Hand Built Wheels

[smutchin]

I've read that you shouldn't use Laser spokes with disc brake wheels - apparently Sapim do a disc-specific alternative to the Laser called D-light.

Personally, I use Sapim Race spokes and favour 32 per wheel.

 

[mattobrien]

Good to hear you're happy with those. I daresay they feel rather hefty in comparison with your carbon hoops - would you class them as out-an-out workhorse wheels or do you think they would be suited to quick, hilly rides too? Do you mind me asking how much you paid for them? Any idea of their total weight? (Sorry for the barrage of questions!)

The Enve's are reported to come in at 1,434 grams, but I haven't weighed the H+ Sons wheels - they have got rotors attached, so these would need removing and I really couldn't be bothered / wasn't that interested as there was nothing I could do about it. Having had a quick add up of the component weight, I think they'd come in at around 1,700 grams.

For a while I only had two road bikes (I know, how on earth did I cope), so used my Kinesis (which these wheels are on) as my full time winter bike. As the weather improved I managed to average 20.6mph on that bike before moving across to the summer / plastic bike. So I would say that they are more than capable of doing quick rides, as long as you are prepared to push hard enough :-)

I have used them for many commutes to work, a hilly hundred and the Dunwich dynamo and they are still round and true. The rims aren't particularly heavy (470 grams / rim I believe) so it would be very possible to build them up with lighter hubs and fewer spokes and probably get the wheel weight down a bit if you wanted. I opted for 28 spokes / wheel so that they would be a little more robust.

I think that were around £400, but they were part of a custom bike build so were bought and paid for at the same time, so I never really worried too much about their exact cost - they gave me a rough idea of budget for wheels as part of the build and that was good enough for me.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I've read that you shouldn't use Laser spokes with disc brake wheels - apparently Sapim do a disc-specific alternative to the Laser called D-light.

Personally, I use Sapim Race spokes and favour 32 per wheel.

There's no reason why Lasers and the DT equivalent - Revolutions, should not be used with disc brakes. All spoke companies attempt to differentiate their various offerings with bogus claims and benefits and this myth is the result of such misinformation.

 

[EasyPeez]

I've had 2 pairs built by David, (DCR) great service.
I was after silvery blingyness, 23mm rims so went with Archetypes with a Son Dynohub and a Velo-Orange Touring hub for the rear on an Audax build. Built for durability and comfort with 28mm tyres.
Second pair are Archeytypes on Zenith large flange fixed/Fixed hubs. Again, running 28c and looking for long term durability. I'm 90+kg and Oxfordshires roads are shocking. Also do a lot of night riding so withstanding the odd unseen pothole is a benefit.

If I was looking for your spec I'd go something like a light Pacenti Rims with plenty light spokes and hubs of your choice.

View attachment 152926

View attachment 152927

They look fantastic!

 

[EasyPeez]

The Enve's are reported to come in at 1,434 grams, but I haven't weighed the H+ Sons wheels - they have got rotors attached, so these would need removing and I really couldn't be bothered / wasn't that interested as there was nothing I could do about it. Having had a quick add up of the component weight, I think they'd come in at around 1,700 grams.

For a while I only had two road bikes (I know, how on earth did I cope), so used my Kinesis (which these wheels are on) as my full time winter bike. As the weather improved I managed to average 20.6mph on that bike before moving across to the summer / plastic bike. So I would say that they are more than capable of doing quick rides, as long as you are prepared to push hard enough :-)

I have used them for many commutes to work, a hilly hundred and the Dunwich dynamo and they are still round and true. The rims aren't particularly heavy (470 grams / rim I believe) so it would be very possible to build them up with lighter hubs and fewer spokes and probably get the wheel weight down a bit if you wanted. I opted for 28 spokes / wheel so that they would be a little more robust.

I think that were around £400, but they were part of a custom bike build so were bought and paid for at the same time, so I never really worried too much about their exact cost - they gave me a rough idea of budget for wheels as part of the build and that was good enough for me.

