Wheel building, wheelset options

Hi Geoff,
Just got my rims today. I am tempted to go double butted, but they are more than 2x the price.

Worth it?

Still contemplating what to do from here on.

thomas_cho said:

Hi Geoff,
Just got my rims today. I am tempted to go double butted, but they are more than 2x the price.

Worth it?

Still contemplating what to do from here on.

Definitely worth using DB spokes it. Because I am over 90kg I only use 14/15 and not the 14/17 that are on my wifes bike.
What size do you need?
I have a bundle of them from when I used to build wheels and may be able to help you out.
My Dura ace hubs have just arrived but Ashfield bikes say it will be a couple of weeks before the Velocity Aerohead rims arrive.

Cheers

Geoff

thomas_cho said:

Hi Geoff,
Just got my rims today. I am tempted to go double butted, but they are more than 2x the price.

Worth it?

Still contemplating what to do from here on.

Definitely worth using DB spokes it. Because I am over 90kg I only use 14/15 and not the 14/17 that are on my wifes bike.
What size do you need?
I have a bundle of them from when I used to build wheels and may be able to help you out.
My Dura ace hubs have just arrived but Ashfield bikes say it will be a couple of weeks before the Velocity Aerohead rims arrive.

Cheers

Geoff

geoffs said:

Definitely worth using DB spokes it. Because I am over 90kg I only use 14/15 and not the 14/17 that are on my wifes bike.
What size do you need?
I have a bundle of them from when I used to build wheels and may be able to help you out.
My Dura ace hubs have just arrived but Ashfield bikes say it will be a couple of weeks before the Velocity Aerohead rims arrive.

Cheers

Geoff

Hi there Geoff,
Thanks for your offer. I have measured my rim ERD to 606. And I understand that I need to measure my hubs to work out the spoke length. I am still trying to find out the dimensions of the 105 hubs that I am getting.

Any idea if the 5510 are the same as the 5500?

So bottom line is that i still do not know the spoke length that I require.

Also ... what are the benefits of 2 cross and 3 cross patterns?

Thanks

thomas_cho said:

Hi there Geoff,
Thanks for your offer. I have measured my rim ERD to 606. And I understand that I need to measure my hubs to work out the spoke length. I am still trying to find out the dimensions of the 105 hubs that I am getting.

Any idea if the 5510 are the same as the 5500?

So bottom line is that i still do not know the spoke length that I require.

Also ... what are the benefits of 2 cross and 3 cross patterns?

Thanks

If you download Damon Rinard's full strength Spoke Calc you will be able to work out your spoke length for what ever hub/rim/crossing you choose. There's an old saying about not reinventing the wheel.
For a long lasting reliable wheel 3 cross.
Have a read of these:

sheldonbrown.comdata.htmOpen ↗

sheldonbrown.comindex.htmOpen ↗

sheldonbrown.comgrignon.htmOpen ↗

Cheers

Geoff

Hi Geoff
I have worked out the spoke lengths which I need.

They 294 for rear right, 296 for rear left, and 296 for the front wheel.

Have you got these lengths in your stash?

BTW I am easily over 90kg, so the 14/15 is ideal.

Cheers
Thomas Cho

thomas_cho said:

Hi Geoff
I have worked out the spoke lengths which I need.

They 294 for rear right, 296 for rear left, and 296 for the front wheel.

Have you got these lengths in your stash?

BTW I am easily over 90kg, so the 14/15 is ideal.

Cheers
Thomas Cho

My apologies Thomas, I wrote to soon.
I dug out my box of spokes and sorted them out. I've got loads of spokes between 266 and 272 for MTB wheels.
I have 72 x 294mm x 14g spokes
and only bits and peices of other sizes such as 27 x 302 15g bladed.

Cheers

Geoff

geoffs said:

My apologies Thomas, I wrote to soon.
I dug out my box of spokes and sorted them out. I've got loads of spokes between 266 and 272 for MTB wheels.
I have 72 x 294mm x 14g spokes
and only bits and peices of other sizes such as 27 x 302 15g bladed.

Cheers

Geoff

No worries, thanks Geoff. What kind of spoke wrench do u use? I have an ice toolz one, and have managed to round 2 nipples now. So I dont think I will rely on that to build the wheels.

thomas_cho said:

No worries, thanks Geoff. What kind of spoke wrench do u use? I have an ice toolz one, and have managed to round 2 nipples now. So I dont think I will rely on that to build the wheels.

