Handbuilt wheels... the big thread

Rudd

Hi all,

Hopefully in a few weeks a steel pegoretti will grace my garage. I am going to have some hand built wheels and have already secured some glorious Royce hubs. I am looking for inspiration with regard rim choice. I'm looking for quality to match the frame and hubs with comfort and reliability in mind. I'll be going for a fairly high spoke count 32/28. Does any one have any ideas, the more unusual the better! Thanks

ugo.santalucia

Rudd wrote:

Hi all,

Hopefully in a few weeks a steel pegoretti will grace my garage. I am going to have some hand built wheels and have already secured some glorious Royce hubs. I am looking for inspiration with regard rim choice. I'm looking for quality to match the frame and hubs with comfort and reliability in mind. I'll be going for a fairly high spoke count 32/28. Does any one have any ideas, the more unusual the better! Thanks

HED Belgium + ?

I seem to be the only one in the Midlands with a pair of these

Rudd

Ah yes HED - i was thinking about them.Quite hard to get hold of i think.

ugo.santalucia

Rudd wrote:

Ah yes HED - i was thinking about them.Quite hard to get hold of i think.

Like all good things in life... but not too difficult

http://www.justridingalong.com/hed-belg ... -rims.html

The Cycle Clinic might have a few as well...

Rudd

nice - presumably you can take the decals off!

ugo.santalucia

Rudd wrote:

nice - presumably you can take the decals off!

The all point of getting some HED rims is the decals, otherwise just save your money and get some generic Kinlin, which are just as good.

Anyway no, they are not stickers, so you can't remove them without damaging the finish... they look stunning in the flesh

Are you going to strip the paint off your Pegoretti and spray it in matt black?

Rudd

it would be a bold move to respray a peg. I'm getting the ciavete paint so i don'y know what it will look like yet (!) I'll have to wait and see if they clash or compliment!

beanstalk

HED Belgium rims are good rims but so are many others (and cheaper ones), too.
Point is they are black and thus indistinguishable from many other rims if seen from afar or when passing by.
If you want unusual then look for some coloured rims or at least silver ones, like H+Son Archetype oder TB14.
The TB14 is a very classic looking rim, if you're into that.

agent_buchwald

I've tried to do as much searching as possible but just to round things off - I'll be building some 26" tandem wheels so is it necessary to source 40/48h rims or would some strong 36h rims be okay? I was thinking Deore hubs, sapim race spokes and need a recommendation for some suitable wide 26" rims or is there better advice? Thanks in advance.

ugo.santalucia

Agent Buchwald wrote:

I've tried to do as much searching as possible but just to round things off - I'll be building some 26" tandem wheels so is it necessary to source 40/48h rims or would some strong 36h rims be okay? I was thinking Deore hubs, sapim race spokes and need a recommendation for some suitable wide 26" rims or is there better advice? Thanks in advance.

36 will be OK, unless you travel with a lot of bags and the two of you weigh a ton. Use DT Swiss Alpine 3 spokes (assuming they fit the Deore hubs, otherwise the Sapim strong)

agent_buchwald

Thanks for the quick response - weight is not really a consideration but presumably the rim needs to be robust - any 36h rim brake 26" rims come to mind?

ugo.santalucia

Agent Buchwald wrote:

Thanks for the quick response - weight is not really a consideration but presumably the rim needs to be robust - any 36h rim brake 26" rims come to mind?

Something in the rigida/Ryde catalogue, I guess

cal_stewart

Rudd wrote:

Ah yes HED - i was thinking about them.Quite hard to get hold of i think.

What about a nemesis rim for that classic look. Not wide however and tub

agent_buchwald

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Agent Buchwald wrote:

Thanks for the quick response - weight is not really a consideration but presumably the rim needs to be robust - any 36h rim brake 26" rims come to mind?

Something in the rigida/Ryde catalogue, I guess

Thanks again for your help - so would Deore hubs, Sapim strong spokes and Rigida Laser rims seem reasonable enough, built 3 cross? and anything else I should consider?

ugo.santalucia

Agent Buchwald wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Agent Buchwald wrote:

Thanks for the quick response - weight is not really a consideration but presumably the rim needs to be robust - any 36h rim brake 26" rims come to mind?

