Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

German is too pricey, i dont mind if the price is not bad got any photos of yours?

Where can I buy CX rays from in London? Having a nightmare with delivery and need to source quickly.

Thanks

I got some from https://instagram.com/arkane_wheelworks recently.

London bicycle workshop have them listed

Thanks both. Will see what they have

Any wheel builders in London ? Please contact me I have regular jobs and would appreciate your skill.
Thank you.

32h Bitex RAF12 to a 26" rim - problems?

Very much a newbie so any advice, much appreciated. I wanted to build a lightweight 26" wheelset and starting with a Bitex RAF12 found cheap online. Now wondering if this will work: the 16holes on that narrow diameter flange look crowded. Spokepro's calculator says "spokehead clearance" of 0.1mm (with 3cross). Is that do-able? 2cross comes out as 1.9mm clearance - a better choice? Will it make a much weaker wheel? Thanks.

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Thanks for this. All sorted now.

What’s the verdict on these cheap stands on eBay? I’ve previously avoided doing my own wheels work because it’s been cheaper to just take it to the LBS, but now every local shop is fully booked for weeks and have hiked up their workshop prices.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Wheel-Truing-Stand-Bicycle-Repair-Maintenance-Home-Mechanic-Truing-Stand-/303278705731?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

2 cross is fine, no it won’t make it weaker- go for it

If a nipple has seized to a carbon rim, would removing it likely compromise the rim?

Great, thank you!

the cheap ones are okay.

I think negative numbers for spoke clearance are the thing to avoid. Guess 0.1 is pretty tight, but 3x is still possible.

Thanks @Skülly that's good to know and appreciate the advice, cheers.

For the same number & pattern of spokes with same diameter, the tensions of a 26" wheel should approx match those of a 700c, right? (ie if I have a good wheel I want to 'copy'.) Thanks.

Going to finally dive in to building up my own wheels in the near future, still finalising the seperate bits. Settled on Kinlin XR22RTS and Sapim Race, a pretty standard affair. Still deciding on hubs, I was going to go with Bitex, but wonder if I should save a bit of money and get Shimano hubs, like the 105 R7070 and put that savings into some nice tyres. What's the thoughts on Shimano hubs, or it the extra for the Bitex worth the £30-odd extra?

And would 32 F/R be overkill for this build for a 105kg rider like myself?

Depends. What's the intended use?

Winter road riding, smashing through potholes, looking for cobbled roads to bring back memories of cycling in Belgium and some canal paths when time allows.

32 is fine.

Dura ace hubs are the shit. Tiagra a bit shit.

I expect 105 and above are better sealed than Novatech and I’ve heard of Bitex bearings spinning on axles. They’re ok for summer wheels.

For your intended use I think you can’t go wrong with 105 or Ultegra. Just be aware they’re cup’n’cone, adjust them and don’t neglect them.

TBF almost every Shimano hub that I service fares a lot better with being neglected than anything else. Hardly any problems other than the pressure washer crew.

In my experience, the weak point is water ingress into the freewheel. Pressure washers will definitely hit that, as will being rode hard and put up wet.
The good thing is that (apart from DA/XTR) they're pretty cheap and a full transplant from a new hub renews everything but the shell and NDS cup, which usually has the better seal anyway.

better with being neglected

My 10sp DA I just ‘checked’ - always perfect. Did nothing to them in the 15,000 all-weather km I had them.
Tiagra 4700 ... I managed to drive all the grease out in three big rides (mountains+rain). That’s my limited experience.

It's almost as if there was a point to having different grades at different prices 😉