Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

thanks

Don't thank me, thank this guy

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That's a really good shout, hadn't thought of that cheers - I'm going to do some checks of my own over the weekend and will definitely look into that as a possibility!

Thanks - I have switched the freehub and had the cassette off and back on during the checks to date and certainly seems well cranked down (don't actually use a torque wrench on it but "very tight" is the extent I've gone to which has never caused this issue before over the years so am fairly sure it's not that) - going by that numbering, the ones that are the cause of the issue are basically 11 - 8...!

the ones that are the cause of the issue are basically 11 - 8...!

The four biggest sprockets? Those are just the ones applying the most torque to the hub, so no surprise, and likely rules out my hypothesis.

👍🏼

Hope launching their Pro 5 Hibs with a video highlighting their proprietary "Rustypawl" technology.

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i'm a bit lost with the shimano axle conversions. can a 105 fh-5600 rear hub take a longer 146mm (for 135mm oln) axle. i see these are available and sometimes even marketed as 'universal axles', but each hub line/generation seems to also have their specific requirements. trying to find a 130mm road wheelset to convert into 135mm.

cheers for this and your other comment. Gone for (pending rims being available) Son front, hope rear, velocity cliff hanger rims, sapim race spokes, brass nipples, 32H I believe from a LBS

I have the Morizumi spoke cutting and threading tool. Similar to the Phil Wood in terms of costs though, around 4 grand. But I do build a lot of wheels so it has gradually paid for itself, especially in turnaround time and being able to buy blank unthreaded spokes in bulk. If you need just enough for a set though there are people like me who will cut and thread them for you at a small cost such as Ryan in Bristol, Alex Warwick and PIM cycles in Yorkshire.

Sorry if this has been addressed already. I wanted to know your (collective) thoughts on carbon rims without access holes. I usually call them sealed rims. Really great for tubeless as you don't need tape but an absolute pain to build. I built 2 sets last year using a magnet to pull nipples through the holes and of course losing quite a few nipples along the way and having to shake them out.

Anyone else have any experience of building them up? Thoughts?

using a magnet to pull nipples through the holes

How do they work?

Seriously, since nipples are usually brass or aluminium, is there some ferromagnetic insert you have to insert into each one to get the magnet to pull it? I've always imagined some combination of fishing line and a crochet hook being the way to direct nipples to the right place in such rims

You can either get the Campagnolo magnetic nipple insert or make your own insert from old spoke. Then you drag it through with a large magnet.

Is it one of those things that's actually not too bad or time-consuming once you get the hang of it? Or is it a horrific time-consuming tearing your hair out nightmare that never seems to end?

It's just more time consuming so I charge more for that but I'm happy to do it.

The undrilled rim bed is a solution to a non existing problem. Properly applied ,quality tape will not leak and the weight saved is pretty marginal.

It also limits the choice of nipples, it doesn't allow rim washers to be used and you can't use socket style(hex/Dsn) nipples and tools.

Amateur here but did my first undrilled rim pair of LightBicycles last month. Thought it was going to be a PIA but using a little screw in the nipple and a cable routing magnet was not too bad. Lost a couple in the rim until I got the hang of it. Took a while, but I guess my time is free.

Tyres went up tape-free on them earlier this week so I guess that was one plus side. Though I don't think I'd get them again if I had the choice. Never had problems with home applied Tesa tape.

Does anyone have experience of building with black brass spoke nipples? Do they mark / scratch easily? Better to go alloy for black ? Thanks

Not a lot of difference, they do scratch but not that easily. they aren’t very black though so aesthetically you might prefer anodised nipples.

Not the best pics but I did these with alternating black / silver brass.

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What I've been doing is cut about 7mm off the threaded end of a stainless steel spoke and screw that into the nipple leaving about 2mm out so that I can grab it with my finger tips. I then drop that into the rim space and using one of those strong "fishing" magnets draw it round to the hole. Then a different magnet to pull it through the hole. Next grab the nipple with needle nosed pliers and unscrew the piece of spoke. Keep hold of the pliers carefully and feed in the spoke and then turn the pliers a few times till threads have engaged. This is the tricky part - when feeding the spoke into the nipple, you can lose it in the rim space. You also end up scratching the nipple or squashing it if you grip too hard. Yeah, takes a lot of patience and having to put mounting frustration to one side.

Thanks, might try and see them up close (looking at Sapim polyax) before deciding . They do look more grey in that picture !

grab the nipple with needle nosed pliers

Sure you’re fine but if you used jewellers brass jaw pliers you wouldn’t have to be as careful to not damage the nipple :)

The finish on Sapim brass black is not great, very patchy grey.

Pillar has a nicer black finish if you are set on brass.

Alloy black finish is superior in every way

Thanks, might just go alloy

yeah these are sapim- forgot to say. pretty grey indeed :)

DT black brass are pretty black.

I've used black DT prolock brass nipples & they're still looking pretty black after a good few winters of abuse (underneath all the dirt that is)