29er XC Wheels

hypster

I just built the following set of 29er XC wheels for my rigid Singular Swift SS:-

Front:
Hub: Novatec D771SB - 158g
Rim: Velocity Blunt SS 29" - 399g
Spokes: ACI Alpina Black DB - 230g (32 spokes including brass nipples)
Total: 787g

Rear:
Hub: Novatec D772SB - 271g
Rim: Velocity Blunt SS 29" - 399g
Spokes: ACI Alpina Black DB - 229g (32 spokes including brass nipples)
Total: 899g

Total for wheels: 1686g

All measured weights (without QR and tape) with the Blunt SS rims coming out at 26g below the claimed weight by Velocity. Pretty decent I'd say for 30mm 29er rims with an ID of 26.6mm.

Rims £58 each (Wiggle), hubs £60 the pair off eBay (new), spokes £37.50 (CycleBasket).

Total cost £213.50 plus several hours of my time.

Two layers of 25mm Tesa 4289 tape, Stans sealant and the tubeless Ardents 2.4 went up first time no bother with a track pump. I've only ridden them up and down the road so far but no problems as yet.

The Rookie

Nice, but not really buying advice!

hypster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19725637#p19725637]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

Nice, but not really buying advice!

Maybe, but I just thought I'd let people know about the rims, hubs and spokes in case they wanted to spec. them in their own build. The handbuilt wheels thread is under Road Buying Advice on the Road cycling forum and I am surprised there isn't something similar here for MTB wheels considering how popular the topic seems to be on other forums.

njee20

Bit of a broad topic. Why would you want a catch all for hand built wheels? We could have AX-Lightness rims, Extralite Ultrahubs and Sapim Superspokes at the other end of the spectrum!

hypster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19725804#p19725804]njee20[/url] wrote:

Bit of a broad topic. Why would you want a catch all for hand built wheels? We could have AX-Lightness rims, Extralite Ultrahubs and Sapim Superspokes at the other end of the spectrum!

I don't think I understand the point you are making there njee20. I'm not necessarily confining myself to self-built wheels as such, more individually specced wheels as opposed to factory built. There is a big thread on STW discussing wheels built with Light Bicycle carbon rims for instance. It seems strange that there seems little interest here.

njee20

That's a thread on LB rims though, it makes sense.

Having a thread simply listing builds is of no discernible use. I could post 'my' wheels in the post after yours, what would that add? You questioned the lack of a thread about hand built wheels, I'm just unsure of what such a thread would offer or accomplish.

If your thread was about Novatec hubs and their advantages it would make sense, and people could then proffer their opinions and ask questions (like the LB thread).

hypster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19725832#p19725832]njee20[/url] wrote:

That's a thread on LB rims though, it makes sense.

Having a thread simply listing builds is of no discernible use. I could post 'my' wheels in the post after yours, what would that add? You questioned the lack of a thread about hand built wheels, I'm just unsure of what such a thread would offer or accomplish.

If your thread was about Novatec hubs and their advantages it would make sense, and people could then proffer their opinions and ask questions (like the LB thread).

I can see your point but the Handbuilt Wheels thread on the Road Cycling forum is 33 pages at this time and doesn't confine itself to any particular component. Surely the same logic applies here? The problem as I see it is that any thread which confines itself to one particular component may get lost in time or doesn't deal with issues/interest which may arise from a combination of components or just wheel building in general.

A quick search on here for "Light Bicycle" shows that. Okay, people who are interested in a particular topic can search but judging by the number of "What Wheels?" threads I see on cycling forums on the internet in general, I just think it's a bit strange that there seems to be such a lack of interest here.The reason I posted my wheels was because I haven't seen many instances of those components being used and I thought some people might be interested.

I guess no need to bother in future.

njee20

Fair enough! I wouldn't read a 33 page thread on the off chance it contained some info I wanted. If a Google link took me to page 24 I may read that.

The LB thread on STW shows such threads can be specific - there are near identical ones on MTBR, Weight Weenies etc.

Your intentions weren't clear from your original post - if you'd started with your last post perhaps it would've made more sense. Anyway, if someone wants to know about Novatec hubs they'll find their way here!

In the interest of furthering your thread my two previous sets of handbuilts were:

A2Z QR hubs
Podium MMX rims
Revolution spokes
1246g including yellow tape and valves
C£400

American Classic 130/225 hubs, 12x142 XD body and 15mm front
Light Bicycle hookless 29er XC rims
Revolution spokes
1370g with Gorilla tape and alu valves
C£700

Both faultless.

hypster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19725975#p19725975]njee20[/url] wrote:

In the interest of furthering your thread my two previous sets of handbuilts were:

A2Z QR hubs
Podium MMX rims
Revolution spokes
1246g including yellow tape and valves
C£400

American Classic 130/225 hubs, 12x142 XD body and 15mm front
Light Bicycle hookless 29er XC rims
Revolution spokes
1370g with Gorilla tape and alu valves
C£700

Both faultless.

Nice and incredibly light. You've brought A2Z hubs to my attention as well.

The Rookie

My wheel build is in my Kraken thread, last page or so, A2Z front hub, Novatech rear, Stans Alpine rims sub 1450g.