Water, water everywhere
Dear Lennard,
My Spinergy Xaero's quite literally fill up with water if I ride whenit rains even reasonably hard. Only way to get it out is to eitherdeflate the tire and pry it off at the valve hole when the hole's at thebottom, or remove the tube/tire and drain with the hole at the bottom.This drives me nuts! It's not a little water either.It makes a big puddle. Any suggestions?
MattDear Matt,
I can imagine why this might drive you nuts! It’s amazing how manyquestions about this exact thing I have gotten this spring, regarding manydifferent wheel brands. Generally, in any wheel with an enclosed innercavity, water can seep in around the valve and the spoke nipples and fillthe cavity. However, most wheels usually have a small hole drilled throughthe sidewall of the rim, just below the wall that caps the cavity (usually,this is the outer rim wall that the tire, or tire and tube, sit on topof). With the hole being drilled at the greatest radius from the hub ofany portion of the enclosed rim cavity, water should be constantly thrownoutward from the hole.Find the hole and unplug it if it is filled. That should fix your problem.If you don’t have a little hole, that would be very strange. You wouldprobably do best to contact the manufacturer. A tiny hole could probablybe drilled, maybe 1/16- to 1/8-inchin diameter, in the side of the rim just below the outermost rim wall.It’s simple with and aluminum rim, but not with a carbon rim, since thedrill bit might not cut the fibers, which might just cover the hole againanyway.Below is another letter on the subject with perhaps a better descriptionof the hole’s location.
LennardWater redux
Dear Lennard,
I am fortunate enough to have won an incredible bike in a raffle.The bike came with the new Dura-Ace road wheels. I was riding thebike yesterday in the rain and after about an hour I felt like the bikewas dragging an anchor (especially uphill). I started checking tosee if I had a tire going down, and then decided that I must have a brakepad rubbing. I got off the bike and gave the front wheel a good spin.It made maybe 2 revolutions and then came to a halt, but when I lookedat the brakes, they had plenty of clearance.I gave it another spin and heard a sloshing sound. Then I sawwater squirting out of a small hole drilled into the side of the rim.The water squirted out for at least a minute. Same thing for theback wheel. There must have been between a half and a full cup ofwater inside each rim. I did not ride through any water morethan 1/4in deep, so I am perplexed as to how the water got inside the rim.Have you heard of this before? Any ideas? By the way, the holesare drilled on each side of the rim, just inside (toward the hub) of theflat section where the brakes rub. Are these holes normal?
ScottDear Scott,
Shimano wheels that have spoke holes drilled in the side of the rimmight allow water to enter when riding through less-deep water depth thanmost rims might. But that little hole should allow the water to escapeonce you are riding on dry roads again. Just don’t tell your friends orco-competitors so they don’t try and drop you whenever you ride througha puddle, knowing you’ll be winding up some big flywheels trying to chasethem.
LennardInterchangeable?
Dear Lennard,
Will an MTB stem work with a road fork/bars on a road bike? Sometimes,the angle and length combo provided by a MTB stem will put the bars ina good position for a road rider. Assuming the weight is not important,is this a viable option? The bar clamp diameter seems different in thespecs.
NathanDear Nathan,
It will only work with an oversized handlebar, which will have a 31.7mmor 31.8mm (you see them listed both ways, but they are both nominally thesame, namely 1.25 inch) clamp diameter. The oversized dimension is thesame for road and mountain. The standard diameter for road handlebars is26.0mm (and sometimes 25.8mm or 26.4mm), and it is 25.4mm (one inch) formountain-bike handlebars, and the stem is not interchangeable between them.You’ll damage the bars and stems if you try.
LennardThe cheapskate that I am
Dear Lennard,
I am considering moving from a Shimano Tiagra gruppo on my bike toCampagnolo's Veloce group. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'll have todo this a piece at a time, as I don't really have the money to do thisin the first place, let alone pay over $500 for the complete gruppo. Myquestion is: How much compatibility is there between the two? I'm guessingthat the shifter/brake levers will need to go along with the derailleurs,but I've seen some bikes out there running Campy cranks with Shimano hardwarefor the rest of the drivetrain. Also, can I install a Campy freehub ontoa Shimano hub? How far could I get into the switch before having to payout for the big-ticket items like the levers?
ScottDear Scott,
You'll have to replace the whole drivetrain at once, except perhapsthe front derailleur and the crank. For instance, you could replace thecrank first (provided your chain is not shot, which would wreck your newchainrings), the front derailleur at another time, and then, all at onceat another time, replace the Ergopower levers, the cogs, the chain andthe rear derailleur. You can do the brake calipers any time.
Thanks,
LennardFollow-up
Dear Lennard,
I noticed a queryabout TT helmets on the VeloNews site the other day. Weknow that helmets can be a confusing topic to cover in some cases, especiallythe topic of time trial helmets, so we appreciate your help in educatingriders.However, this recent post contains two statements that could lead toconfusion about helmet standards, and how they affect the availabilityof cycling helmets in the market. Could you please take a look my commentsbelow and let me know if I seem off-base or contrary to information you'vereceived from someone else? We just want to be sure that we do our partto reduce confusion on the topic of helmet standards.The first statement that caught my eye is the following: "That Specializedhelmet, as well as most, if not all, of the TT helmets used in the 2004Tour, pass at least an equivalent standard to the Snell standard used inthe USA."To be clear - Snell currently lists multiple standards for cycling helmets,but it is the CPSC standard - and only the CPSC standard - that determinesthe commercial availability of cycling helmets in the US. This means thatall cycling helmets designed and produced for sale in the US must complywith CPSC. If a cycling helmet also complies with other standards, suchas a Snell standard, that is secondary to it's meeting the mandatory CPSCrequirement.The second, that "... Specialized no longer has any plans to sell thathelmet in the USA. I imagine the same is true for Bell, Giro, etc., asthey could sell it without the sticker, but that would defeat the wholepurpose."In fact, it is illegal under any circumstances to sell cyclinghelmets in the U.S. without proof of meeting CPSC requirements, or to sellcycling helmets that fail to meet CPSC standards.As for Giro TT helmets...our designs are currently based on the EuropeanCE cycling helmet standard in order to produce the most competitive designpossible for our Division 1 riders (who race primarily in Europe and againstteams equipped with European helmet brands). The need to be competitiveat this level is the primary reason why our TT designs are not currentlyavailable for consumer sale or use in the U.S.We are always happy to contribute whatever information we have to helmetdiscussions. In the meantime, it would be great if we could make sure thateveryone understands that CPSC is the one standard that matters for cyclinghelmets in the US., and that every helmet on the market is required tomeet it.
Eric Richter
Senior Marketing and Communications Manager
Giro

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Technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder (www.zinncycles.com), a former U.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bike maintenance including the pair of successful maintenance guides " Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" and "Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance."Zinn's regular column is devoted to addressing readers' technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directly to Zinn. Zinn’s column appears here each Tuesday.