Decent rim/spokes replacement for Powertap (pro)

springtide9

Hi...

After some recommendations on a replacement rim (and spokes) for my Powertap Pro Rear Wheel

Currently investigating getting this repaired (again) under warranty (last time it took just over a month!)... wheel had gone completely out of true both on the vertical and horizontal axis (as before)... think the rim is stuffed TBH

Rather than going the warranty route, I thinking about replacing the rim and spokes with something of a higher quality. I got the rear wheel pretty cheap (sub £600) and have had another £40 off from complaining about the last 'fix' duration... so I wouldn't feel too hard done by.

The Powertap hub is 32 hole and the wheel will be used on the bike 100% of the time. Although I still have my Fulcrum Racing 3 rear wheel, the cost of the PT seems a bit pointless unless you get the most use out of it. So the wheel will be used for training as well as the odd (circuit) race.

My rough weight is 85kg (usually a bit less) - but I guess any wheel built up with 32 spokes should be pretty strong.

Thinking of one of the following rims...

Rims
- Ambrosio Excellight : £45 / 430g
- DT Swiss RR 415 : £52 / 415g
- DT Swiss RR 465 : £52 / 465g
- Mavic Open Pro CD : £50 / 435g
- Stans No Tubes Alpha 340 : £85 / 385g
- Stans No Tubes Alpha 400 : £<unavailable> / 425g

Spokes
- Sapim Cx Ray Spokes : £1.99 (each) / 141g
- DT Aerolite Spokes : £1.99 (each) / 139g

Now the obvious one might be to go for the lightest... and 32 hole probably means even the light rims build up strong, but from what I've read the lighter rims have more 'metal' on the braking surface (RR 415, Alpha 340 etc)
Generally been happy with Mavic rims on the MTB and the Open Pro is pretty light and seems well regarded. Don't know anything about the Excellight apart from it seems to get decent reviews.
The Stans No Tubes Alpha 340 some have stated suffers from cracking around the spoke area and the Alpha 400 isn't available to buy in the UK yet.

As for spokes.. I was looking at the aero spokes - but not sure if you can use these with the PT Pro hubs without medication (which I'd rather not do) - as I'm aware that the spoke holes for some of the aero spokes have to be slotted. I seem to remember that both the Cx Ray & Aerolite were OK with standard spoke holes, but might be wrong ;-)

As for getting the wheel built - do I need to use someone like Strada to build up the wheel or would people use a local wheel builder. It's just that I read somewhere (Strada maybe?) that there are additional technical challenges with building up a PT wheel.

Anyone with any opinions? Thanks

Monty Dog

For your weight, I wouldn't recommend the Stan's rims as they're quite flexy.
For a strong rim, go for double-eyeletted e.g. Ambrosio, Open Pro or DT465
CX Rays / Aerolites is probably overkill for a rear wheel - there's little aero benefit on the back - I'd just go for double-butted on driveside and plain gauge on NDS.

ugo.santalucia

Some time ago I built this...
Excellight on double butted spokes... 1080 grams, not bad for a power tap fitted wheel and no corners cut

springtide9

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like the "Ambrosio Excellight" is a highly regarded rim (as I've also seen it used by many premium wheelbuilders)

Will also probably stick with the Sapim Cx Ray Spoke spokes unless otherwise told not too. I am struggling to see a downside (apart from obviously cost) as they are stated to be as strong as standard spokes.

The biggest upside for me is that it helps the rear blend in with the front (Fulcrum R3's) as the current double butted spokes do make the rear wheel stand out like a sore thumb.

I have been in touch with the retailer where I bought my wheel regarding the warranty and they are doing to talk to the suppliers (which are local to me) to see if I can deal directly, as the last repair via the retailer (and then to the supplier) took about a month for the repair.
Waiting to see what they say before making a decision on rebuilding myself or doing the warranty route.

ugo.santalucia

springtide9 wrote:

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like the "Ambrosio Excellight" is a highly regarded rim (as I've also seen it used by many premium wheelbuilders)

Will also probably stick with the Sapim Cx Ray Spoke spokes unless otherwise told not too. I am struggling to see a downside (apart from obviously cost) as they are stated to be as strong as standard spokes.

The biggest upside for me is that it helps the rear blend in with the front (Fulcrum R3's) as the current double butted spokes do make the rear wheel stand out like a sore thumb.

I have been in touch with the retailer where I bought my wheel regarding the warranty and they are doing to talk to the suppliers (which are local to me) to see if I can deal directly, as the last repair via the retailer (and then to the supplier) took about a month for the repair.
Waiting to see what they say before making a decision on rebuilding myself or doing the warranty route.

If you want to spend three times as much and end up with a wheel which is less stiff, go ahead with the cx ray... Btw, the cx ray break as much as the other spokes... They suffer fatigue as much as other spokes, tensile strength is irrelevant... Spokes suffer fatigue, they don't crack for excessive load

amaferanga

Sapim Laser weigh the same as CX Ray's, but cost about a third as much. But as is always the problem in the UK, finding someone who will sell you the number of spokes you need (and when you want them without having to wait weeks for them to be ordered) at a reasonable price is way harder than it should be.

Another rim to consider is the IRD Cadence or Cadence Aero (or the equivalent Kinlin rims). Bikehubstore in the US sell Kinlin rims and even with postage costs (and customs charges if you get hit for them) they're not actually that expensive. They also do cheap Sapim Laser's which don't add anything to the postage cost. I just bought a couple of rims and spokes and customs charges came to £18.70 (£10.70 VAT and £8 handling fee charge).

springtide9

Well finally have my PT wheel back (although was given a loaner while I waited for it to be repaired)

The wheel has been rebuilt by Strada Wheels with a new "Velocity A23" rim. I don't know anything about this rim (not even sure who actually makes the rim as can't find 'Velocity' as a company). The rim at least seems better made than the PT rim (there is no obvious join on the brake surface) and it seems to be used a lot by Strada with their (cheaper) wheelsets, so hopefully it will be OK.

Anyway, hopefully this will now mean I'll have no more issues with this wheel!

And, if anyone is looking for "Stans No Tubes Alpha 400" rims, they are apparently now available in the UK :-)