Date Posted:07:35:31 02/21/06 Tue Author: James Spangler Subject: Re: Fixed? In reply to:
inertia
's message, "Re: Fixed?" on 05:18:28 02/16/06 Thu
>>I've heard of filling tyres with helium (like the
>>balloons) but dismissed this because of the dangers, I
>>think high rim temperatures might cause some explosion!
>Helium is inert and would be fine from an explosion
>point of view but it's inertness will create inertia
>and slow your wheels. Hydrogen would be a better
>choice, rim heat is unlikey to be an issue as the rim
>tape will allow the tub to fall off the wheel before
>the gaseous flash point is reached, you should refrain
>from smoking throughout the event however.
A vacuum would surely be even lighter than hydrogen, although finding one with a long enough flex will be either possibly difficult or easily impossible, depending on one's familiarity with local wiring regulations.
Remember that reducing one's own bodyweight should be the first priority and should be attempted before considering the purchase of expensive lightweight components such as sprockets, mess tins and other such exotica. This can be achieved by a variety of techniques (make enquiries at your local butchers shop for more details) but my personal favourite is 'fasting'. The technique is simply to ride uphill as fast as possible. I find the transformation from big-headed to light-headed rider usually takes little more than 10 seconds, whereupon I can be firmly placed in the 'lightweight' category.
