mtbr member
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Join Date
Jul 2004
Posts
13
(long time lurker, first time poster...)
-If you're buying the wheel for the sound, reconsider your decision, as the saddest thing about this wheel is that the RIDER cannot hear it's lovely sound, only those off the bike. You may hear an echo off a building or wall at times, but not the "drum" sound that you heard back in the day when Tomes flew by.
-The feel is a little strange. It varies considerably depending on the age of the wheel, and who built it and to what standard it was built. There is a bit of lateral flex for a large rider (170LBS+) and at low speeds it can feel sketchy when turning. There is a noticeable dampening effect, especially when riding a hardtail.
-My most durable wheel was built by Wheelsmith around 1994 and has NEVER needed truing...believe it or not. Most report frequent need to true the wheel, but in my estimation, they weren't built properly.
-Preferred rims are Mavic 231 for 26" and Araya RM-17 for 26" also. Unsure of 700C rim compatibility. Mavic/Araya would be safest.
-Preferred hubs for 26" are M900 XTR, M910 XTR, Ringle SuperBubba, and Hugi. M950 XTR works also, but is a little strange paired with the old-school disk. Hugi worked for Kim Sonier of Team Kahlua back in the day, but the canted flange design looks suspect in its interaction with the Tension disk flange to me. Would sound quite cool, though.
-According to a friend who was head of marketing at Tioga when these were available, the hub flange mounting bolts MUST be prepared with PERMANENT loctite (red). Apply to nut, not screw. Rim mounting bolts and nipples MUST be prepared with TEMPORARY (blue) loctite. Throw away the Tioga-supplied thread lock.
-First designed by Tadashi Yashiro of Team Cycle World 846 in Japan during the late 80's and manufacturing rights sold to Sugino. Tioga simply paid Sugino to market their version in the US and Europe, while Sugino were available only in Europe. Tooling to produce these was horridly expensive, hence the high cost.
-In my estimation, they would have been more widely received had they been cheaper, and pre-assembled, as I believe their suspect reputation is due in large part to improper assembly.
-Tomac did indeed only get around 50-60 hours of use for each wheel made by his expert mechanic Bob Gregorio (where is he these days?) but then again, he is Tomac. I've ridden them for 10+ years and zero failures.
-Tioga Versions are as follows:
700C dark clear 36H
26" blue comp mesh geodesic 1st gen inflation cutout 36H
26" blue comp mesh geodesic 2nd gen inflation cutout 36H
26" clear pro geodesic 2nd gen inflation cutout 36H
26" clear pro non-geodesic triple-laced no inflation cutout 32H
-Sugino Versions
700C dark clear 36H
26" blue geodesic 2nd gen inflation cutout 36H
26" tan/cream mesh geodesic 1st gen inflation cutout 36H
-The final generation 32H triple-laced (non-geodesic) version is the strongest and lightest. You can even cut out the Mylar as Gregorio did at the Hunter Mountain World Cup, and retain the sound.
