Re: resistance unit for rollers

On 5/14/2024 6:26 PM, Ted Heise wrote:

On Tue, 14 May 2024 17:08:11 -0500,
   AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

   Fans are very effective resistance and cheap, but loud, which
  many riders find annoying. OTOH some fans include a shroud to
  direct a fresh breeze toward the meat machine (you).

 I generally take out my hearing aids when riding (when they start
buzzing from the sweat I get concerned!) so the noise prolly isn't
disqualifying.  On the other hand, I sometimes want to listen to
podcasts or watch old racing videos, so I do need to be able to
hear that stuff.  I also often run a box fan, so am used to a fair
bit of noise.

For simplicity, I'd stick with the mag unit if I wanted more resistance than the rollers themselves. (I seldom wanted more.) Cooling is important, though. If I were doing what you're doing, I'd shop for a quiet pedestal fan, which is (literally) plug and play, plus useful for other purposes. Like keeping mosquitoes away when sitting on our patio.

  Mag units are quieter and offer a wide range of resistance
  levels as you report.  Polymer degradation after 25 years is
  not at all unusual. I'd consider just making a new mount- YMMV.

 Ironically, the mount I cobbled together (includes a section of
old rim to fill a gap) is still workable.  Rather, the plastic
piece that broke off was about a third of the circumference of
one side of the pulley that the v-belt rides in.  I tried gluing
it back on, but it's not going to hold up.

Can you link to a photo of the broken pulley? Do you know what type of plastic it is? Gluing plastic is problematic, but I've had good results from welding various types of plastic. And I wonder if it's possible to find or make a replacement pulley, or otherwise reinforce the existing one.
--
- Frank Krygowski