Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

I am about 90kg. Should I be even contemplating DT Swiss Revolution?

Yes, 3-cross.

These folks are in Germany and they specialise in small wheels, stocking short spokes

http://gingko-spezialradteile.de/gingkoshop/en/Wheel-Accessories/Spokes-Nipples/

I am about 90kg. Should I be even contemplating DT Swiss Revolution?

Nobody should be contemplating Revs

What should I use for my weight weenie wheels then?

A smaller number of thicker spokes.

Got any redundant low spoke count <300g rub rims lying around?

Lacing 28 hole Piannis to Mack Superlights. What would you recommend?

Which hub should I get? 6 bolt disc rear. 12mm thru axle 32h.

Any benefit of anything other than Hope evo?

This?
http://www.dtswiss.com/Components/Hubs-MTB/240s-4

Depends whether you prefer cartridge bearings or loose bearings.

Which ever are best!?

dt 350???? same as 240.....way cheaper.....only difference being forged shell vs .CNC shell.
same internals. 40g more vs. lots of money saved.

Depends whether you prefer [x] or [y]

Don flameproof suit and retire for [x,y]=[cartridge,loose ball],[Shimano,Campagnolo],[clincher,tubular] etc.

In an ideal world, Cup cone would be better if spares were ready available... in the real world, you can replace the balls, cones are harder to source, cups are often impossible to replace, which means you might end up stuck with pitted cups and crap bearings... with cartridges there is always a way out of the problem, but even there be careful what you buy... Chris King tools to replace the bearings cost hundreds, a DT Swiss ratchet remover costs 50 quid or so... on the other hand with Hope, Novatec or Miche you only need a mallet and some sockets/old bearings...

Mi7rennie For the retro mtb wheels. T780 XT hubs on mavic xm317 rims for a build with new parts or if you want period find m730 front hub and m732 rear And lace to period rims.

I actually have new m732 hubs with a 130mm spacing in stock but no front hubs. All these are shimano. The other alternative is to use a road hub as it has the right spacing. A miche primato or RG2 hub or a shimano 105 10 speed hub will quite happily cope with off road use. 7 speed cassettes can be fitted if you use a 4.54.5mm spacer

If a well built goes out of true in a crash it is normally because of real damage that will not true out hence to me it is all a none issue.

Rev spokes for use in a rear wheel require a stiff rim and a hub that gives good bracing angles if these two are picked then a wheel built with revs or laser'ss can be very stiff radially, later rally and torsional so it will survive a 9 kg rider for a long time. If however a open pro rim is picked then revs won't work no matter your weight. Stating blanket bans of things like this is not very helpful as altho so people riding wheels built with cxray spokes (ssame stiffness as a laser or rev) would have constant problems and they don't.

Stating blanket bans of things like this is not very helpful as altho so people riding wheels built with cxray spokes (ssame stiffness as a laser or rev) would have constant problems and they don't.

I'm not banning them, as you say CX-Rays have the same cross sectional area and they're fine if the right build is done. I just think Revs and other 1.5mm round spokes are utterly pointless, since there is no performance gain to be had. They're for people who weigh their bikes instead of riding them.

FWIW I prefer building with revs. They're just nice and flexible making the whole process enjoyable.

I build DT revs on front wheels only and it's not a compromise. They build a wheel which is stiff enough for the biggest guys out there and they last indefinitely, regardless of the hub or rim you are using. Given the retail cost is very similar to DT comp. I don't see any drawback. They roughly save 3 grams each or nearly 100 grams for a 32 h wheel, which is better than nothing. For dished rear wheels one has to be a bit more careful and weigh all the factors in, more often than not it is better to use DT comp there.

I have laser spokes In most of my rear wheels I ride alot Mdcc although I am careful to ensure the wheel is stiff enough for the rider. If I was building with an open pro I would not even dare use laser spokes as the resulting wheel would be too flexible.

An example is my rear wheel on my wet weather bike. 28 spoke DT Swiss rr415 on miche primato hubs laced up with lasers front and rear. It is light and stiff enough that it has never gone out of true. The rim has dine thousands of miles but the front is getting very worn now. Time to re rim soon. I am trying to push very last miles out of it. Using race or comp spokes always on the rear wil do no harm mdcc but sometimes for some wheels it is unnecessary for some riders.

I recently build up a new pair of commuter / tourer wheels for my Straggler. I used Deore XT M785 centre lock hubs for both. I've normally had good experiences with XT level hubs, however the rear one I bought for my personal wheels felt a bit too lumpy, so I disassembled it.

The drive side has 13no 3/16" (4.76mm) loose bearings, the non drive side has 11no in a plastic retainer. All looked in good order, as you'd expect from a new hub. I measured them and was a bit surprised by the results. They ranged in diameter from 4.698mm to 4.766mm. This is measuring each one multiple times in multiple places.

So I got two packets of genuine Y00091210 bearings and measured those also. There was similar variation between the 20 in each packet. I could however pick a set of similar size ones from the 60 odd I now had. I ended up with a full set of 4.763mm size ones, and reassembled with Dura Ace grease. I also ditched the ball retainer in the NDS so I could fit 13 in that side too. (The ball retainer is used to speed up factory assembly, it provides no performance benefit as I understand it). The hub now feels sublime, as good as DA I reckon. Time will tell how it lasts, however hopefully this will have extended its life. Mismatched bearings can't do anything other than cause premature wear.

Only writing this as I get the feeling the quality of upper tier Shimano kit is slowly being eroded.

I love the fact you did this, made the engineer in me smile as I read it. Shimano should be ashamed of such pish quality / engineering.... as you say such variance can only cause premature failure.

I almost agree with this. Revs are pointless when compared directly to CX ray from a function perspective. They are also a pita to build (excessive wind up). They do have one benefit that is missed here, they are significantly cheaper than CX ray. I used to spec them on budget light weight XC wheels when people still wanted these (in 26"). They work well in that context.

My fixed trainer uses revs both front and rear, both 28h 3 cross on high flange Phils. Admittedly a bit of a fiddle to get right when building, but totally solid in use since.

You can buy better balls cheaper from a bearing shop, I tend to do that by default as soon as I receive Shimano hubs, as their grease isn't all that either.

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/Loose+Balls+&+Rollers-51200+Chrome+Steel+Loose+Ball+Bearings/c23_5000/p37912/3/16+inch+Diameter+Grade+10+Hardened+52100+Chrome+Steel+Ball+Bearings/product_info.html

They are chrome bearings though, therefore much more liable to corrosion. Upper tier Shimano hubs traditionally used to use stainless through hardened bearings. I can't find any info to confirm whether current XT uses chrome or stainless saying that.
Also will using 60-67 Rockwell bearings not cause the cups and cones to wear first? One would want the ball bearings to be the consumable parts, not the non-replaceable cup.

In fairness I only used the genuine ones as I had them to hand.

I tried stainless balls once and found them altogether too consumable in hubs. If corrosion is a problem in your hub bearings, it indicates poor maintenance more than anything.

At the Ultegra/XT level, the cups last long enough to make all wear questions moot, since the hubs are cheap and most people will wear out their rims first. Disc brake users obviously won't, but with proper maintenance the occasional wheel rebuild to swap out the worn hubs still doesn't bring the total cost of ownership up to Hope levels.