Something in the rigida/Ryde catalogue, I guess

Thanks again for your help - so would Deore hubs, Sapim strong spokes and Rigida Laser rims seem reasonable enough, built 3 cross? and anything else I should consider?

I guess... I have never used one. Otherwise Velocity Chukker is a great rim and not horrendously heavy... Velocity Deep V if you only use small tyres is very nice too

cycleclinic

Rigida Sputnik come is 26" size and is the rim I would pick.

Deore hubs and strong spokes will work just fine.

For disc brake the Mavic 729 would be a good choice as that is a stout rim. You have a to find some first that is a first challange.

Yes I do have HED rims ugo and yes I agree you only buy them for the badge it does look good. Otherwise the beglium plus is not better at being a rim than a kinlin at 1/4 of the price. Branding is a funny thing.

matt_n-2

Rudd wrote:

Hi all,

Hopefully in a few weeks a steel pegoretti will grace my garage. I am going to have some hand built wheels and have already secured some glorious Royce hubs. I am looking for inspiration with regard rim choice. I'm looking for quality to match the frame and hubs with comfort and reliability in mind. I'll be going for a fairly high spoke count 32/28. Does any one have any ideas, the more unusual the better! Thanks

What kind of build are you going for?

Modern groupset, modern but classic looks i.e. Campag Potenza in silver, classic groupo?

If you're swaying towards a silver groupo then the H Plus Son Archetype in polished finish works really well, especially if you have polished Royce hubs?

cycleclinic

royce hubs are polished then anodised to give a satin finish. they dont do a polished only version.

shortfall

I have a set of Ambrosio Excellence rims laced onto Campag Record hubs. I damaged the front wheel in a crash a few years ago and they've been at the bottom of my garage ever since. I've been thinking about getting them rebuilt but with different rims, so my question is, does anyone do a 32 hole carbon rim? I'm thinking of going tubeless or possibly even tubular and I want a light wheelset. These would be used for fair weather cycling on decentish dales type roads with plenty of climbing. I'm hovering around the 16.5-17 stone mark so it would have to be able to support my weight. Any advice and costings welcome. Thanks.

ugo.santalucia

Shortfall wrote:

I have a set of Ambrosio Excellence rims laced onto Campag Record hubs. I damaged the front wheel in a crash a few years ago and they've been at the bottom of my garage ever since. I've been thinking about getting them rebuilt but with different rims, so my question is, does anyone do a 32 hole carbon rim? I'm thinking of going tubeless or possibly even tubular and I want a light wheelset. These would be used for fair weather cycling on decentish dales type roads with plenty of climbing. I'm hovering around the 16.5-17 stone mark so it would have to be able to support my weight. Any advice and costings welcome. Thanks.

Carbon rims are not much lighter than alloy rims, unless you want deep section rims. Deep section 32 holes are OTT, but seeing that you are heavy, they might make sense.

Brick Lane bikes used to have a range of 32 carbon called Notorious, but they are narrow and not tubeless. Your best bet are the Light bicycle rims, custom drilled at 32

If you don't want deep, then stick to alloy... much cheaper and very similar weight

shortfall

Thanks Ugo. These don't have to be aero. What alloy rim would you recommend and what's a ballpark weight with the Record hubs? For info I got quite a bit of brake rub on the Excellence rims with hard efforts so I'd need something that was stiffer.

kayodot

I've noticed Velocite are pushing their new filament wound rim technology - it also seems that DCR's new range of premium rims are using the same rims.

There also seem to have been some issues with the first generation (see comments on Bikerumour). Has anyone here got any experience with these?

mrb123

Shortfall wrote:

Thanks Ugo. These don't have to be aero. What alloy rim would you recommend and what's a ballpark weight with the Record hubs? For info I got quite a bit of brake rub on the Excellence rims with hard efforts so I'd need something that was stiffer.

