Building My Own Wheels... Spoke Length??

Darkstalker420

Hi i'm looking to save a few £'s and assemble my own wheels using parts from CRC. I have picked out some reasonable budget parts including:

Mavic XM117 Disk rim.
Shimano M475 hubs 32H.
DT Swiss Champion Stainless PG spokes.

I have built a few wheels in the past and feel confident of my ability's (enough on the net should i have a "dumb" moment anyway + wheels laying around on other bikes etc). Although i seem to have lucked in as far as getting the right length spokes (what ever was on the "old" wheel or the one i stripped down!). So without having to "size them up" so to speak im not sure what length to order??

I know there are calculators available but i looked at the DT one and to be honest it made no sense :roll: (+ CRC stated they provide 14G nips instead of the 12G ones the calc sets as default!! which just confused me more!!).

Parts come to £67.97 but if CRC build them this goes to £124.00!! i bet they will do a good job but it's one that i can do myself to be honest! Anyone have any idea you would be doing me a BIG favour .

Thanks.

nicklouse

Just put the info into the calc. Change the nipple length to 14mm. Chose your cross patern, and then change your order to DB. Spokes.

Have you got the ERD for the rims?

The flange info for he hub?

Darkstalker420

Hi nick the only info i can find on the CRC website is:

M475 Front Hub:

Centre to flange (R) 35.3mm.
Centre to flange (L) 24.2mm.
Spoke hole circle 61mm.

Nothing mentioned for rear hub (!?).

Mavic XM117:

ETRTO 559 x 17c. No mention of ERD!?

EDIT: Went to both Mavic and the Shimano site and both tell me no more than already stated (unless i'm looking in the wrong place):

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 728374.pdf

http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mo ... ims/XM-117

Thanks.

nicklouse

Looked on the makers sites?

You need the info or you need to measure it.

Info on Sheldons pages and also on the wheel pro calc site and others see links in thee sticky above.

Darkstalker420

Sorry nick beat me to it . (SEE EDIT). Once again thanks for the help they don't seem to make this easy (infact actually building the darn things is easier!! :roll: ).

Thanks.

stubs

Darkstalker420 wrote:

(infact actually building the darn things is easier!! :roll: ).

It might be easier but I dont think you will save much money. Last pair of wheels I got I priced up the parts for a build came to £354. Superstar very nicely built them for me in 2 days put them in a sturdy cardboard box and delivered them to my door for £315. I build wheels because its a satisfying hobby currently rebuilding an old Sturmey Archer 3 speed AW hub which I will lace into an old steel Dunlop rim with new stainless steel spokes. Very pleasureable but if I sold it on ebay I doubt I would make a penny once I factor in the hours spent in the shed.

Darkstalker420

If i build both wheels = £67.97. If CRC build (SAME parts) = £124.00. Saving £56.03 for the SAME wheels! Seems like a worthwhile saving imho . And to be honest i quite enjoy it now i have done it a few times (so now the swearing has abated LMAO ).

Thanks.

stubs

£67.97 for 2 hubs, 2 rims and 64 spokes/nipples is a bargain. :shock:

Not surprised you want to build yourself, think I will have a nosy round CRC site see if I can pick up some wheel components as well. Got 2 wheels 1 with a knackered rim and 1 with some bust spokes waiting for a rebuild time to get the plastic out and get the wheel jig out as well

Let us know how it goes.

Darkstalker420

Scratch that!! :roll: I checked the total again and found i only added ONE lot of spokes (doh!). The REAL total is £78.96. Still not bad imho. Still worth doing i think lets put it this way i ain't found a wheelset with Mavic rims DT spokes AND Shimano disk hubs (ALTHOUGH if anyone has PLEASE let me know!!) for that price.

Fired off an email to CRC to see if they can shed any light on the spoke length although this in my mind is kind of silly really not to make the information more widely available. Kind of like "keep it in the family" LMAO! (wonders if being a wheelbuilder is like being a freemason all secret handshakes and hidden knowledge and stuff LOL!). If anyone has any ideas feel free to help (although please be sure so i don't go and waste money on the wrong bits).

