Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

Reynolds still use a V-like shape on some of their rims as they find it makes for generally lower side forces at the expense of some shudder in cross gusts. Or something.

I picked up some Chris King R45 hubs and am contemplating what carbon rims to order to go with them for a set of rim brake road wheels. I'll be running 25-28mm tyres. Issue is that they're 32h. Would 55mm Light Bicycle be a bit much?

Would 55mm Light Bicycle be a bit much?

It would be an odd choice given that you've already thrown out most of your aero advantage by using so many spokes. If it was my wheels and I'd settled on 32H and LB crabon rims, I'd probably go 36mm to keep crosswind sensitivity down.

Thanks for the advice.

Are the DT Swiss R 500 good rims for a fixed gear bike? Similar to H Plus Son Hydra but cheaper, what you think?

Better off with the Kinlin XR31.

Which I've started to conclude is pretty much the answer to every rim-related query.

I guess the follow up question is there any real benefit of the above vs a kinlin XR31?

The LB rim is wider, deeper and lighter. So yes.

Thoughts on Alpha 340 with 18 spokes? Better or worse than XR31? For an 80something kg rider, normal road stuff. It's one of the only ones in 18h that isn't carbon.

Ambitious. The Alpha 340 is a notoriously flimsy rim. I'm 80something kgs and I wouldn't personally.

Is it? Ah. They seem to be $30 on the Stan's website so looked like a good deal.

Right, I seek inspiration from the collective LFGSS group mind. I need a black 20 hole rim-brake front hub to use in a new front wheel for my Mallorca SS wheelset, after the Mack hub explodinated and tried to kill me. Requirements are:

1. Black
   
2. 20 holes
   
3. Front
   
4. Rim brake
   
5. Light
   
6. Not too expensive - 50-60 quid or thereabouts?
   
7. Must be capable of being laced radially
   
8. Decent sized bearings - no 668 nonsense
   
   

So far I've discounted:

1. Tune Mig70 - too pricey
   
2. Tune Mig45 - much too pricey
   
3. White Industries T11 - too American
   
4. Hope RS4 road - too heavy
   
5. Novatec A291SB - too obvious
   
6. Bitex RAF10 - bearings too small
   
7. Dura Ace - too expensive, no 20 hole
   
   

So, before I get another A291SB, any other suggestions?

dt swiss 350?

Even heavier than the Hope RS4s at 150g. I know I'm a sad old weight weenie, but I begrudge having a front hub that's nearly as heavy as some of my rear hubs.

you're talking to someone who just bought some extralite hubs so I understand entirely

there's this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DT-Swiss-240s-Front-Hub-20-Hole-100-mm-Quick-Release-Black-Ex-Team-Our-Ref-F1/173317908698?hash=item285a8d68da%3Ag%3AMGAAAOSwWCta-YZr&_sop=15&_pgn=3&_nkw=20+front+hub&LH_BIN=1&_from=R40&rt=nc

otherwise novatec / bitex

Alpha 340 with 18 spokes?

1 Attachment

What am I looking at here?

An artist’s impression of your proposed new wheel.

Righto. Gathering that it's a bad idea. I'll just hoard the hubs until I find something more appropes

side note, will weigh the hubs/rims/spokes when I dismantle the wheels, they're Fulcrum Racing 5 and there were no weights or measurements and all that available when I looked in the past

Bitex RAF11

Dt 350

Eternity rims

20mm internal, 30mm tall

Welded seam

32H DS Crows Foot / X 3 NDS CXP33/Rec 10s

Results of Fulcrum Racing 5 disassembly.

Rim tape not included. Aluminium nipples were a pain. Had to cut away 6 spokes that were totally seized up. I held the spokes straight with a fairly big adjustable wrench and the spokes actually permanently twisted in several cases rather than loosen the nipple. No big deal, these rims are going in the bin, spokes are going to a friend for spares and there's plenty left over.

Was going to build the hubs into road wheels but now not sure as they're weightier than I expected and spoke count is suboptimal... If I found some 400g rims in 18/20h I'd be looking at about 1500g for the set I think. With XR31T it'd be closer to 1700g. Would need to buy straight pull spokes which ain't cheap. Bearings probably need replacing too. At a pound a spoke, total <£150 optimistically...

Worth doing or sell the hubs? No idea how much I'd even get for them

Worth doing or sell the hubs? No idea how much I'd even get for them

Not worth doing, and for that reason the hubs are worth almost nothing.