Powertap Hub
Posted on April 23, 2008
In this weekends crit I used my tubular wheels. So right before the crit I switched the cassette from the powertap wheel to the other wheel.
One thing that I noticed – and I knew about this, the cassette body on those powertap wheels are really soft. I actually had to pry the cogs off with a screwdriver, now I am not sure if I can even put the cassette back on. The tooth marks are too deep.
I think I will need a new body, which sucks cause I have 1500 miles on it and the wheel is brand new.
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yup, mine does the same thing ….. 2 things on this, make sure you tighten the cassette really well to prevent slippage but also knock down the cassette body parts that get pushed around and you should be able to reinstall the cassette.
There is a benefit to using cheaper, heavier cassettes.. The ones that have most of the cogs attached, like the SRam ones that have a small screw holding all the cogs together.
also, shimano durace cassettes tend to “dig” deeper into soft hub bodies, cuz of the ti sprockets, I think
well, I am going to try that tonight… I have to bent back quite a few nicks though….i’ll see if it will work.
get a 12/25 cassette for racing, and leave the 12/27 on your powertap hub indefinately for training
I have been told that if you are racing on your 23 you will be off the back. I think I have taken that and made it a goal not to buy cassettes that big.
Also, I can’t spin a 12
The couple of races that I did have a 12 I got majorly screwed on the descents. Nelson’s Landing, Boulevard last year, Conquer the canyons RR.
BTW, cleaned up the cassette and it fit perfectly. The hub has notches on it, but oh well. I guess it was harder to take it off than to put it back on. The notches are in the middle gears… 13, to 19 I think.
JH,
Why would you be off the back on a 23….too steep a gradient?
Or did you mean the 25….
nah, it was just a generalization about gears x racing.
An old teammate of mine HIGHLY recommended me to use a 23 instead of a 25 when training. I remember the moment like it was yesterday.
We were doing some training ride east county SD and he told me that if it were a race that I would need to be in a much higher gear (smaller cog).
At the time I was spinning my 39×25 and he was grinding a 53×11 and riding away from me.
Since then I have abolished the 25 from ANY race. If I need that gear in a race I would get crushed, you just cannot generate enough speed to keep up with the rest of the guys (in my case).
Might go against the whole spinning thing, but i’d rather use that as a gauge to wheather or not to enter a race…
Examples of races that you will get crushed even if you spin your 25 as fast as you can:
- boulevard
- san luis rey
- La Mirada
- San Marcos
Just to name a few.
I was thinking about that during the SDSR time trial. at 190 I knew I wasn’t going to win so I spun my 25 and 23 and finished at 19 min. Pathetic. But you are right and in fact a 23 is too big for most races. You really need to be in a 21 or 19…..
But…Most every crit unless you are a 1/2 doesn’t get up to the speed that you would really need an 11 cog. If you are spinning a 12 at 120 rpm you are doing 44 mph or so. Who in the Cat 4 or 3′s sprints much faster than that? So the 11 would be more for descents like you said…
So would you recommend an 11-21 for crits which is 10 gears all the way through with no double shifts, and the 11-23 for road races? Or just go with the 11-23 and call it a day… What do you think?
I have been using a 11-21 for crits and 11-23 for RR.
“I” cannot sprint in a 12. I am scared shirtless to to a full sprint, standing up and try to get it to 120rpm… no way, I’d rather chill in the higher 90′s in the 11
44mph is doable. Remember the wind is a huge factor. La Circuit race is a good example.
Lastly, 39×25 for the SDSR TT is just not going to cut it. That was my point. it would have to be at least a 53×25 or even lower and I CANNOT drag myself up that hill in that gear, at least not turning it over quickly. Thats why Tucson was so nice.
Ok, cool. Sorry to ask such new questions but I am only a Cat 4 and I am new. I am a bigger rider like you and even though I will hit 170-175 by the end of the year I would be at like 4% bodyfat. I just can’t get any lighter because of muscle.
So why would I even want a 25 for training? Don’t you think that would be a bad idea? I mean, unless I am going up Baldy which is a ridiculous grade. Or would I even want to use a minimum of 23 or 21 which would force me to go faster…..
I would go 25 in October, November and December. Use that gear for your early off-season training.
Once you have most of you base mileage you can switch to 23 and start going faster.
You do NEED to go easy and spin in the winter.
BTW, I am no coach, so this is just from my own experience and it has helped me.
Some people prefer something with a 25 (my opinion) because of the combo you get in the big ring without too much cross chaining. I stick with the 11-23 most of the time also. The benefit to using a 12-25 (I do when out of shape) is using the 23 (second cog) in combination with the big ring, nicer than going to the small ring and finding the gear you want without loosing too much momentum or screwing up leg speed.
My Zipps do the same thing on the hub. I borrowed a SRAM red 11-26 cassette last weekend for sea otter and i noticed that when i took that cassette off his zipps that there was absolutely no wear on the hub at all. The single tooth that engages the hub on the SRAM cassette is about 2x the thickness of my DA cassettes and the SRAM didn’t even leave a mark on his brand new hub. I have filed my zipp hub two times over two years with a small file to facilitate my shimano cassete changes. If Zipp sold a steel cassette body i would buy one. My Mavic Ksyriums look like new after 5 years.
buy cassettes that are screwed/riveted together and you eliminate this problem. The only benefit of having this problem is you can look at your cassette body and know what gear you use most!!