Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

Related to 5awyr's comments:

http://www.smbc-comics.com/

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For most of my recent wheelbuilds, I've used DT Competition or Revolution spokes.

Someone mentioned SPA Cycles as a good source for spokes; Based on their pricing, are DT Competition (2.0-1.8-2.0) at £1 (assume inc DT alloy nipples as per the last box I bought from fatbirds) worth twice as much as Sapim Race (2.0-1.8-2.0) at 45p inc Polyax brass nipple?

I thought they were pretty much on par on all counts, so go for the cheaper.

IMO Spaim are a bit cooler, because you get some trickle down prestige from the CX-ray and they have a funny name.

sapim race is equal if not slightly better than dt comp. they both use the exact same stainless steel from same source in Switzerland.
you can actually buy the same cable steel rolls on ebay! you wont be able to forge and roll it into spokes tho

I've got lasers on the front and race on the back for my road wheelset. Loving them so far. Will use again.

Noob question! basically I want to try wheel building for not much money and have seen some budget rims and hubs on chain reaction http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=48622 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=86680

How do I know what spoke length to buy :/ as it doesn't say sizes...

We discussed those rims up thread, but without resolving what the ERD is. Just measure everything when you receive the rim and hub

We discussed those rims up thread, but without resolving what the ERD is. Just measure everything when you receive the rim and hub

Cheers, thanks.

i built two wheels last night.

my first foray into wheelbuilding.

i found it quite stressful till i worked it out properly in my head.
once it made sense i was quite enjoying it.

one is on it's way to being true, the other to be trued.

little by little.

spent last night truing the first wheel.

i've learnt a lot of lessons!

Hello all.
Thinking of getting some Hope Pro3's for a set of H Plus Son Archetype rims. Will a 24h rear rim suffice or should I up to 28h? Was planning on using either Sapim Laser (if 28h) or the Race model if 24h.

There should be form on this page so that you ask the question properly first time.

What do you weigh?
Where do you ride?

But even without those answers, building Archetypes with fewer than 32 spokes seems like a waste of time; you get a much weaker wheel which is only marginally faster, and if you wanted to go fast you wouldn't be using Archetypes to start with.

58kg, Cotic Roadrat

Not what do you ride, where? If it's for Sunday road rides, I'm sure 24 spokes would be fine for somebody of your weight on Archetypes. Pointless, but fine. If you cane it over rock gardens, which is within the performance envelope of a Road Rat, even a whippet like you should be thinking of adding spokes.

I ride in Milton Keynes. Only road or the redway. And yes it will be just for leisure.
Out of the spoke options (laser or race), would I be fine with either? Or should I opt to to go for a particular model or maybe half & half?

Lasers [Revolution] are a waste of time and money, stick to Race [Competition] or better still Force [Alpine III]. The triple butted spokes are marketed as being for tanks, but the weight penalty is tiny and the benefit of having 20% [30%] extra cross section at the most vulnerable part of the spoke is well worth having. I regard them as a universal general purpose spoke.

[DT equivalents]

Thanks for the information.
If upping the spoke count, would you still go with the Race (or other manufacturer's equivalent), or would you now opt for a lighter spoke.

Stick to Race (DT Comp, ACI db etc). There's really no point in using fancy spokes on a build like this, you'd just be throwing money away making your wheels worse. For the small increase in price and tiny increase in weight, I'd go for Force/Alpine III; not necessary (certainly for a lightweight like you) but the cost:benefit weighs so heavily in their favour that it hardly seems worth taking the time to build general purpose wheels with anything less, unless you're constrained by budget (you're not if you're using Hope hubs) or aerodynamic considerations (again, doesn't apply to you as you've already selected Archetypes)

Thanks for the information. I'll enquire into Force spokes but will opt for Race if these aren't available from my supplier.
I guess 24h front & rear with the Race or Force spokes should suffice for what I intend to use the bike for.

I was contemplating building a set of wheels for my geared bike and then I saw these RS30s planet-x for 130. Will I be able to build a much better pair? My mate will loan me all his wheel building gubbins so don't need to budget those in.

I am a hefty 95 kilos and will be using these for my commute/wet day rides.

I saw these RS30s planet-x for 130. Will I be able to build a much better pair?
I am a hefty 95 kilos and will be using these for my commute/wet day rides.

Better how? You won't build a faster wheel for any sensible amount of money, but you can definitely build a better commuting wheel for under £200, say Rigida Zac19 on Ambrosio Zenith hubs with ACI db spokes should be around £150

spot on, something for commuting that I don't really need to worry about. Should I be looking at the 32 hole version?

36 3cross, can't go wrong

32h is much easier since you'll be able to shop around more easily for the best bargains. 36h is overkill for most purposes with modern spokes.

any other rim recommendations can only find those Zacs at SJS and they are OOS. I'll be using 25-28c tyres if that makes much of a difference