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The Motivation: If not now, then when? Life is too short to stay inactive.
The Challenge: If you are not willing to suffer, then you shouldn't be racing
The Dream: Staying fit and feeling younger day by day!




Showing posts with label wheels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wheels. Show all posts

22 August 2014

Fulcrum Racing 5 Road Bike Wheels (2014): TWO broken spokes within 8 months of purchase.

Well, no equipment is perfect and failures can happen to anyone anytime, regardless of how expensive or cheap is the product.

I had my first broken spoke ever about 3 months ago. I have been into cycling since 2010 and I have changed several wheelsets since then: From Alex Rims, into Shimano, into Pro Lite and then into Fulrcum. I bought my first ever Fulcrum wheels in Dec. 2013, after shop's recommendations and friends' suggestions.

But, about 6 months after purchase a Fulcrum rear wheel spoke broke. At the worst place and time: During a 200km Brevet cycle race with about 50km to go when I also had a good ranking (within top 40 out of about 200 cyclists).

I was left in the middle of nowhere with the sun burning on top of my head at 36+ degrees in a very remote location (50km outside Theva, Greece). I was very lucky to have a race support car picking me up, as it was left to the athletes to deal with their emergencies according to race regulations. It was the first time I realised how a broken spoke sounds.. and the flatness your mind receives when it realizes that you no longer can pedal. My rear wheel lost its symmetry. It went into an 'egg' shape. I tried to open the rear break as much as possible, but still nothing. THAT spoke was fatal. I had to quit the race.

After the repair, the bike shop assumed that these things happen to everyone and it's normal. I accepted this.

4 weeks ago and about 2 months after the first ever spoke breakage on the Racing 5 wheels, another spoke on the same rear wheel broke. Again.


12 November 2013

Road Wheelset Review: Pro Lite Bracciano A42 Alloy Clincher Wheelset

Hello there! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Ok, reviewing a product is a tiring process, as it requires many things to be carefully explained and have them all well described, so that they are well understood to others. But this time, I felt it was worth going through a review for two main reasons: The first is that I've nearly spent 2 months searching for a new pair of road bike wheels, so this article might save others' time to take a decision or give them a brief guide to wheelset purchase. The second reason is that there are many nice interesting points to be mentioned about this product!

The review, as the title suggests, refers to the Pro Lite Bracciano A42 Alloy Clincher Wheelset (product page: http://www.pro-lite.net/road-wheels/bracciano-a42#page ) . This is Pro-Lite's a new product model on the market. It's a 42mm deep alloy rim (from edge to edge inc. braking surface) and it accommodates clincher type tyres. The comparison below is set against my existing Shimano WH-R500 standard wheels that came with my bike (Orbea's top of the range alloy Aqua T105 road bike). I am also into regular cycling and triathlon training for about 3 years now, so I believe that my experience plays some role too when reviewing this product.


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