Thanks.

Chunkers1980

Don't know what you've been looking at but on CRC

Silver spokes at least £36
M595 Hubs £42
Mavic 117 rim x2 £40

Looks more like £120 to me.

Darkstalker420

Stroke of luck. Just had a search on the net and found:

http://wheelbuilder.freebiketools.org/rim/print

For the Mavic XM117 Disc it shows:

E.R.D. = 548.0.
O.S.B = 0.
Size 26" (559).

So were getting there. Just the Shimano hubs now!

Thanks.

Darkstalker420

Rims 2x £10.
F Hub £14.99.
R Hub £21.99.
36 2x Spokes £21.98.

You chose more expensive hubs (M595) i picked M475.

Thanks.

Chunkers1980

That will be a budget wheel, quite heavy too with those (silver) PG spokes and a 450 gram rim. The later hubs are much better.

Darkstalker420

*PHEW! At last .

M475 Show as "Nexave"?? (Both flange's 61mm).

Front:
Overlocknut Dimension: 100mm.
Centre To Flange: (L) 24.2mm.
Centre To Flange: (R) 35.2mm.

Rear:
Overlocknut Dimension: 135mm.
Centre To Flange (L) 35.35mm.
Centre To Flange (R) 21.75mm.

Just got to put this together now :shock: .

EDIT: Not really worried about weight to be honest mate...... (i ate "most" of the pies to be honest LMAO!). And the cheaper the better to be honest :oops: .

Thanks.

Darkstalker420

*Sigh The DT calc want's even more things i don't know either!!:

Pitch circle diameter (left and right).
No. of intersections (left and right).
Ø of spoke hole (mm and g!).

Have to say that those wheelbuilders certainly earn the money they make. Learning a foreign language is easier. The calc won't (naturally) spit out results without ALL the boxes filled and to be honest i just about GIVE UP :evil:.

It's like trying to find out the lottery numbers BEFORE the draw almost impossible. Like i said before the actual building is childs play to this.... (*screams and hurls keyboard at wall :roll:).

Thanks.

Darkstalker420

HURRAH!! Found:

http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/spoke/index.php

And it had everything i could ask and was just a matter of picking the items by NAME!! It gave me:

Front Wheel:

(L) 262.8mm.
(R) 263.8mm.

Rear Wheel:

(L) 264mm.
(R) 262.6mm.

So what would you say? 266mm (bit of leeway??) not sure if 264mm would be enough??

Thanks.

leaflite

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/mountain-bike-wheels/sale-wheels/pair-shimano-495-disc-hubs-sun-equalizer.html

Chunkers1980

Yes £56 and probably better. Take them apart and start again if you really want to build.

supersonic

Was just going to mention those Sun wheels. I bought them, truly superb for the money. Better rim, better spokes (ACI DB) and a higher end hub (albeit centrlock).

cooldad

And On One still have cheap centrelock rotors
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/BSSHRT52CR/ ... disc_rotor

Chunkers1980

That's not cheap, that's giving them away. What a price.

Darkstalker420

Wow! :shock: Now thats a bargain. Building them myself was only to save some penny's if they are still going then when i have the cash they will be the babys . Although what would you say about my choice of spoke length (266mm) i have since tried a few more spoke calculators and they all come out SLIGHTLY different (just a mm or even .5 but enough to be either to long with 266mm or borderline or to short (possibly) with 264mm .

some of the measurements are BANG ON 264mm (I'm not sure if the measurements are 264mm with the thread just starting to "bite" OR 264mm with the thread just starting to show out the end??) :?. Thanks for finding the wheels though mate like i said if i'm not 100% with the length workings out they are the ones i will probably go for.

Thanks.

Darkstalker420

Ordered the wheels from Merlin this morning (can't pass up an offer like that ). Thanks for the help in the thread though people.

Thanks.