Triplet wheel build

[bobbyOCR]

Details.

Velocity Aerohead 36h rim - 411g
Dura Ace 36h hub - 258g
27 DT competition DB spokes + alloy nipples + rim tape- 192g

It rides great. Very well in fact. Power transfer is great and it isn't too shabby in the stiffness department, though it feels slightly softer laterally than the Ritchey rear.

The DA hub is decked out with Phil's balls. And I must say they roll very nicely. Combined with the DA hub, it creates one of the smoothest feeling hubs I have felt.

Red nipples for kicks, and decked out with a Vittoria Corsa CX all black tyre, it looks very stealth. It was probably a stupid idea in hindsight, but its first 16km of use was an uphill TT (I won, and I am by no means a climber. good indicator that my training is actually doing something) and an incredibly gusty descent, which the Ritchey front wheel didn't really enjoy.

Total cost : ~$200. A little more, I think, including ceramic balls. Bargain for peace of mind regarding freehub notching.

 

[Phill P]

My balls?!?!? Sounds really painfull!!!!

Wheel looks really good. I'm surprised at the weight considering the quality components you used, I would have thought it might cut 800gms. Why didn't you use revo spokes or aero lite?

$200 AUD or USD? I would expect to pay almost $200AUD for just the hub, did you get that price down through a shop discount?

 

[sogood]

Wow, flashy wheels. Price looked great!

 

[bobbyOCR]

lets see.... the hub was $75AUD + 15 for postage... (ebay)

Spokes were about $45 IIRC (including nipples)

Rim was $30, NOS from the shop

balls were $48.

I built it so no cost there
so $213 AUD with ceramic balls.

Awesome.

Bargain.



Now, for those curious, I could easily have dropped a fair amount of weight off using Revos or aerolites. but aerolites cost $4.50 a spoke or something stupid, and this is a training wheel. Revos look flimsy and still cost a bit, plus they didn't have any black ones in stock when I asked (but they still managed to send silver straight guage spokes instead of black DB).
And come on, that weight is still awesome. My Ritchey rear wheel is still 831g with rim tape, so 30g penalty is good for nicer bearings and a deep splined freehub (though the star ratchet feels and sounds more solid)

The front wheel will still not be a balls out weight shaving job though. 24 paired radial to a DA hub (or maybe not.....) and a matching 403g front 32h aerohead. All black anodised one are hard to find. braking is still very smooth. Because the front is so light though, I am debating whether to get a relatively light 70-75g hub for the job, which should let me get it to a sub 600g front wheel (with aerolites of course), bringing the set to a very respectable weight.

But then it is less of a training wheelset

 

[John M]

So why did you choose that lacing pattern? Just for fun? Looks cool, though.

 

[bobbyOCR]

So why did you choose that lacing pattern? Just for fun? Looks cool, though.

Never just for fun. By going 27 spokes, I still retain stiffness, and by using a triplet pattern, I even out the tension so the ND side spokes won't go slack. It is a little more aero. It weighs a little less. You gain the power transfer of near tangential 3X lacing. There are no downsides. (except the ND spokes don't come out of the hub perfectly radial, you need a specifically designed hub as far as I'm aware, or slightly different drilling may solve the problem (on the rim))