“We Should Charge More For It!”

 When I worked at Highland Park Cyclery, more than four decades ago, deep-V aerodynamic rims and Cinelli cork ribbon (Don’t call it “handlebar tape” to a purist!) were new. As we soon discovered, they had, shall we say, their idiosyncrasies. 

Because the “aero” rims didn’t have eyelets in the spoke holes, spoke nipples easily fell into the space between the rim “well” and the outer V shaped section. That meant shaking the rim or wheel and chasing errant spoke nipples on the floor. Also, because the distance between the “well” and the spots where the spoke entered was greater than on other rims, it was more difficult and time-consuming to thread the nipples and spokes together:  Spoke nipple tools weren’t long enough to reach, and when you couldn’t see the nipple as you inserted it.

Given what I have described, some shops (but not HPC, as I recall) charged more to build wheels with deep-section rims. They also levied an additional fee in addition to the usual cost of wrapping handlebar tape when the customer requested Cinelli cork ribbon because winding it around a handlebar took, let’s say, more finesse—and time—than wrapping with cloth or plastic tape.

Working with those items was a pain in the gluteus maximus, but at least there were good reasons for using them.  Cinelli cork ribbon was more comfortable than other handlebar wraps and grips available at the time and was stylish, if not very durable. But those V rims could stand up to all sorts of conditions, which is one reason why they became popular with messengers in New York City, where some potholes were rumored to have their own ZIP and area codes. (That said, whatever aerodynamic advantages they offered were meaningless for most cyclists.)

I thought about those rims and cork ribbon when I came across an article in road.cc. A clearly frustrated mechanic says shops should charge more for working on bikes with cables routed through the steerer tube. That “wrencher” wasn’t simply whingeing (I have to use the British spelling!) about the inconvenience. Rather, they pointed out—correctly—that the setup serves no discernible purpose but to follow the aesthetic of the peloton or the flashy downhill mountain bikers.

I’m definitely on that mechanic’s side.  In contrast to “aero” rims and Cinelli cork ribbon, there is no reason why anyone—even a top-level racer—“needs” to have their cables hidden in the headtube. Of course, most people don’t need cables internally routed through the top or down tube, either, but at least such arrangements require little, if any, more time or effort to set up.