Section head text.
The Stuff Argument
I’ll admit it, there are times in the past where I’ve needed a pick me up, just a little somethin’ somethin’ to get me through the season. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve bought many a dodgy piece of bike equipment to buoy my enthusiasm for the remainder of the year.
So, what’s the goofiest piece of cycling equipment you’ve ever bought? I came up in the era of Biopace, so I’ve seen some dubious ideas made real, even oval chainrings are trying to make a comeback…
did they really work. i need more hops!
10 speed chains are arguably dubious technology since they fail at higher rates than previous chains, and cost $$$.
A penis extender. Dropped it while grocery shopping.
DHR, why do you think that 10-speed chains fail at a higher rate than previous chains, espcially 9 speeds? Is there any evidence of this?
wait, so wtf is that a picture of on the home page. that black cannodale. i want one!
Do I have analytical testing, using scientific methodology? No. I would rather spend my time riding, but from asking around there seem to be more issues with 10sp chains than 9sp.
The love child of a Cannondale who boned an in-line skate-who was artificially inseminated by a Henry Moore sculpture.
I’m curious if you know of it actually happening directly. Not just some guy said he heard some guy said they worried him.
i broke my 10 speed chain. not through manly strength though. the connector pin failed and the next time i shifted onto the big ring it peeled the chain open like a can opener.
Similarly it was probably bad installation on my part. Have no experience with 10-speed chains.
if you dont like the stuff, just Run – youll save a lot of money!
I was riding with a friend and he turned on the gas leading up to a hill, and promptly fell on his toptube from popping a pin on his nearly new 10sp chain. Not pleasant. It was probably incorrect installation, but there is likely some inherent weakness in such a narrow chain. I had the same thing happen to me on a 7sp chain years ago, but that was on a chain with over 3000 miles on it, that was obviously worn and I was risking it because I was young and felt invincible (needless to say falling on your top tube deflates any feelings of invincibility pretty quickly).
I agree that all chains have the potential to fail, I think the 10sp have just a higher probablity since they are narrower, they do not have the margin of error that wider chains have, and therefore have in my mind the distinction of being somewhat dubious technology. Don’t get me wrong I like my gears, I just have a desire to have my stuff actually work without me worrying too much about it.
Between DHR and me we can describe seeing a six-speed chain, a seven-speed chain, a nine-speed chain and a ten-speed chain each failing.
I’ve had 3 9speed chains break in the last 12 months…once with a mis-adjusted deraileur. Once while tourquing the chain while trying to ride home on a flat tire (chain had over 2000 mi)…and once while cruising down hill on the way home and barely pedalling.
bottom line…they break, replace ’em every 1500.
Sounds more like there’s a lot of sucky chain installing going on.
Yeah, any time I hear of a break after recent installation (ie. nearly new as per comment below), I assume its bad installation, which, face it, can happen. I wouldnt blame the chain and highly doubt the manufacturer would back a design prone to failure from normal usage. That would be v bad for business!
Hey Andy, whats with that Cannondale? That thing is one crazy looking motha…
I put the Cannondale pic up, it’s a notorious prototype they developed in the 90s. More on it here:
http://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/2006/07/i-must-like-harebrained-ideas.html
Cervelo made one of these mutations also.
Bought some TT Booties with blue flames on them for the FBF TT. Clearly they did not help with my results or ego.
It was a prototype made for the bike show. I can’t remember what year. But it is almost impossible to ride. Today it sits in a corner of the lobby of Cannondale’s corporate office in CT.
Speaking of bad for business ….K force mega exo cranks – first rate GARBAGE! Dont believe the hype! Stick with Campy.
If chains are so prone to failure for from bad installation, and there is such a high rate of incorrect installations, it would seem that there is a design flaw there. I just feel that there should be some serious consideration of how to idiotproof, or at least idiot-minimize, the installation process for chains so they actually last 1500 miles or even heavenforfend 2000 miles that you could put into a 7 or 8 sp chain without too much worry.
Read? why read when we can shout at each other like rabid dogs and call each other names?
True, it does run up the hit count, let me just light my cigar with $100 bill…
"Zinka" colored zinc oxide. Marketed to bike racers and triatheletes circa 1989. Available in the full range of then-stylish neon. Apply in stripes to cheeks for full jungle fever look. I think Leon used it.
"Zinka" colored zinc oxide. Marketed to bike racers and triatheletes circa 1989. Available in the full range of then-stylish neon. Apply in stripes to cheeks for full jungle fever look. I think Leon used it.
The snap link on the 9-speed chain I’m using now seems less prone to installation error than forcing a pin through a chain back in the old days. I don’t have experience with 10-speed chains, but would get a chain with a snap link if doing so and don’t see how the narrowness of the chain makes user error more likley.
Also, I’m pretty shocked at these tales of chains failing after 1500 or 2000 miles. It *might* be prudent to replace a chain after that amount of use but I’m sure I could run chains for way, way longer than that without risking breaking. I don’t get it. What is breaking? Is the pin pulling out of a sideplate? Is a side plate cracking?
