Another cruddy Alex DA22 wheel

[goo_mason]

RS20s ordered from Chain Reaction !

Better start scrimping & saving now, as they've taken a massive chunk out of this month's budget....

 

[Marko62]

Had my RS20's for 18 months and only 1 broken spoke, I'm happy with them. A mate of mine after suffering numerous spokes breaking on the standard wheels that came with his Dawes bought a pair of RS20's, so far he's had no problems....

 

[John the Monkey]

I am looking at Mavic Open Pros at the mo, found someone who will build wth an ultegra hub for around 200. Whats the deal with the Hubs. Seems to be lots to choose from?, also whats the difference between spokes?m ACI v DT ?

Hubs - the more you pay, the lighter/better quality they'll be (rule of thumb). ultegra is plenty good - Dura Ace is overkill really (imo). Nowt wrong with 105 or Tiagra ime either.

Spokes - talk to the builder - I suspect they'll have a preference - I've used ACI as replacements and had no problems with them. DT have a good reputation but are more expensive (as I recall). If the builder doesn't care, ask for spokes that you can get easily and locally in case you need spares (f'rinstance my LBS stocks ACI). Do spec double butted spokes - they stand up to the stresses of the wheel better than plain guage.

Key is to be honest with your builder about what you expect from the wheels. There's no point him building them up featherlight and aero if you're going to hammer the wheels through potholes every day.

 

[Ranger]

I have a hand built set of wheels (Ambrosio rims, Hope hubs) that cost me about £240 a couple of years ago.

Never had a buckle or broken spoke since despite daily commuting and weekend riding, sometimes on forest tracks and tow paths. They are great, though the rims are now getting a bit worn

 

[goo_mason]

My next course at the EBC is hopefully the wheelbuilding one, so I'll be coming away with a nice pair of hoops built with my own fair hands at some point in future.

 

[Sittingduck]

Cool - would love to be able to build my own set of wheels. It's probably not all that hard. I kind of learned to true a wheel and it seemed do-able with a bit of patience.

 

[John the Monkey]

It could all go horribly wrong still, but I'm pleasantly surprised so far.

Lacing is the bit I like best, very relaxing. My wheel now looks like a wheel (instead of a load of bits) and I'm starting to take up the slack in the spokes. Looks good radially, fairly out in one spot laterally (so far). Google some stuff - there's lots of info out there (tons on the CTC forum in particular). I'm using Roger Musson's eBook as the guide for my build.

 

[Sittingduck]

How long have you been working on it JTM?

 

[John the Monkey]

How long have you been working on it JTM?

Including unlacing it again (ordered the wrong spokes first time 'round) since Saturday, or thereabouts. Laced hub to rim Sat evening (an hour or so?) first go 'round taking up slack on Sunday (realised it wasn't going to happen because the spokes were too long and unlaced again).

My original calculations were 294mm for non drive side, 292mm for drive side.

I kept the 292s, and laced 10 (9 inside, one outside to hold the hub in position) and ordered 290mm for the drive side. 290s turned up at the bike shop on Wednesday, so spent that evening lacing, and tightening the spokes 'til the nipple driver came out at 4mm.

Spokes were still fairly loose, so went round again with the driver, tightening with a 2mm pin. Then did two turns with the spoke wrench (spokes aren't tight yet, but they have tension in them). It's a 36 spoke wheel, and you have to be methodical (i.e. a turn each spoke, repeat) so it takes a while, especially if you only have half or three quarters of an hour to spare. I find working in these little chunks of time quite good though, helps keep track of where things are up to.

 

[Sittingduck]

Hmmm maybe it is actually quite complex afterall

 

[fossyant]

Good going there JTM.....

Cost me £150 to have some Dura Ace hubs (old 7400's) re-built into CXP 33's - LBS used ACI (been a DT Swiss fan) but the LBS said these were tougher.

Also got CXP 33's on the fixed, ACI, same LBS...... they've been banged about for the last 1000 miles - straight as a die.....

 

[John the Monkey]

Hmmm maybe it is actually quite complex afterall

My take on it is that it's a process - it sounds nasty because it's important to be methodical and do things step by step (for me at least).

The measurement seems to be the critical part (along with the calculation, and more crucially, reading what the calculator says - I went with Sheldon's rule of thumb of going to the next size up, rather than reading the calculator I used, which says to go one size down (when you're between spoke lengths)).

It's a very satisfying thing to do (so far).

EDIT: A good LBS is handy too - the lads at Bike Boutique in Manchester have been really helpful (swapped the wrongly measured spokes (I'd not laced them) at no charge, gave plenty of advice, looked up my hubs in their database of sizes &c.

 

[goo_mason]

Wheels arrived safely on Friday, so I transferred the tyres over to them and the cassette over onto the rear.

It was only later when I realised that I hadn't put the valve nuts on that I noticed that the rear valve hole is off-centre; it's been drilled across the edge of the central flat part of the rim and the slope off the side.

So it's faulty and I have to return it to CRC for inspection.... arrgghh ! Means I'll probably need to take another day off sometime to wait for it being sent back to me, and somehow I'll need to get the wheel to the post office before it closes tomorrow. What a PITA