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it doesn't look like conventional j-bend spokes.  Looks like 2 cross lacing on the drive side rear?


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

I'll take some hi res pics today when I get home.  Just hope my Spinergy's last 16 more miles to get my ass from work to home..


----------



## mondeo (May 21, 2009)

Marc said:


> The failure mode comes from those rivets that help secure the spoke to the rim. The rivets, because of their small size, create areas of high stress, and typically that's where cracks form.


Damn high kts in composite...

Nice wheels.


----------



## Highway Star (May 21, 2009)

Dude, you should have got white rims!


----------



## Marc (May 21, 2009)

New wheels are on.  The only thing I had on hand was helicopter tape for rim strips.  I hope that does it.  Otherwise, I maybe summoning a ride on my way into work tomorrow...

Here's the bike with the new wheels, old ones behind it.  Definitely not the same flash factor, but fortunately I don't care.  I'd rather have the not-gonna-blow-up-catastrophically-and-send-little-shards-of-carbon-through-my-face-during-a-horrific-crash factor.






New chain too... and look at that shiny drivetrain!  All cleaned up and ready for the ball.  I got a 50 miler this weekend and I didn't want to worry about anything with the new equipment, so tomorrow is the test.  I'll be riding with my freewheel socket and spoke wrench just in case.


----------



## marcski (May 22, 2009)

What's the weight difference between the Easton's you just got your old carbon Spinergy's?  Are the carbon's even lighter??


----------



## Marc (May 22, 2009)

Lol, no, they're heavier.  The Spinergy's were like high 1700 grams, these are 1635 grams.

The only advantage the Spinergy's had was better aero... then again, with the Easton's I won't get tossed around in crosswinds like a wind sock.


----------



## RootDKJ (May 23, 2009)

Nice ride Marc.


----------



## mlctvt (May 23, 2009)

I think you'll like these wheels. A few friends of mine from the local bike club have them and they all really like them. Extremely durable. I'm thinking of geting a set for my Madone 5.2 and then I can put the Bontrager Lite wheels from the Madone on my old Trek 5200.


----------

