carbon wheel build for gravel bike-advice request

[SuperPletch]

i have had two sets of Velocity blunt 35 rims crack at spokeholes on my gravel bike in 3 years. they were hand built by a lbs by a reputable wheel builder, now i wonder. out of frustration i have decided to try to build my own set. I have a park tool spoke tension meter and after finding cracks @ drive side rear and disc side front (not as bad) i checked spoke tension(about 110kgf) and it is under the max tension spec for the velocity wheels(110-130kgf) and the tension is even across all spokes.

i am 230-240lbs, i ride about 5k miles/yr so probably 2.5k on this bike, i ride the bike on mixed surface with some gravel but nothing very technical, i do like to think i ride fast with a good bit of torque and some hills, its a steel frame bike with disc brake and i run tires tubeless 700x35 at a lower pressure. upon reading it appears these rims may be too wide for 35c tires but i wouldn't think that would cause rim stress. my guess is my weight is really the contributing factor and these hoops were the wrong choice.

ive ordered carbon rims, asymmetric, 35mm deep, 30mm wide with 24mm inside width. I'm going to reuse my dt swiss 240s hubs with 32 spokes and was planning on a two cross pattern.

I have a road bike with dt swiss rr411db rims, cxray spokes and dt350 hubs that i ride just as much and have had no problems with rims or spokes

i was planning on using dt aero comp spokes with brass nips

is there any advice on spokes for carbon rims? or any advice for building a wheel that is strong and durable?

i have been taking apart and rebuilding some inexpensive alloy rims as practice and feel i have the patience and ability to build a decent wheel.

thanks in advance

 

[weareHKR]

@Beespoke

is there any advice on spokes for carbon rims?

 

[Beespoke]

@SuperPletch

If the hubs & rims that you have are 32h, I'd lace them 3x all round rather than 2x thus providing a more durable base for your wheels and hubs.

Spokes wise, Sapim Race are my go to spoke for most applications, if you wanted to save a little weight then Sapim D-lights are a good shout too... Sapim CX rays are lovely, but for me lack lateral stiffness and are expensive in comparison to the Race & D-lights... Brass nipples are the way to go and I'd also recommend rim washers too... but this would depend on the internal profile of the nipple bed.

Building wise, take your time with them, be as accurate as you can with the Park tensionmeter (they can be a bit vague) but go for tension accuracy over pinpoint straightness.

Most of all good luck and enjoy the process.

🐝