I have a few of the Park Tools spoke wrenchs but my favorite is the "Spokey"
I am sure if you phoned a couple of bike shops someone would have one or know where to get one from.

Cheers

Geoff

Try the American classics. They are very very good. and light. and cheap.

Just completed my wheelbuild, followed the instructions. It was a lot of fun, and I derived a lot of satisfaction.

While it wasnt rocket science, a lot of patience was needed.

I built the wheelset around the Shimano 105 hubs, Ambrosio Excursion rims, and DTswiss spokes. The wheelset is coming in at aprox 1.9kg. Its not light, but I was not aiming for light, but for reliability. So far, just on the truing stand, the Shimano hubs seem awesome, very smooth.

Unfortunately, its not good weather here at the moment, so have not test ridden the wheels yet.

Thanks everyone for your help and assistance.

thomas_cho said:

Just completed my wheelbuild, followed the instructions. It was a lot of fun, and I derived a lot of satisfaction.

While it wasnt rocket science, a lot of patience was needed.

I built the wheelset around the Shimano 105 hubs, Ambrosio Excursion rims, and DTswiss spokes. The wheelset is coming in at aprox 1.9kg. Its not light, but I was not aiming for light, but for reliability. So far, just on the truing stand, the Shimano hubs seem awesome, very smooth.

Unfortunately, its not good weather here at the moment, so have not test ridden the wheels yet.

Thanks everyone for your help and assistance.

Good on ya,

I built my first wheel the other day - cracked a rim and decided, what the heck.

Amazing thing is how easy it was - read through Sheldon Brown's site and Zinn and the art of Mountain Bike Maintenance - and I was set.

I don't have a truing stand - just used the frame and bits of tape and zip ties.

Have ridden a couple of 100 ks so far and it hasn't collapsed from under me 🙂

Scotty

scotty72 said:

Good on ya,

I built my first wheel the other day - cracked a rim and decided, what the heck.

Amazing thing is how easy it was - read through Sheldon Brown's site and Zinn and the art of Mountain Bike Maintenance - and I was set.

I don't have a truing stand - just used the frame and bits of tape and zip ties.

Have ridden a couple of 100 ks so far and it hasn't collapsed from under me 🙂

Scotty

Yeah I concur. It was easier than expected.

While we are on this topic, I have tensioned my wheels to 120kgf. Is that too much? Anyone know what is the recommended spoke tension for my setup?

I just followed what was on the original wheelset. In fact the original wheelset was tensioned at 130+kgf. The nipples (spokes) were already getting hard to turn, so I backed off.

Any comments would be welcomed.

For anyone that cares, I have since put 200km on my new wheelset, and checked it on the truing stand.

Still true!

thomas_cho said:

For anyone that cares, I have since put 200km on my new wheelset, and checked it on the truing stand.

Still true!

Congratulations!

120kgf should be fine and they should stay true for a long time. I've got my parts sitting looking at me waiting to be built up. I am just using and old set of wheels at the moment on the new bike. I get to it in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers

Geoff

thomas_cho said:

I just followed what was on the original wheelset. In fact the original wheelset was tensioned at 130+kgf. The nipples (spokes) were already getting hard to turn, so I backed off.

Any comments would be welcomed.

Awesome job. Did you use any type of spoke prep on the spoke threads? This helps the nipples turn a bit easier when tensioning and sets them. Also I like to put one drop of light oil on the rim where the nipple sits. I'll lace the wheel up and then put a drop on each hole and slowly work my way around tensioning the spokes. The oil allows the nipple to turn easily and you don't get that metal on metal squeal that sounds like nails on a chaulk board.

Thanks guys. Yes I put a drop of oil at the nipples anytime I am turning the nipples.

I did not use spoke prep tho. Found out about spoke prep after lacing and tensioning. Is this a cruicial component that I have missed out?🙁

I'm just a 'backy-yarder' who's only built about 20 wheels, and I'm not sure the prep is vital with brand new spokes and nipples; or maybe this is why I stripped a couple of drive side nipples at high tension. Not all builders do it.

As far as tension goes, it varies with spoke type (butted vs non-butted), rim depth, spoke count and cross pattern number....and probably other factors I'm unaware of.🙂 I just took mine around to a few builders to check to tension by hand -- it's funny the different responses you get! 🙂

thomas_cho said:

Yes I put a drop of oil at the nipples anytime I am turning the nipples.

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