Hubs

loukest

I completely agree, he's been great about it all and as mentioned previously, this would certainly not stop me recommending him to others considering hand built wheels.

__PG__

I'm going to build a set of custom wheels for my next bike. I've looked at Dura-Ace, DT Swiss and Alchemy hubs, but I'm almost settled on White Industries H2/H3 hubs.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned them here, but they seem to have a very good reputation. Many online wheelbuilders use them and for price/weight they seem to be very competitive.

nickwill

Just received a set of A23 wheels from Derek at Wheelsmith yesterday. Specced with Novatec Superlight hubs and Sapim CX Ray spokes. The hubs are really smooth. Over all, the wheels are wonderful. They are light, perfectly true and the wider rim is really noticeable in use. They roll brilliantly, roadholding is superb, and they corner as if on rails. Derek's advice and customer service was exemplary. Highly recommended.

bikergirl17

did your builder put washers into the velocity rims? mine did, said would make more stable, prevent spoke going through since no eyelets. it added 60+g and i am really unhappy.

and not sure if i am being ignorant, and lack of washers would compromise stability. it may be in my head: my superlight climbing wheels are brilliant on long ascents, but almost unusable on down or flat.

... or i could get serious about losing weight myself

**
separately, to the original poster i went for chris king t45 hubs as i had no choice on anything else so blew the budget (there are only two 650c alloy rims; i didn't even have a choice on hole count!). they are truly beautiful and butter smooth; only criticism is that they feel like they take a little bit of time to spin up.

do NOT go with american classic micro hubs -- stupid light, but i don't think even the best builder can prevent flex on them and they have serious play.

ugo.santalucia

bikergirl17 wrote:

did your builder put washers into the velocity rims? mine did, said would make more stable, prevent spoke going through since no eyelets. it added 60+g and i am really unhappy.

and not sure if i am being ignorant, and lack of washers would compromise stability. it may be in my head: my superlight climbing wheels are brilliant on long ascents, but almost unusable on down or flat.

... or i could get serious about losing weight myself

**
separately, to the original poster i went for chris king t45 hubs as i had no choice on anything else so blew the budget (there are only two 650c alloy rims; i didn't even have a choice on hole count!). they are truly beautiful and butter smooth; only criticism is that they feel like they take a little bit of time to spin up.

do NOT go with american classic micro hubs -- stupid light, but i don't think even the best builder can prevent flex on them and they have serious play.

More than stability, the washers will extend the lifetime of the rim, which will otherwise crack due to fatigue in a time inversely proportional to the tension applied and the stress they have to endure.
60 grams seems a lot, but so be it. Climbing wheels should not be bad downhill, there might be many reasons why they are

nickwill

bikergirl17 wrote:

did your builder put washers into the velocity rims? mine did, said would make more stable, prevent spoke going through since no eyelets. it added 60+g and i am really unhappy.

and not sure if i am being ignorant, and lack of washers would compromise stability. it may be in my head: my superlight climbing wheels are brilliant on long ascents, but almost unusable on down or flat.

... or i could get serious about losing weight myself

**
separately, to the original poster i went for chris king t45 hubs as i had no choice on anything else so blew the budget (there are only two 650c alloy rims; i didn't even have a choice on hole count!). they are truly beautiful and butter smooth; only criticism is that they feel like they take a little bit of time to spin up.

do NOT go with american classic micro hubs -- stupid light, but i don't think even the best builder can prevent flex on them and they have serious play.

My A 23s are built with Sapim CX Rays, 20 spokes at the front and 24 at the back. They don't feel flexy and roll, climb and descend perfectly. My understanding of the Velocity rims is that while they lack eyelets the spoke-bed is a little thicker to compensate. Derek used Polyax nipples which as I understand it have curved tops which mean that the spoke has a better line out of the rim. I would imagine this would help the longevity of the rim. In exhaustive google searches prior to making my purchase, I found no mention of cracked Velocity spokeholes or of builders using washers to deal with the prospective problem.

dennisn

Nickwill wrote:

bikergirl17 wrote:

did your builder put washers into the velocity rims? mine did, said would make more stable, prevent spoke going through since no eyelets. it added 60+g and i am really unhappy.

and not sure if i am being ignorant, and lack of washers would compromise stability. it may be in my head: my superlight climbing wheels are brilliant on long ascents, but almost unusable on down or flat.

... or i could get serious about losing weight myself

**
separately, to the original poster i went for chris king t45 hubs as i had no choice on anything else so blew the budget (there are only two 650c alloy rims; i didn't even have a choice on hole count!). they are truly beautiful and butter smooth; only criticism is that they feel like they take a little bit of time to spin up.

do NOT go with american classic micro hubs -- stupid light, but i don't think even the best builder can prevent flex on them and they have serious play.

My A 23s are built with Sapim CX Rays, 20 spokes at the front and 24 at the back. They don't feel flexy and roll, climb and descend perfectly. My understanding of the Velocity rims is that while they lack eyelets the spoke-bed is a little thicker to compensate. Derek used Polyax nipples which as I understand it have curved tops which mean that the spoke has a better line out of the rim. I would imagine this would help the longevity of the rim. In exhaustive google searches prior to making my purchase, I found no mention of cracked Velocity spokeholes or of builders using washers to deal with the prospective problem.

I've used a set of velocity rims, built them then rebuilt them a few years later with another set of hubs because I wanted to use those hubs on another set of wheels. No problems. I've never used washers on the rims. I do use spoke washers on hubs that I am re-building as I believe that hub holes do wear some and why not. Never had a
problem with using them. By the way, spoke washers for hubs and rim washers are two different things.

bikergirl17

these are rim washers i believe.

i paid a lot for hand built wheels, and my only complaint is that they are heavier than i expected due to the washers. but not sure i should put up a fuss about it.

supposedly the aerohead are somewhat of a less robust rim than the a23 (despite being a similar weight), which may account for the need for washers.

other than that, the wheels are awesome. they would be *perfect* if they were about 1300 g.

the climbing wheels weigh 1280 g and, as i am a short girl with no upper body strength, if i even hit a small pebble at speed, the wheels wobble dangerously. also nearly go over handlebars if i stop sharply, as they literally buck.