Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

Looking at the Novatec site, there are far more choices of 6 bolt hub than centre lock. Why? and does this mean I should be opting for 6 bolt? My current wheel set is built onto DT Swiss centre lock hubs.

Apologies if dumb questions, I'm very new to discs.

It’s pretty normal for a new or trued wheel to make a few pinging sounds on the first couple of rides. Worry about it if it goes out of true.

Aksium spokes are like iron girders and to get a wheel back from out of true some pretty high tensions might have been used I guess.

Why? and does this mean I should be opting for 6 bolt?

Because 6-bolt has been around for longer, and is cheaper to manufacture. Novatec sell mainly to very price sensitive OEMs.

You should be opting for 6-bolt, but not for that reason. The Center Lock spline is designed for light weight and ease of assembly/disassembly, and as a result it's badly designed for torque transmission. It sacrifices durability on the altar of light weight. This is fine if you think that's a good trade off, but for most people it isn't. If you designed a spline connection to be as strong and durable as 6-bolt, it would be heavier as well as more expensive. That's why brake rotors, with very few exceptions*, on every other kind of vehicle are attached with a circular pattern of small bolts.

*Multi-disc brakes typically found on large aircraft and as industrial machinery brakes are spline driven, as the rotors and stators need to slide laterally on the hub and axle respectively in the case of a wheel brake, or the shaft and housing in the case of a machinery brake.

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Fantastic explanation, thanks tester

Lotd of good hubs come in that drilling, Novatec, Miche, Bitex, DT Swiss.......

Nothing wrong with 6 bolt rotors, they are cheaper too.

It's not normal if they've been made/fixed properly. Could also be that in trying to get the wheel true they've left some spokes really loose and these are making the noise, also not good fixing. If that tension can't be evened out while making the wheel straight then it's probably knackered.

Ok, then a load of new wheels (built by reputable builders) that go on to live long and happy lives aren’t built ‘properly’ ;-)

This is also true.

Yeah, stress releaving and making sure there's no wind up should be done before sending them out.

Are Kinlin XR22t still the go-to alloy rim for an all-round light-ish wheelset? Or should I go for the new Mavic Open Pro's?

Will be built with a set of DT-Swiss 240 24/28 hubs and Sapim laser spokes.

Xr26 is the one

Xr26 is the one

As long as when you say "the one" you mean "the one stuck in no-man's land between the light XR22 and the XR31" :)

Replacing a couple spokes on a wheel for a mate, easy job me thinks as I even had spokes in stock that while maybe a mm or 2 too long should do the job.

Get the spokes in without even taking the tyre off, go to true wheel, half the nipples are 'seized'.

Strip tyre and rim tape off and find first of all that there's red stuff all over the ends of the spokes, at first I presumed it'd be grease but it's gone hard and brittle, like sugar or something. Threadlock? Who the hell would threadlock spokes though?

Well, kinda answer that with my next discovery, all the pre-existing spokes are about 5mm longer than the ones I fitted. So the 'seized' spokes might just be either bottomed out on the threads or threadlocked. GAH!

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hmm.

Not really a no mans land. Its the same weight as the xr22 with better finish. Which makes the XR22 kind of obsolete.

The XR26 looks promising, hard to find in the 24 and 28 asymetric matte version so it seems.

Isn't XR26 is 25g heavier?
I believe the three rims can happily co-exist together, occupying slightly different depth, stiffness & weight requirements, in a happy world made of marshmallows, rainbows and unicorns.

Isn't XR26 is 25g heavier?

Most sources suggest 5-15g difference. Since the XR31 will be faster than either in any circumstance short of a particularly steep hill climb, the only reason to pick the 22 would be a desire for that old-school low-depth aesthetic. That's why I suggest that the 26 is in no-man's land.

Which depth kinlin alloy rim builds up to the lightest wheel?

I’d expect the xr26 to be the right shape for stiff+light.

If you’ve a high spoke-count like 32 perhaps the xr26/31 would save equal or more spoke-weight (as it has shorter spokes) than a xr22 wheel?

Ah, I see.

yep yet to sell one. I am struggling to see the point in it.

Mine are heavier than the XR22T

Which Kinlin builds in tot he lightest wheel well that depends on the the hubs used but to give an example of two standard builds I do.
24F/28R XR22T rim, laser spoke front , force rear Miche Primato hub and 20F24R XR31T rims, CX rays front and CX force rear with miche primato hubs and the weight is the same.

You can go lower spoke count with the XR22T but I would not. one for a 65kg rider resulted in a failed spoke. I did fear this and changed the build to 28 spoke rear some time ago. I was right to fear.

So how light you can go does depend on how much of a risk with spoke failure you want to take.

How much heavier?

Which Kinlin builds in tot he lightest wheel

Thanks for this reply. Good info.

I’d like to keep some used 32h 10sp hubs. I’m thinking I’ll build it up with lasers all round. Radial front and 3x rear on kinlin xr22 rims.

I know 32h radial front is considered anti but I’m light on wheels and would like to keep the bike weight down.

It’s for a cross bike. So I’m keen on the well-sealed hubs and ok with a few more spokes than normal.

How was the front hub laced previously? Concerned about risk of flange fatigue failure if going radial from a hub previously cross-laced.