some new wheels

Road cycling & upcoming rides
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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 16 Sep 2012, 20:59

Hi

I am thinking about some new wheels and came across this site in the US http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/. Who seem to have too good to be true prices for wheels where you select the the complete package.

Has anyone heard of them? Are they any good etc. Love some comment if anyone knows.

I am thinking 32 spoke Open Pros with either DT Swiss 240 Hubs, Chris King, White Industries or Phil Wood.

Even the Power Tap wheels are really cheep.

Michael

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Stuart
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Postby Stuart » 16 Sep 2012, 21:03

I have wheels from there and so does christian - all good

christian
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Postby christian » 17 Sep 2012, 08:16

The price is definitely right, the build, not the best but even paying someone here to get the spoke tension right you'll still come out way ahead. I would highly recommend Chris King hubs, they should last around 15 years if looked after. Also the Velocity A23 rims are great, the HED Belgium is a similar design, 23mm wide.

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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 17 Sep 2012, 18:24

Thanks most helpful

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 19 Sep 2012, 17:12

The price is definitely right, the build, not the best but even paying someone here to get the spoke tension right you'll still come out way ahead. I would highly recommend Chris King hubs, they should last around 15 years if looked after. Also the Velocity A23 rims are great, the HED Belgium is a similar design, 23mm wide.
Apparently HED C2's are welded at the join, but A23's are only glued. I think that the C2's are worth the extra spend. I'm now eyeing off a set for myself. Gotta send a letter to Santa....

rhys
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Postby rhys » 19 Sep 2012, 22:25

I have the c2 laced to Chris Kings. Now that Geoff S sorted my hub they are faultless and bomb proof. I haven't broken a spoke for nearly six months, and when I hit a pothole I make it a bigger pothole instead of getting a flat.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 20 Sep 2012, 17:00

"The main determinant of the strength of a wheel is the adequacy of the spoke
tension. Wheels must be highly tensioned, and the tension must be balanced out
such that, on any given side of a wheel, all of the spokes are at or very near the same
tension.

Rims themselves are made by taking extruded aluminum and precisely
joining two ends of a section of precise length into a hoop. There are two main
methods used to join the ends of the hoop. One is welding, wherein the two ends of
the aluminum section become chemically bonded to each other by a welding
process. The other system connects the two ends by a sleeve that joins the two ends
and is glued in place. The sleeve might be, say, two or three inches long and half of it
extends into each end of the joined piece of aluminum alloy. Sleeves are designed to
fit precisely into the shape of the rim.

It is erroneously assumed by many people that a welded rim is inherently
superior in strength to a sleeved rim. After a wheel is built, the forces pulling
inward on the rim by the spokes are enormously strong, and these forces pull the
rim together at the seam, not apart. In the completed wheel, there are no forces at
all that conspire to pull the rim apart at the seam. Of the many factors that the
wheel builder considers in choosing a rim for a particular wheel, whether the rim is
welded or joined with a sleeve should not be a criterion."
www.billmouldwheels.com

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 20 Sep 2012, 19:24

Thanks Adrian.... I really must borrow that book on wheel building you were talking about the other day. :!:

How many holes should one go for? The advantages of a stiff 32 hole rim are obvious. How much difference to the ride will dropping that to say 24front/28rear and will that make a big diff to rotating mass? It seems common to lace a wheel radially at the front for aero reasons. For a C grade crit rider, would that make a huge difference? Pace rarely tops 40km/hr for a sustained period.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 20 Sep 2012, 21:18

No need to borrow (see: http://icelord.net/bike/ ).

For Heffron I would guess the weight of the rim would be the most important thing followed by the choice of tyre. The course is mostly about responding to accelerations and it;s hardly smooth. It terms of spoke count the differences are marginal. You can save more weight just by having lighter tyres and tubes for racing. The key issue is durability. If you want your wheels just for racing go low where the gains may benefit. if you're using them for training all of the time and hitting the odd pothole, go higher.

I have some A23s in 24/28 with cx ray spokes if you'd like to try riding them.

