1st Wheelset Purchase, How many Holes?

[TortoiseOrHare]

Like the title says I need to buy a wheelset.

Got into road biking about 6 months ago after 10 years of mainly full suspension trail riding.

I going to go with a set of Mavic OPs in black laced to Shimano Ultegra hubs but after that I'm not sure where weight comes into play for holes and lacing.

I'm 5'11", 165-175, depending on what I'm training for.

Should I go with 28H or 32H Front Hub? Radial lacing or 3 cross?

Also, would I notice a difference between DT Comps and Revs? This bike will be used for Duathlon/Triathlon

I just don't know enough about road bike wheels to make an eduacted decision here. Any advice appreciated.

The rear is going to be 32H with 3 cross.

Thanks!​

 

[dabac]

At your weight you can do pretty much whatever you like, a 28H front shouldn't be a problem at all.

Radial or cross is very much a matter of preference, and a little about the rating of your hub.
Haven't checked it lately, but it used to be that Shimano hubs weren't cleared for radial lace.
Some used it anyway with good results (like me) others had their hub flanges pulled apart.
My personal preference is radial, heads-in. It does give a wheel that is laterally stiffer by a measurable amount.
To me it allowed me to run the brakes tight w/o getting an annoying "swoosh, swoosh" due to brake rub when climbing out of the saddle. Not making any statements about how many seconds it saved me (or not), but I liked that.

Functionally speaking you could go with either Revs or Comp on the front.
When I run 28H I go with Comp, but then I have this preference for tight brakes and an allergy against brake rub.

Radial laced wheels are supposedly more prone to nipples unscrewing. It's not something that I've encountered, but a mild locking agent like linseed oil can't hurt.

I don't have the figures right now, but radials are supposed to be a bit more aerodynamic than cross, and aero benefits are usually more in demand for tri/TT bikes than for "regular" road bikes.

Revs can give you a bit of an issue with spoke wind-up during final tensioning.
Again, not something that has troubled me when building with all new parts, but I've seen it happen during trueing of "old" wheels.
Running a marker pen down one side of the spoke, or putting a small strip of tape on the spoke like flag helps you keep track of that.

Some still claim that radial laced wheel rides harsher than cross wheels. I think that's nothing but wishful thinking.
Given that you still have a 20-something mm of air filled rubber tire as your last link to the surface it's unlikely to the extreme that the very minor differences attributed to the change of lacing pattern should be detectable to the rider.

For the rear, go with Revs on the NDS and Comp on the DS. It'll allow for a more even strain(often referred to as spoke tension) between DS and NDS, which is good protection against spoke failure through fatigue.

 

[TortoiseOrHare]

Sounds good, I'll have to look into the Shimano rating as far as radial lacing goes.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Like the title says I need to buy a wheelset.

Got into road biking about 6 months ago after 10 years of mainly full suspension trail riding.

I going to go with a set of Mavic OPs in black laced to Shimano Ultegra hubs but after that I'm not sure where weight comes into play for holes and lacing.

I'm 5'11", 165-175, depending on what I'm training for.

Should I go with 28H or 32H Front Hub? Radial lacing or 3 cross?

Also, would I notice a difference between DT Comps and Revs? This bike will be used for Duathlon/Triathlon

I just don't know enough about road bike wheels to make an eduacted decision here. Any advice appreciated.

The rear is going to be 32H with 3 cross.

Thanks!​

Do a 28 hole, 2 cross lacing with Revolution spokes on the front. 14/15 laced 3 cross rear. I would recommend a Velocity Aerohead front and the Aerohead rear with offcenter drilling. It will be a nice all around wheelset. Radial front or left side rear does nothing. Radial front only makes a difference if using a deeper rim, far less spokes(like 18) and using bladed spokes.