I think a lot of people cross shift more than they think. This is one of the main causes of chain fatigue and yes, when the cross shifting is extreme and frequent, compounded with the tensional stresses, the plates crack at the hoop location where the pin is engaged. Then its only a matter of time before it fails. One can fatigue a new chain in this manner in a very short time.
In 1985 I actually thought it would protect my head in a crash. Back then CRC was only requiring "any helmet". Mike McCarthy and several others wore the leather version.
In 1985 I actually thought it would protect my head in a crash. Back then CRC was only requiring "any helmet". Mike McCarthy and several others wore the leather version.
A bento box for a TT
Late to the party here, but I agree with lee3, the FSA cranks suck and I can’t afford to replace them.
Lee3, you sound like an engineer or metallurgist. I’m not, so I don’t know much about this stuff, but I always wonder when people start using big words like that. Is "tensional stress" the same thing as "tension" or is it different?
Are the side plates of 10-speed chains thinner than on 9-speed? Or are the pins shorter? Or both?
lee3, i think a chain should be able to withstand "tensional stress" of extreme switches but the discussion is not ‘what junk doesn’t work’ – most of it only lasts so long no matter how professional the installation but ‘what did you buy that is goofy’. a la spongebob goretex winter jacket, or faux wool socks that freeze your toesies off in freaky february.
as to my own goofy anecdotes, i’ll admit to trying to buy underwear in france only to get back to my apartment to find i had purchased a male thong with a string back, but that falls outside of goofy, and also outside the cycling category, so consider me officially disqualified.
fyi, for the morbidly curious, i did manage to return the item and get my money back but will remain anonymous, notwithstanding.
GT triple triangle…biggest piece of AL garbage around!
I never got into the neon zinc oxide but when I was a junior I did have a pair of bright neon socks I bought from a cute older racer chick in a desperate (and unsuccessful) bid to try to get her attention.
My dodgy equipment story is about the disk wheel I tried to make out of a hub, a rim, some homasote sheets, and lots of little nails. It easily weighed ten pounds and was flimsy enough that it didn’t make it out the door – saving me further humiliation.
I use the wipperman chains on a 10sp campag. setup. 2 seasons ago Jan. I racked up some serious miles and along the way acquired some bad shifting habits. By this time the next year I took a good look @ my chain and it was cracked to hell in several places. I chalked it up to normal wear. I replaced the chain/cogs – same product (Wip Stnls.Stl) but maintained the shifting habits. In a matter of a few months the chain developed small cracks @ the pin locations. I bought a new chain again, monitored my shifting and the Wip spins to this day on the TT bike – crackless. (there’s a joke in there somewhere)
Tension and Tensional are the same. It didnt seem like a big word to me but then again I do have geek status.
FSA K force Mega EXO –
I bought this thing and in 6 months the plastic bearing seal failed three times causing the crank arm to remain always in a loose wobbly condition. If you develop knee issues, one could probably take FSA to the cleaners.
The metal / carbon connection that engages the pedals on the chainring arm will also weaken and eventually fail as well.
Just because Basso and Vino use it dont make the sheot. They get a new one every time they touch they’re bike. Us poor saps are stuck with it. You cant replace the cranks without getting the entire $450.00 assembly! "Help Me Howard"
Kevin, great call on the GT. There’s more material so it’s heavier, and the seatstays are still welded to the seat tube, so it’s not as if road shock is going to the top tube instead of your butt. Totally stupid.
GT Triple Triangle: I rented one on a business trip to Seattle last year. It did the trick for an easy ride, but man, that was the harshest frame I ever road. Thanks for pointing out why Andy, that makes sense.
I bought this thing, its a personal hypoxinator, and oh man it sucks!
Hey Lee3,
I can hook you up with "Help Me Howard" if need be (cue the music).
He rides, and has a fly Obrea.
-Haig
Didnt know he rode. I’ve gotten over my FSA issues as of late. It would be quite priceless to walk into FSA HQ. with camera’s in toe all the while drilling them on why their product sucks. It would also be a bit strange.
I bought the "Personal Hypoxicator" as well. What a total waste of a LOT of money. Its a huge hassle to use and totally ineffective.
Also, I’ve bought just about every legal "supplement" (snake oil?) ever marketed. None of them work, unfortunately.
Cinelli Integrater Stem, I think it was called…big chunk of CNC robot lookin’ stem, some who shall remain nameless, even had the option a la Cipollini, to have a 50’s artwork of Pa(l)mela (h)Anderson…how is that for cheesie!!!???
I also did homemade version of Superman bars, by attaching a fabricated T, from old mtn.bik barends, onto the end of a old Lemond era Scott bar…I still sucked air up the hills, but downhill and on the flat I was going pretty darn fast back in the day…Back when the HotTubes juniors smoked us all and cracked open a can of 26 minutes for two laps…Nowadays that is barely top ten right??? Especailly with all those HIGH-poxicators and snake oils supplements…for something that really works, try http://www.spirotiger.com...
And "Ride Lots"…I would also add, "Rest Lots"…
but I digress…did someone say Tensional Stress??? Only until the sweling goes down…
peace
DSJ
My Team Kit!
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