That's great, thanks for the info

 

[Fab Foodie]

They look fantastic!

Thank you!

 

[EasyPeez]

You cannot use 24 spokes and durability and/or reliability in the same sentence.
What do you mean by nimble? Wheels are only as nimble as the rider, but even then, I cannot imagine what it is you want from the wheels.

Hope PRO is noisy and the bearings don't last long and are expensive to replace.

Re: the spokes, that was a typo - sorry, I meant 28 front and rear. So 8 more spokes on each wheel than the stock wheels I currently ride.

By nimble, I mean not dead heavy. What I want from the wheels is to last a long time and ideally make my bike lighter rather than heavier, for when I am lifting it into cars/trains and chugging up steep inclines.

When you say the Hope Pro bearings don't last long, how many miles would you estimate? @mattobrien 's are reportedly going strong after 6,000 miles - I wouldn't be unhappy to have to replace bearings that often as with these wheels going on my best bike they'd be unlikely to do more than that in 2 years riding. I am after cartridge bearings for ease of maintenance - are there other cartridge hubs you'd recommend over Hope? I thought you were a fan of their hubs, no?

 

[smutchin]

There's no reason why Lasers and the DT equivalent - Revolutions, should not be used with disc brakes. All spoke companies attempt to differentiate their various offerings with bogus claims and benefits and this myth is the result of such misinformation.

Yeah, I'm sure you're right.

They're the same price though, so I don't know what's in it for Sapim to recommend one over the other.

 

[EasyPeez]

Thank you!

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What a gorgeous pair!

 

[e-rider]

Open pro rims, Novatec hubs, DT Swiss spokes
Built by @Spoked Wheels

Probably cost around £210 all in 32/36 spokes. Rim brakes though, not discs

Open pro rims are very 'yesterday' - much better rims exist these days!

 

[vickster]

Open pro rims are very 'yesterday' - much better rims exist these days!

So? I like the look of them on my bike and they were the right price

 

[smutchin]

If anyone's interested, I've gone through my internet history to remind myself where I read about Laser vs D-Light - @Yellow Saddle you'll enjoy this...

http://dcrwheels.co.uk/custom-wheelsets/choosing-spokes-advice/

Apparently, the Laser spoke "has been made out of a different type of stainless steel."

This is the pertinent bit about Laser vs D-Light:
"The Laser spoke has been rated as not suitable for use with disc brakes. However, the Race spoke is relatively heavy for a double butted spoke. The D-Light compromises between the weight saving of the Laser spoke and the strength advantages of the Race spoke. The D-Light is butted in a 2.0-1.65-2.0mm profile, making it compatible with the same hubs and nipples as the Race and Laser spokes."

So essentially the difference is that the D-Light is slightly thicker in the middle than the Laser (1.5mm).

As for weight, I've just weighed the "relatively heavy" Race spokes on my kitchen scales: 4x 292mm spokes inc. nipples = 29g. So if you go for 32 spokes per wheel rather than 24, that's a massive total of 116g extra weight. And the difference will be smaller if you use lighter spokes such as Laser.

You pays your money, you makes your choice.

 

[fatjel]

I have ultegra hub/ mavic open pro rims from merlin cycles
Liked them so much bought another pair for my other bike
Cost £250 and feel smooth and comfortable compared to my previous aksiums
Withstood a frame bending , collar bone crunching crash too

 

[dan_bo]

My hand-built bike has hand-built wheels, made by Mog at Sven cycles, where the bike was made.
Chris King hubs with H+Son Hydra (tubeless and I'm running them tubeless) rims. Just a couple of months old, so early days yet and they've been faultless, as you'd/I'd expect them to be.
Here's a pic (taken this morning) of them on the bike:-

View attachment 152920

Love it.

 

[mjr]

I had a SA XL-FDD hub built into a wheel with the rims and spokes recommended by Stefan at Richardsons in Lynn. It's subzero out there so I'm not going to go look at the label right now So far so good, but it's only been in a month or so.