help planning a set of handbuilts, please

mattmaximus

i give up, i've been around this forum too long and i just can't take it any longer: i need a set of handbuilts...

there's so many options out there that it's a little hard to see the wood for the trees, so how does the following plan sound?

93kg, modern road bike, riding on traditional english pot-hole strewn roads. mainly summer riding.

Rim: h+ son archetype (confident i've got this one right, unless the ever so slightly wider SL23 is worth the extra)
Hubs: hope pro 3 130mm (could spend more and get DA9000, could spend less and get novatec/miche/105)
Spokes: no idea, really. double butted sapim race?
Spoke count: cannot get google to tell me the answer to this. 28/36? 32/32? 32/36?
Spoke pattern: 3 cross?
Spoke length: is the calculator on prowheelbuilder.com reliable? if so, for a 28/36 setup i reckon i would need spokes measuring 287 and 284 for the rear and 286 for the front.

i feel i should be looking to make them myself, but then the LBS will do it for 25 per wheel...

advice most welcome.

vala

I built a set of SL23's on Hope Pro3's. Weigh 60kg and opted for 28h front and rear however could have gone with less I reckon. Spoke wise I went to Rose bikes and got DT Swiss Revolution for the front and non drive side rear and DT Swiss Competition for the drive side rear.

alanparsons

I have a pair of handbuilts. Ultegra (32 hole) hubs, Mavic open Pro rims and Wheelsmith double butted spokes.
All in cost £260 including build. Hubs were in the CRC sale.
They are currently available for £67.99 rear and £39.99 front at CRC.
Great wheels for my riding on Uk roads in all weathers. Nothing super bling or aero but solid, free rolling and silent free hub.

dork_knight

I've been looking at handbuilt wheels for a little while, especially this past week.

I'm about the same weight and would use the wheels on the decent bike, rather than the commuter/winter/crap weather bike.... anyway I ended up going for tubulars after many painful hours of going back and forth between clinchers and tubulars.

Anyways, I was looking at the following for clinchers as they seem to be pretty tough if you're looking for other options:

Front:
Hub: Hope Pro 3 Mono,
Rim: Ambrosio Excellight S.S.C,
Spokes: Sapim Laser OR DT Revolution,
Nipples: Silver Brass

Rear:
Hub: Hope Pro 3 Mono,
Rim: Ambrosio Excellight S.S.C,
Spokes: Sapim Race OR DT Competition,
Nipples: Silver Brass

I was looking at 28/32, 32/32 or 32/36... guessing 32/36 would be very strong wheels.

ugo.santalucia

The clincher rims that I prefer to build, because they build the best wheels are Archetype, Ambrosio (all of them), Open PRO and Velocity Deep V. A notch down Velocity A 23 (which however comes with the interesting OC rear and can be turned tubeless) and KInlin XR 300 (also branded IRD).

Your weight demands a 32 rear... the front will probably be dictated by availability of hubs etc... if you go the Shimano route, it will be a 32.
Why do you have to supply all the components to the shop? Don't they have accounts? I understand the hubs, as you can get them cheaper from Wiggle or Ribble, but the rest...

mattmaximus

very grateful for the replies, sounds like i'm on the right lines. hadn't realised i might need more than one type of spoke :shock:

definitely leaning towards letting someone who knows what they're doing take the strain on this one, and leaving the self-built for another day

cycleclinic

For both posters a 28 front 32 rear will be fine I have built many wheels for riders of your weight with those spoke drillings and no issues. More spokes will not hurt but is not necessary. Of course 32F/32R will be fine too.

With the archetype rim Sapim Lasers will work on the front. For the rear Sapim Race spokes or use Race spokes drive side and Lasers non drive side. Most people cannot supply the Miche hubs in moxed drillings - I can though as I get mine through a different route. Miche even make them in 20H and 24H pairs I will have to order some as they have about 10 pairs at the factory I have found out.

105 hubs are quite heavy and the novatec are light but some how do not look right (A171/F172) with the archetype rims and the A291/F482 are fine but only in the dry it seems. The Miche hubs go well with the archetype rims.

The archetype is one of the best rims around. Equally good are the ambrosio and DT Swiss and the RR465 is the rim to go for here for yor weight.

Miche hubs can come with an shimano 11 speed freehub if you ask the right dealer At the moment the archetype rim is the most common rim I seem to building with and they often get mated to Miche Primato hubs.

Also do not discount campagnolo record hubs. They normally do not come with a shimano 10 or 11 speed freehub body but I buy them with one (the distributor kindy swaps it for me and does not charge me extra!). They are cup and cone like Dura ace 9000 hubs, lighter and cheaper but 32H only. Win win in my book. Incidnetly I have just built up a set of archetype with record hubs and the weight is something like 1680g but it will be more with a steel shimano freehub body.

on-yer-bike

thecycleclinic wrote:

Incidnetly I have just built up a set of archetype with record hubs and the weight is something like 1680g but it will be more with a steel shimano freehub body.

Why do my 32 spoke, CK R45 Hubs with Archetype rims weigh 1720g when the hubs are lighter than Record?

cycleclinic

Well that will depend on the spokes used. This wheelset was built up with Lasers and brass nipples. Also CK45 hubs only weight slightly less than record hubs. Record hubs with a campag freehb body weigh in at 343g I have weighed them.
The wheels are quite stiff and I don't think the Archetype given it stiffness needs Race spokes with the right hubs excepts for heavy riders. Race spoke are cheaper though so that may be a reason to use them as I have done in a recent build with Miche hubs, the cusomter in this case had a budget and carries some weight.

With the CK R45 hubs though I would not build with Lasers on the rear both sides. The NDS bracing angle is not good enough for that for most riders. Race spokes (or DT comps) at least on one side (DS) are needed. Very light riders would be fine with Laser using CK45 hubs. This is the main reason why I do not use R45 hubs (still very nice hubs with a freehub that sounds like a good watch).

Still the weight difference is 40g hardly something to worry about, enjoy your wheels.