Handbuilt wheels... the big thread

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  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 219
    I think I'll stick with my favorite DT comp spokes. I'll replicate the 'aero gains' I might have got from some gucci spokes by not eating pies for a month and having a severe haircut :-)
  • paulbnix
    paulbnix Posts: 631
    edited February 2020
    Hi, I've also posted this in the MTB forum.

    I'm building a new wheel for my son's Whyte mtb - the original hub is shot.
    We are using a Hope Hub and am not sure of the best rim to use.
    He is using a 2.4" tyre.

    These are some we found :
    Stans No Tubes Arch MK3 - internal 26mm - weight 426g
    DT Swiss EX 471 - internal 25mm - weight 500g
    DT Swiss EX 511 - internal 30mm - weight 535g

    Lighter is better but what is the best width for his setup?

    I noted in a review of the DT Swiss EX 511 that it comes with Squorx Pro Head Aluminium Nipples 2.0mm and PHR washers.

    Are these worth using because it would mean my nipple driver would not work?
  • paulbnix
    paulbnix Posts: 631
    Answering my own question we have decided on the DT Swiss EX 471.
    Looks like it comes with nipples and washers so I’ve just got to get the spoke length right 😀
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    Its these anecdotes that stop me using pillar as well. I dont have the facilities to test batches of spokes so I have to trust the the QC of the manufacturer. Theres only two brands I trust in that. Sapim.and dt swiss.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • paulbnix
    paulbnix Posts: 631
    I've now realised my home made wheel truing stand is qr only.
    Has anyone used one of these - they are about £10 from Amazon.

  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,577
    Can anyone recommend a wheel builder to me from personal experience?

    I'm looking for probably 20-30mm carbon clincher rims, with purple hubs and nipples.
    I want lightness, ideally around 1300-1450g IF possible, as would be for a climbing bike.

    Budget would be sub 1k, and if they would take a c2w voucher, all the better, and 'budget' could then be shifted to £1600 if that would allow the magic to happen!

    I have googled, and there are many sites & companies out there, but a recommendation from someone who has had wheels built to a similar lightweight spec, or thinks the builder they used could deliver, I'd be delighted to hear.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,612
    daniel_b said:

    Can anyone recommend a wheel builder to me from personal experience?

    I'm looking for probably 20-30mm carbon clincher rims, with purple hubs and nipples.
    I want lightness, ideally around 1300-1450g IF possible, as would be for a climbing bike.

    Budget would be sub 1k, and if they would take a c2w voucher, all the better, and 'budget' could then be shifted to £1600 if that would allow the magic to happen!

    I have googled, and there are many sites & companies out there, but a recommendation from someone who has had wheels built to a similar lightweight spec, or thinks the builder they used could deliver, I'd be delighted to hear.

    Have a look at DCR. He did a nice build for me.

    His own DCR hubs (based on Bitex) can be had in purple. They're pretty light and decent value. Obviously he will build with more boutique hubs too, though not sure of any would be available in purple.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    Hope makes purple hubs, but they are not light... not sure how many builders are equipped to take C2W vouchers though AND of course most employers only issue the vouchers for bikes or safety equipment, not wheels
    left the forum March 2023
  • yellowv2
    yellowv2 Posts: 282
    Malcolm Borg @ the cycleclinic built two sets for me with another on the way.
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    I dont do shallow carbon for road bikes. All those that email me about them get my blunt opinion that they are wasting there money and not utilising the potential of carbon ti have deep aero rims without a weight penalty. If that does kot put them off I dont know what will.

    For mtb then shallow carbon works because you can have ultralight hookless rims.

    For road bikes you need hooked rims regardless of what some manufacturers think and say ( ask a tyre manufacturers) and therefore since those ultralight rims are not possible with bead hooks and they have to be robust enough to take 100 psi at least then you might as well go aero or save your money.

    Sadly this kind of blunt logic is not used and people say I want this and just look for someone to give them what they whether it's any good or not.

    30mm dèp alloy rims are about 500g and a lot cheaper. Therefore the carbon option is truly an exercise in form over function. Wheels I think should be form and function with an emphasis on function.

    That's why you'll never see a 30mm deep carbon rims for rim or disc brake road bikes on my shop
    I mean never no matter how well it would sell.

    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • yellowv2
    yellowv2 Posts: 282
    That being said Malcolm does offer a couple of lightweight aluminium rim wheels which would meet your weight preference.
  • casatikid
    casatikid Posts: 229
    I’m looking at buying a set of wheels from Spokesman wheels. Great reviews and I’ve had clear and concise information from the owner.
    I’m going to order in person once this bloody Coronavirus is clear.
    Anyone using Spokesman wheels?
  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 219
    paulbnix said:

    I've now realised my home made wheel truing stand is qr only.
    Has anyone used one of these - they are about £10 from Amazon.

    I have one and it works fine with my Park-clone wheel jig https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s159p3634/BIKE-HAND-Wheel-Truing-Stand-YC-512NB
  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 219
    casatikid said:

    I’m looking at buying a set of wheels from Spokesman wheels. Great reviews and I’ve had clear and concise information from the owner.
    I’m going to order in person once this bloody Coronavirus is clear.
    Anyone using Spokesman wheels?

    I am riding a pair of spokesman-built Carbonal rims on Hope hubs, built 28/32h as I am a big boy. Very happy with them, checked the tensions and true when I got them and they were well within the promised specification and after 1000 miles plus they are still tight and true.
  • casatikid
    casatikid Posts: 229
    Edward.s . Thanks so much for that. I’m torn between Spokesman wheels ( rim brakes) with a twelve month warranty OR the Prime Blacks 38 or 50 mms.
    They have a two year warranty?
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    casatikid said:

    Edward.s . Thanks so much for that. I’m torn between Spokesman wheels ( rim brakes) with a twelve month warranty OR the Prime Blacks 38 or 50 mms.
    They have a two year warranty?

