New Wheels

[TechniKal]

I wanted to get a new wheelset - something more aero and the current freehub on my 'tri' bike was making a lot of funky noises. I'm not willing to spend $1500 for carbon wheels, and most of the aluminum aero wheels are boat anchors. So I decided to build up a set.

I found a pair of 24 hole Ritchey WCS hubs on eBay for $50. They aren't the nicest or lightest things in the world, but not bad. Weight wise, they are close to the old Dura-ace hubs. For rims, I went with the new 'Niobium 30' that Mike Garcia has. It's a 30mm rim, but weight is guaranteed to be under 465g. Compare that to the Velocity Deep V - which is also a 30mm rim, but comes in between 560-600g.

For spokes, I went with AE15's front and NDS rear. These are 15/16 db spokes that are rolled flat in the center to make the more 'aero' and strong. For DS rear, I went with the standard DB14's. Radial on the front, 2x/3x on the rear.

This was the hardest set I've ever built up. The skinny spokes really wanted to wind up, the deep dish rim slowed down lacing and the low spoke count made truing a lot more sensitive.

Total weight of the wheelset should come it just a bit over 1600g. Total money invested is about $200. I need to get some rim strips and give them a test ride:

http://www.grassrootstx.com/tri/wheelpair.JPG

Nice gloss finish on the rims.

http://www.grassrootstx.com/tri/wheelfront.JPG

http://www.grassrootstx.com/tri/spoke.JPG

A bit of detail on the spokes. I ended up cutting a groove in a small piece of wood and using that to hold the spoke during tensioning to minimize windup.

http://www.grassrootstx.com/tri/money.JPG

and the money shot for Carlos in case he ever ventures into this fourm...

[sangulo]

very nice. 1600g, is that with skewers? either way, that's awesome for $200.

[TechniKal]

Without skewers. The hubs were 330g for the rear and 120g for the front. Rims were 448g and 455g. I didn't weigh the spokes, but they should have been somewhere in the 200-225g range. Add in 40g or so for nipples. So
~1601 - 1626g This would all be easier if I actually had a scale to measure the complete wheel. Of course, then I'd actually know how much they weighed and that probably wouldn't be a good thing.

You could easily knock 100-150g off by going with a lighter set of hubs. That would put it lighter than the Krsyruims, with a taller, more aero rim and probably still a lot cheaper.

[Macho Man]

How much tension did you use on the each side? Did you find it hard keep the spokes from turning?

[TechniKal]

Front wheel was about 105kg, rear wheel drive side was about 115kg. I didn't pay that much attention to the NDS rear, as you can't really control it anyway. So it was a bit more tension than I'd put in a 32 spoke wheel, but not a whole lot more.

Yes - the spokes wound up as tension got higher. I took a 2x4 and cut a ~1.5"x1.5" block out of it. I then cut a single groove in that block on the band saw, which fit the flat section of the aero spoke snuggly. I'd 'snap' the block on the spoke and hold it with one hand while turning the spoke wrench with the other. That eliminated the wind-up problem.

BTW - is anyone still meeting at the high school for the Tuesday ride in Georgetown? I've gone out there twice in the last month or two and haven't seen anyone. Ran into folks on the loop, but no one at the school

[Macho Man]

Sounds like it was a goo amount of work.
I am not sure if anyone is meeting at the High School since I have not been out there in a while but I think a couple of rides are going out to the cours. I can give you the email of a couple of people that I think are riding.

[Cosa Nostra]

Post, just cuz Todd said I would be posting here sometime.

Nice build though Kyle.