Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

What's the go-to 650b rim for gravel/all road (47c ish)? Needs to not be asymmetric ideally as it will have to be built ai dished at the rear. Ideally as light as possible but not something that's going to be destroyed by a rock.
Also, if anyone does have a set of light 27.5/650b wheels for sale, I'm interested.

SBC are building me a set on Kinlin RD-3FTs - wide rim (i25 iirc), 31 deep. ~550g each

Dunno about a/symetry

I build some DT xr331 27.5 rims to basic Novatec hubs with laser spokes and got 1395g bare. Been great so far chucking it down bumpy single track and gravel trails and a bit of road in between with 42c Revelate tires.

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Great, that sounds like the sort of thing I'm after. Thank you.

Bartape id?

What did it end up costing you? Rims seem to be about £50 each which is reasonable.

@dglshrn Nice, that's less than I paid. Got the hubs on ebay and spokes on a bike24 order. Still more spendy than a pre-built, but I wanted to learn. Was about $400 US all in. Only thing I'd change is not using the sapim laser spokes - they love to wind up.

@sykodrama PDW Yo bar tape. Bit gimmicky but suits the bike and I like it for this. It's got a heavy duty nylon fabric outer over normal foam base.

Thanks. For that sort of weight pre builts would likely be a lot more! Just trying to source novatec hubs for a decent price from a UK stockist (i.e. not 3 weeks shipping). Envious of your US gravel!

Novatec generally deal hubs only to OEM dealers, sjs stock all the spares available but no access to hubs

Ah ha, I hadn't realised this. I bought some a few years ago from AliExpress but am in a bit of a rush this time.

I'm struggling to work out whether it would be an issue to build xr331 with ai dishing as the holes are offset. Am I imagining a problem where there isn't one?

I just realised what Ai dishing is - 6mm offset to NDS. Need some graph paper to figure out the implications though but off the top of my head it seems a symmetrical rim would be better for rear at least, and not a big factor on the front. First google link sez

It is important to note that this approach negates the benefits of asymmetric rims. So if you are building an Ai wheel, stick with a centre drilled rim (for the rear at least).

Just trying to source novatec hubs for a decent price from a UK stockist (i.e. not 3 weeks shipping).

BDOP Cycling are my go-to source for Novatec hubs. They're not UK, but the shipping is usually pretty damned speedy. Alternatively, if you're not set on Novatec, Bitex hubs are available from bitexhubs.co.uk (part of DCR Wheels) and they're generally at a price/quality point similar to Novatec.

Slightly mad second wheel build: 32/28h LB WR38 on Onyx vesper / Son dynamo with cx-rays. Hard getting a pic on a snow day.

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Yeah, that's what I found too. Not necessarily a problem but negates the benefit of ai dishing. Someone seemed to think you could build it with the rim the 'wrong' way so you could minimise the effect of the asymmetry or something?
Ai works well on the symmetrical rim I'm using at the moment - spoke tensions are almost even on both sides. If an asymmetrical rim is used then would you end up with looser spokes on one side than you would with a symmetrical, but regular dished wheel (i.e. not that huge an issue?).

Trying to find a light, symmetrical rim would be the ideal but I'm not sure where to start. Most modern stuff seems to be asymmetrical.

Thanks. There's some d791 on eBay in Ireland for around £80, which seems fair. Is there a better choice than those? I've had d771 on a bike for years in all sorts of horrible conditions and they've been fine.

D791 is just the front hub. D792 is the equivalent rear hub. £80 for a front hub seems kinda spenny. For both, go for it.

Yes, sorry that's what I mean - it's both for £82. Would mean buying end caps for thru axle, it may be cheaper to get them with the correct caps already installed. Spa have them but it seems to be qr only as well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143824838626

Are you guys rating Novatec?

Only experiences I have had is that they are a bit cheese... freehubs seem to go pretty quick?

I've had them with anti bite guard on a few bikes and not noticed huge issues tbh. Never on a 'main' bike though, so not massive amounts of mileage, just poor weather/mud.

Are you guys rating Novatec?

Never had any problems on them myself. The bearings aren't the best, but they're easily replaced. The ABG (anti-bite-guard) plate on the freehub seems to do a pretty good job protecting the freehub. Unless I'm going for more bling wheels (in which case Tune or DT Swiss) then Novatec or Bitex work for me.

Any recommendations for internal hidden nipples?

I picked up a set of 3T C60 Discus Rims from the clearance at Saddleback.

Need inverted nipples with a spherical washer. Should I go with the Sapim upside-down with HM washers?

another 20h front disc hub:
Gunsha

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Im replacing the heavy thru-axles that came with my frame, if the original axle measures 172mm and the replacement measures 171mm am I going to run into any issues?

check thread pitch as well, it can differ between models