Richard
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Postby Richard » 26 Sep 2012, 21:34

All

I am interested in the C2's, with Chris king hubs from Bikebuilder to use for the ACE250 in January

I am usually 80kg's + / - a few depending on training/drinking regimen

Which hubs, spokes, and nipples would you recommend?

I also saw that Chris king has a few different modesls as well

Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated

Richard

taybellz
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Postby taybellz » 27 Sep 2012, 09:14

Hello

I got c2 rims, dt aero light spokes, ck c45 black hubs (ceramic upgrade), black alloy nipples (except on rear drive side which are brass). $1396 delivered from Tristan at Wheelworks in NZ.

Excellent communication and the wheels took about a month as I placed the order about a week before Le Tour kicked off.

Packaging awesome.
12 month warranty - $60 to courier wheels to NZ (still cheaper than using LBS)
Ive since sent a few emails for technical support and he always replies promptly and with good easy to follow instructions.

and the ck r45 are silent as, no angry bee.

Wheels weigh in at 1414 grams.

http://wheelworks.co.nz

https://www.facebook.com/HandcraftedWheels

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 27 Sep 2012, 21:28

Which hubs, spokes, and nipples would you recommend?
Hubs... what ever you want to pay. I like the Ultegra FH6700 hubs because they're great value for money and they have a steel freehub. I've seen way to many alloy freehubs get chewed off by the cassette. I think the DuraAce has a titanium freehub but you pay for it.

Spoke... Sapim of DT double butted (14G/15G/14G) or the bladed spokes. I don't think aero is not really that much of a priority for something like the ACE I'd go standard double butted

Rims... I haven't had enough experience to really tell the difference but the C2s, Open Pros etc are all well regarded. In general the lighter the rim, the more spokes you'll want. it's a trade off, so I'd err on more spokes and light rims. I'd want a higher spoked wheel for the ACE for two reasons. 1) if you brake as spoke you can still finish the ride 2) A higher spoked wheel should be a little more comfortable because the tension is displaced more evenly across the rim. Lower spoked wheels tend to have much higher tensions which can be jaring.

Nipples.. Go Brass (as least on the rear drive side like Taylor did). Alloy nipples are an absolute bugger to re-true especially if the rim has no eyelets. Alloy nipples can start to fuse into the rim over time. You're adding 80grams of weight (per wheelset) with brass nipples... its no big deal if you're not racing.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 27 Sep 2012, 21:37

I have CKs. They are red and very beautiful. bike feels smooth as. Might ride them in the ACE.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 27 Sep 2012, 21:53

They are red and very beautiful.
Need we say more :lol:

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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 02 Oct 2012, 16:20

So I have got it down to two choices of rim and two choices of hubs.

Rims are are either HED C2 or Mavic Open Pro and the hubs are either Chris King or DT Swiss 240's. Lacing will be 36 front and back and I think 3 cross.

I would value opinion on each.

My current wheels are Ultegra hubs with 32 Open Pro rims with Conti 4000 23x700c tires and give a good ride.

I am thinking that with my Clydesdale size that a 25 or 28 tire would also be better. However if I go with the C2 then I would like to try the 'clinhular' of having 23 on 23 rim.

Michael

rhys
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Postby rhys » 02 Oct 2012, 22:19

Belgiums are only available in 24/28/32 drillings.
I would go for the Belgiums with King hubs, and 23mm tyres. They are my race and training wheels.

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T-Bone
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Postby T-Bone » 02 Oct 2012, 22:25

I agree with Rhys, though if you must have 36h go with Velocity A23.

shrubb face
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Postby shrubb face » 03 Oct 2012, 07:04

36 spokes really are excess for a front wheel for most bikes short of a tandem. Both the Chris king and the DTs are nice hubs, so it really comes down to price and appearance there.

Richard
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Postby Richard » 05 Oct 2012, 07:48

I priced up the Belgium C2 with Chris King R45's Sapim spokes etc. Was in the range of $1200-1300.

Then I found locally a pair of 'new in the box' HED Ardennes CL's for $680 that a guy had won but did not need. They have 24 front and 28 rear spokes.