Archetypes?
http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections ... ecord-hubs

ugo.santalucia

Shortfall wrote:

Thanks Ugo. These don't have to be aero. What alloy rim would you recommend and what's a ballpark weight with the Record hubs? For info I got quite a bit of brake rub on the Excellence rims with hard efforts so I'd need something that was stiffer.

If you weigh 17 stones, I wouldn't worry about the 100 grams more or less in a pair of wheels. Prioritise stiffness and strength and work on your power output, which could potentially be significant.

I would go heavier and stiffer... maybe Velocity Chukker, although they are not tubeless ready. Kinlin 31 mm ones might be another option, although I don't think the spoke holes are that strong for heavy riders... it can be sorted with a wise use of washers

shortfall

Thanks Mr B. I did a quick back of a fag packet calculation and the weight came in at 1600 grammes without skewers which is very close to the Zondas I'm currently running. As the Zondas serve me well, the handbuilts would have to be significantly lighter or better in some way to justify the expense. That said, if I can convince Her Indoors that I need ANOTHER set of wheels then I might have them built with tubs just to see what they're like.

shortfall

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Thanks Ugo. These don't have to be aero. What alloy rim would you recommend and what's a ballpark weight with the Record hubs? For info I got quite a bit of brake rub on the Excellence rims with hard efforts so I'd need something that was stiffer.

If you weigh 17 stones, I wouldn't worry about the 100 grams more or less in a pair of wheels. Prioritise stiffness and strength and work on your power output, which could potentially be significant.

I would go heavier and stiffer... maybe Velocity Chukker, although they are not tubeless ready. Kinlin 31 mm ones might be another option, although I don't think the spoke holes are that strong for heavy riders... it can be sorted with a wise use of washers

Thanks Ugo. I'm not a weight weenie which is why I bought a custom Ti bike rather than buying off the peg carbon. As above I currently ride Zondas which I love, but because I've got the Record hubs in the garage I wanted to try and get something decent built up with maybe tube or tubeless that offered an improvement over them.

timothyw

I'm surprised you get away with Zonda's, at 17 stone you're close to (or potentially slightly above) Campag's 'we advise you not to use these wheels' zone. How many miles have you put on them?

I wouldn't risk them, but to be fair I usually weigh 19 and a half stone....

shortfall

I've done 5000 miles on them, at times when I was over 18stone. They have been utterly dependable, stayed true and the bearings are smooth and robust. They're gonna be a hard act to follow which is why I'm seeking advice before pulling the trigger on another set of handbuilts.

ugo.santalucia

Shortfall wrote:

I've done 5000 miles on them, at times when I was over 18stone. They have been utterly dependable, stayed true and the bearings are smooth and robust. They're gonna be a hard act to follow which is why I'm seeking advice before pulling the trigger on another set of handbuilts.

Bar the life of the rim, which depends on way too many factors, the life of the spokes is down to mileage, weight and power. 5000 miles for a set of low spoke count and your weight is pretty decent, but you should be able to get close to unlimited lifetime with the right type/number of spokes.

What you need is down to how many miles you do per year... if I had to change wheels every 5000 miles, that would be every 7 months or so... it wouldn't be a very appealing proposition... hence why disc brakes and hence why handbuilts

As above, I wouldn't scrimp on a few grams... get them well built, get them solid

cycleclinic

the archetype is the obvious choice for a 17st rider with triple butted spokes. It will be alot stiffer than what you have. The Kinlin XR31T will handle your weight if sapim HM nipple washers are used. I always use these washers with kinlin rims. The spoke nipple bed is 2mm thick which is thick enough but for the sake of a few grams and a few pennies why take a chance.

The Kinlin rim is a much stiffer rim than the archetype and it has asymmetric extrusion for the rear. Spoke life for the kinlin build is therefore alot of miles. With the archetype spokes will out last the rims as well.

Handbuilt wheels are only as good as the wheelbuilder building them. Same with factory wheels. Campag happen to know how to produce a good wheel but I would say not all 17st riders have the same experience from zonda's.