    I'd check the small print on the Prime warranty if that's the deal breaker for you because the Spokesman wheels are likely to use superior components that are also easier to source in the unlikely event of a failure.
  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 219
    casatikid said:

    Edward.s . Thanks so much for that. I’m torn between Spokesman wheels ( rim brakes) with a twelve month warranty OR the Prime Blacks 38 or 50 mms.
    They have a two year warranty?

    Go handbuilt and just forget about warranty cover. I suspect that either will go the distance any way in terms of wear etc, but if you damage one then the handbuilt will be easier to get parts for/repair etc.

    Also, if you phone spokesman he'll build you whatever you want so they will be totally bespoke. If you buy direct then he is very reasonable and knocks off the fees you'd pay via Ebay.

    Also, you'll be keeping a small business in trade rather than wiggle, which has to be good, no?

    If I'd not taught myself to build wheels after buying the carbonals from Spokesman, I'd have continued to purchase from him.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    Yeah, Mark Pollard has been building wheels for donkey years, I'm sure he knows his stuff... never heard a bad thing about his wheels
    left the forum March 2023
  • dazz_ni45
    dazz_ni45 Posts: 468
    edited April 2020
    I bought a set of 2nd hand hand built wheels a few years ago which were built on Hope RS4 hubs. They have been my spring/autumn/wet summer weather training wheels and have been fantastic but rims are now coming to the end of their life. The hubs are still going strong so I am just going to get new rims and have a local builder built them up again with new spokes.

    Any recommendations on a reasonably light set of rims to pair with the Hope hubs? I will not run them tubeless so that is not a requirement and prefer to be able to easily fit clincher tyres rather that the struggles with some tubeless rims.

    Thanks
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    dazz_ni45 said:

    I bought a set of 2nd hand hand built wheels a few years ago which were built on Hope RS4 hubs. They have been my spring/autumn/wet summer weather training wheels and have been fantastic but rims are now coming to the end of their life. The hubs are still going strong so I am just going to get new rims and have a local builder built them up again with new spokes.

    Any recommendations on a reasonably light set of rims to pair with the Hope hubs? I will not run them tubeless so that is not a requirement and prefer to be able to easily fit clincher tyres rather that the struggles with some tubeless rims.

    Thanks

    Archetype are still good rims and easy to mount tyres on....
    left the forum March 2023
  • mankybianchi
    mankybianchi Posts: 117
    Some advice please. Overkill, Underkill or do-just-nice for the following wheelset;

    DT Swiss 350 CL 100/142 X 12 hubs,
    Stan's Grail MK3 rims 28H,
    Sapim D-light spokes with brass nipples,
    28 X 3 cross front and rear.

    For 80% UK road and 20% lumps n bumps n grass. 75-80kg rider.

    Thank you.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    Nice...
    left the forum March 2023
  • mankybianchi
    mankybianchi Posts: 117
    Thanks Ugo, much appreciated.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    Seemingly, now Bitex hubs are stored and dispatched from the UK too... can anyone confirm this is not yet another semi-scam where you think you order from the UK, but then in reality you are buying from Wuhan?
    The site is a wordpress that anyone can put together in a couple of hours and there is no physical contact available

    https://bitexhubs.co.uk/product-category/road-hubs/page/2/
    left the forum March 2023
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,612
    Spa Cycles seem to have a few Bitex models at decent prices if you don't fancy ordering from that website.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    mrb123 said:

    Spa Cycles seem to have a few Bitex models at decent prices if you don't fancy ordering from that website.

    Ha, well spotted...
    left the forum March 2023
  • wotnoshoeseh
    wotnoshoeseh Posts: 531
    I have a set of Archetypes on a Miche Primato hubset (32F & R) that were bought second hand off this forum. The brake track is now pretty concave on these and so I'm thinking of re-rimming these.
    Obviously another set of Archetypes should be a direct swap out and I can re-use the spokes with them, but I'm wondering if there are any other alternatives that would have the same ERD and would be a direct replacement too.
    Also what is the best price anyone has seen for the Archetypes? The best price I have seen thus far is SPA who have them for £60 each.

    Many thanks,
    D
  • paul_the_pedaller
    paul_the_pedaller Posts: 135
    edited May 2020
    I've just built my first pair, Kinlin XR22T on Miche Primato 32, ERD measured at 596 Vs Archetypes at 595. £35 each at Spa. Without running it through a calculator I don't know if there's any difference in spoke length.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,242
    edited May 2020
    wotnoshoeseh said:

    I have a set of Archetypes on a Miche Primato hubset (32F & R) that were bought second hand off this forum. The brake track is now pretty concave on these and so I'm thinking of re-rimming these.
    Obviously another set of Archetypes should be a direct swap out and I can re-use the spokes with them, but I'm wondering if there are any other alternatives that would have the same ERD and would be a direct replacement too.
    Also what is the best price anyone has seen for the Archetypes? The best price I have seen thus far is SPA who have them for £60 each.

    Many thanks,
    D

    DT Swiss 460 are a like for like swap and considerably cheaper
    left the forum March 2023
  • wotnoshoeseh
    wotnoshoeseh Posts: 531
    Thanks Ugo and PTP.
    BTW Ugo, I think you were the original builder of these wheels!!

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