Current Projects chat and miscellany

With the proviso that I wouldn't, as I'm not in the market for a weight weenie fixed bike... Either way, you're looking at close to £200 for a hub and probably another £100 to get the custom axle + fittings made

Wow, okay. A pretty silly idea, then, considering lighter rims are much more important!

It is for 'training' and generally riding some miles on.

From experience, I'd avoid alloy sprockets on anything where the chain is likely to get dirty. They work well when clean, but any amount of grit will wreck them pretty fast.

Wow, okay. A pretty silly idea, then

Definitely one for the ultra weight weenies only, although bolt on sprockets seem like a good idea and butchering a cheap Deore hub can get you there for minimal outlay, albeit at much the same weight as a generic track hub

Yeah, that's the conclusion I came to as well.

Bolt-on is clearly a superior system, agreed.

...

KMC X9-SL chain should be about 230g for a track bike,...

+1
Had this same chain on my beater for nearly 4ys, no worries whatsoever.
Absolutely recommended, if you're going 3/32nd.

Do you know the weight of the Mack lightweight hubs?

Was thinking American Classic track hubs to IRD aero rims with CX Rays, which should be about 1450g the pair, but not would prefer 28 spoke rear if the Mack hubs are in the 180g ballpark.

L/f lightweight are 190g incl bolts/ washers, front 125g, 315g total set.
Any spoke count, but 3 month waiting list I believe!

Cool, thanks for the info. Alloy cog and X9 SL chain. Added to the list. :-)

Just to be clear, it is not really for the track, otherwise I would just go with light carbon tubs and be laughing.
It is for 'training' and generally riding some miles on. I will probably give it a few laps, but the PX is nicely set up with the SRMs and a full compliment of nice bits to use on the track.

Giz, have you had a ride on a Seta? I'm thinking about getting one for a training bike also. The geometry looks about spot on and well I like the idea of a carbon winter fix/trainer.

Giz, have you had a ride on a Seta? I'm thinking about getting one for a training bike also. The geometry looks about spot on and well I like the idea of a carbon winter fix/trainer.

Not ridden it yet. Got a 56 on route to me now. Let me know if you wanna come give it a test ride.

Cheers for the offer, I'm gonna need a 58 and I'm always dubious of what you can learn riding a bike the wrong size.
II was just wondering how it rides on the road, with the hourglass seat stays and the slightly less aggresive geometry it looks like it'll ride just fine for longer distance training type of stuff.
When are you expecting it to arrive?

So, I spent the day thinking about light wheels. Had been considering a factory wheelset such as Dolan Navigators, but they are 1050g rear / 950 g front which put me off a bit.

I have come to the conclusion that the best I could do on a reasonable budget is the following:

Rims: Halo Mercury (455g each)
Front hub: Planet-x superlight small flange road hub. 16 hole (82g)
Rear hub: Novatec 24 hole (262g)
Spokes: allow 5g per spoke (16+24 * 5 = 200g)

That's a total of 1454g for both wheels. Seems very light. Am I missing something here? the total cost of that would be about £120 plus spokes, which seems quite cheap too.

The intended use would be riding on the road and some time trialling which I would like to get into next year.

Obviously I don't mind having a QR front axle and I think I could get away with the low spoke counts because I am quite light and (I'm guessing here) not particularly powerful.

Comments welcomed!

So, I spent the day thinking about light wheels. Had been considering a factory wheelset such as Dolan Navigators, but they are 1050g rear / 950 g front which put me off a bit.

I have come to the conclusion that the best I could do on a reasonable budget is the following:

Rims: Halo Mercury (455g each)
Front hub: Planet-x superlight small flange road hub. 16 hole (82g)
Rear hub: Novatec 24 hole (262g)
Spokes: allow 5g per spoke (16+24 * 5 = 200g)

That's a total of 1454g for both wheels. Seems very light. Am I missing something here? the total cost of that would be about £120 plus spokes, which seems quite cheap too.

The intended use would be riding on the road and some time trialling which I would like to get into next year.

Obviously I don't mind having a QR front axle and I think I could get away with the low spoke counts because I am quite light and (I'm guessing here) not particularly powerful.

Comments welcomed!

5 grams each for spokes is pretty light, you need something nice for that. CX rays are about 4.5 a piece and about £3 a piece.

All you are missing is front QR, nipples, rim tape and that those are claimed weights not actual weights, but other than that, sound pretty good.

Where did you get the weight of the Halo Mercury? That is lighter than IRD Aero at 30mm, which claim to be the lightest 'deep' alloy rims.

.

The mercury weight is from the Ison Distribution website. http://www.ison-distribution.com/ison/english/product.php?part=RMHAM716

Wheelroom says the are 475g, so 5g heavier than the IRDs, I think. However they're about £15 cheaper.

The bit I am finding difficult is getting a source for a rear hub with 24h drilling. Obviously I could get a Mack, or a Phil, but I don't want to double the price of the wheelset! So the Novatec from http://www.bdopcycling.com/ looks like the only option.

The site also has bladed spokes at $15 for a pack of 8, which is a bit cheaper than the CX-rays. I really want to justify bladed spokes but I think it won't happen on this build.

The mercury weight is from the Ison Distribution website. http://www.ison-distribution.com/ison/english/product.php?part=RMHAM716

Wheelroom says the are 475g, so 5g heavier than the IRDs, I think. However they're about £15 cheaper.

Sounds fair.

40g for rim tapes
20g for alloy nipples
50g for front QR
50g more for spokes if you want to keep the cost low

and I'd be inclined to go with wheelsmith weight over distributor. so 20g more for rims

But that's still only 1634g which is very good for a cheap lightweight wheel set.

The mercury weight is from the Ison Distribution website. http://www.ison-distribution.com/ison/english/product.php?part=RMHAM716

Wheelroom says the are 475g, so 5g heavier than the IRDs, I think. However they're about £15 cheaper.

The bit I am finding difficult is getting a source for a rear hub with 24h drilling. Obviously I could get a Mack, or a Phil, but I don't want to double the price of the wheelset! So the Novatec from http://www.bdopcycling.com/ looks like the only option.

The site also has bladed spokes at $15 for a pack of 8, which is a bit cheaper than the CX-rays. I really want to justify bladed spokes but I think it won't happen on this build.

planet x make 24h hubs but are out of stock atm

Been staring at this for the past 4 days. Finished building it last week but because of the snow I haven't even been able to take it round the block.

(in b4 HTFU)

Been staring at this for the past 4 days. Finished building it last week but because of the snow I haven't even been able to take it round the block.

(in b4 HTFU)

I really like that , inb4 hipster/SPOK .

40g for rim tapes

Velocity Veloplugs instead of rim tape. £10 for 72 at Planet x and about 5g for 32 off so saving you about 34g at the rims .. also seem to recall reading the Mecury and IRD Aero where the same rim if that helps in you quest?

planet x make 24h hubs but are out of stock atm

They're discontinued according to the comments on the planet x website :-(

Novatec do a low flange version of the rear track hub which is 217 grams.

Awesome, where does one find it?

Novatec do a low flange version of the rear track hub which is 217 grams.

Awesome, where does one find it?

Part numbers are A265SBT and A266SBT

also seem to recall reading the Mecury and IRD Aero where the same rim

They are both re-badged Kinlin XR300/Nb30 (even Kinlin have sold them with two different names), so just get whichever is cheaper.

Aye, I googled the novatec part numbers already but it's not looking promising.

Aye, I googled the novatec part numbers already but it's not looking promising.

They are part of the 2011 range, so might not be in stock yet