Wheelbuilding / Wheel Building / Wheel build help

One is tempted to enquire what set of riding conditions put a premium on low mass at the expense of literally every other desirable quality of a road wheel. H+Son Archetype is only 30g a piece more, and you'd get that back on any ride thanks to the lower rolling resistance from the same tyres spread into a broader contact patch.

Hi. I'm looking to get my first wheel set built up. I have already purchased Phil Wood 32h low flange track hubs and will get Formation Face rear and SL42 front. I did a spoke calculator and it came out with 272.2 for the front and 271.4 for the rear. Does this seem correct? What length spokes would I need to buy? Can 272mm split the difference? I intend to hand over the build to a bike shop but purchasing spokes/nipples in advance from Bike24 to save costs. Thanks.

I have already purchased Phil Wood...but purchasing spokes/nipples in advance from Bike24 to save costs.

Hmmm...

Despite my moronic desire to penny-pinch whilst also purchasing expensive hubs, I have double checked measurements and used a different calculator and got 270.9 for the front and 270.4 for the rear. I'm looking at DT Swiss. Do I go for 270mm or 272mm with 12mm or 14mm nipples? Cheers.

which calculators are you using? the dt swiss one is the most accurate and factors in pretty much everything, use that, get the length it reccomends you too with the nipple length you put in

http://www.bikeschool.com/tools/spoke-length-calculator

Thanks. Both calcs above give 271.4/270.9. DT Swiss recommend 271mm with 12mm.

Round down to 270mm.

Odd one- servicing a Campag hub with two sizes of loose bearing and also two (same size this time) cartridge bearings inside the freehub.

The NDS had larger loose bearings, the DS smaller.

When I came to put it back together there seemed to be too many of the smaller, DS bearings.

WTF?

are you the first owner?
maybe someone filled in with the wrong size bearings.

No, not the first owner, and I suspect the bit of thread I pulled out was what a previous servicer used to compress the ratchets to get the axle back in the last time it was apart.

Or it might have been a strand of hair, that said.

Anyone know how many bearings need to be in each side?

As many as fits.

I went with "can be arranged in a ring with balls side-by-side" rather than "can be forced into a ring with balls overlapping each other".

Did I do wrong?

Nah, that's right, there is usually a gap left that is just smaller than a bearing.

Ok, that's reassuring - so WTF did the "extra" bearing come from?

Stuck in the hub body from the last time someone changed them?

Are you sure the balls are properly sat in the races, and not sat too far down the taper of the outer race and on a ridge at the edge of the inner race?

The Excellight was for a road bike and where I wanted a relatively low mass set of wheels and required a 28 hole rim to match the front hub. After experimenting with this I planned to use one of the two you suggest for my commuter.

Is either better than the other?

The Excellence has a better finish, the Evolution/Excursion is a bit duller and has a thicker brake track... essentially one is for premium builds and the other for every day wheels... as always there isn't much between them. The stickers on the new Excellence are shocking... while the old ones were super cool... and that sadly matters!

I don't think my 2.35" super motos sit all that well on the standard 25mm 29er rims.

super wide rims:

surly rabbit hole: 50mm: 150 eur
velocity dualy: 45mm: 122 eur
velocity p35: 35mm: 80 eur
H+ todestrieb: 33mm(?): 80 eur

I think, the rabbit hole will be too wide for the bike's and mudguards' clearance.
I'd really like the dually, but the price put me off a bit.
Is there something I have missed or better prices somewhere?

Question about un-eyeletted rims: Do good builds of rims like this generally include some kind of washer between nipple and rim? Noticed a sale thread here of some nisi sprint rims mentioned including washers for this - or maybe they're confused and these washers are really intended for the spoke head/hub flange interface?

Question about un-eyeletted rims: Do good builds of rims like this generally include some kind of washer between nipple and rim? Noticed a sale thread here of some nisi sprint rims mentioned including washers for this - or maybe they're confused and these washers are really intended for the spoke head/hub flange interface?

Washers are needed if the rim wall is thin. Nisi rims are probably on the light/thin side.

Dron, be wary that the profile shape of some 29ers tyres worth best in a bulb shape, a wider rims may neglected that benefit.

I know. That's mostly a problem with true MTBing where you need the side knobs in the right place when cornering. my tyres are slicks with the thread a fair bit down the sides: http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/ekmps/shops/bikemonger/images/schwalbe-super-moto-evo-29x2.35-foldable-black-29-tyre-%5B2%5D-3755-p.jpg
my concern would be that the profile would end up a bit on the wide side for clearing mudguards and chain stays.
25mm is definately way too narrow though.