From what I gather they use the same rims and HED Sonic rear hub as on the Ardennnes SL's. The SL's have a fancy carbon front hub and half the number of spokes.

Even though they might not be as good I couldn't justify the extra $$ at this stage.

Richard
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Postby Richard » 05 Oct 2012, 09:10

That wasn't meant to sound judgemental about the merits of spending more on wheels but unless Santa can get me a new job before Christmas I couldn't justify the additional expenditure.

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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 05 Oct 2012, 19:18

So I have made a decision. As with these things I spent a bit more than I planned but I think it will pay back in the long run. I have gone with Wheelworksin NZ as I found Tristan very helpful and great customer service. He answers a barrage of questions that allowed me to clarify my thinking.

So the winner is:

HED C2 rims with a 28 silver Alchemy ELF front hub and 32 silver White Industries T11 rear hub with sliver DT Swiss spokes plus 2 red spokes on each wheel and black nipples. I could have gone cheaper with Prowheelbuilder in the US but it was not much more when you added in the postage etc. With these It will be a labour of love rather than just a mass production. It to ultimately go with my new long term bike which come some time in March.

I should have them in a couple of weeks. Thanks for all the advice and comment, it certainly helped in my thinking.

Michael

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 05 Oct 2012, 20:00

Michael. That is almost exactly what i'm thinking of getting. The ELF hub would be good to see in the flesh. Very light. As for the rear hub the free hub body is very robust. I've notices I've been chewing all my Aluminium ones.

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jonboy
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Postby jonboy » 05 Oct 2012, 20:52

I was also looking at custom wheels but in the end settled for the boring option of DuraAce C 35s.

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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 07 Oct 2012, 11:59

Michael. That is almost exactly what i'm thinking of getting. The ELF hub would be good to see in the flesh. Very light. As for the rear hub the free hub body is very robust. I've notices I've been chewing all my Aluminium ones.
Once I have them I will bring on a Sunday

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geoffs
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Postby geoffs » 08 Oct 2012, 08:56

CK hubs appear to roll a lot better than White industries in fact I'd go as far as saying that CK hubs roll better than anything else out there.
I recently built a set of open pro's to DT190's and I think my CK/A23 wheels are better.
My last wheel set was built using DA hubs which were good but not quiet as good as C-Record hubs. CK hubs are better than C-Record at rolling resistance but how well the drive shell lasts is an unknown.
A new drive shell is an $80 part according to the CK site.

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mcrkennedy
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Postby mcrkennedy » 08 Oct 2012, 17:46

Geoffs fair comment. Having not ridden either any of the hubs you have mentioned I can't really comment. My choice came about after a fair bit or research and a lot of discussion with Tristan Thomas of Wheelworks who understood what I was look for. In fact at first I was going with the CKs. It seems from what I have read that in my wright category 110+ kgs that the the view is that the WI are as good if not better than the CK. In fact the WI won in two areas for me price and in silver I don't think that there is a better looking hub. I have had Ultegra hubs for years and they seem to run very well and mated with Open Pros have been pretty bombproof. I have ridden some Zipp 404 and they were amazing, but I don't think they would last long term with me, nor are they what I really need.

I think if I was an 80-90 kg rider the CK would have won hands down, but realistically I am going to be a 100+ rider for a long time. And that the point of these wheels for me.

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geoffs
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Postby geoffs » 08 Oct 2012, 23:09

I was posting more for anyone else who was looking at getting wheels as you had already made your decision. I'm sure you'll be happy with your wheels. The Ti cassette body on the T11 hub is a good idea.
DT540, WI and CK (classic not the R45) are the hubs of choice for tandem wheels. Our tandems carry minimum 140kg and up to 170kg loaded not including the 23kg for the tandem so don't worry to much about carrying a few extra kg. Well built wheels will be fine. No way I'd use alloy nipples though as I've seen to many of them fail. some things just don't survive clydesdale useage. We have one monster who is 110kg of muscle who has to use Alloy cranks as he breaks the carbon ones :-)


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