Help required, what 700c single speed wheels ?

[SS Retro]

The above said the V-sprint weinmann with a radial front and the weight of evidence on LFGGS is tempting will see what dolan say if there on miche I will be buying, probably!

 

[SportMonkey]

As they say, time is money and when you have a factory mass producing wheels then that is exactly what they have in mind.

If time was not an issue then perhaps a machine could be built and programmed in the same way we build wheels. I don't know how long a machine takes to build a wheel but I guess it is less than 10 minutes from start to finish. I can't imagine that a machine would take the same steps and as many times as I do to build a wheel. When a wheel is nearing the final stage I go into a loop of steps (balance the tension, stress the wheel, true the wheel laterally, true the wheel radially, balance the tension, stress the wheel, dish the wheel......) until the wheel reaches an optimum balance between trueness and even tension. This means that the wheel can be ridden hard and for a long time without needing any attention.

Most factory wheels I see have too low and uneven tension which means these wheel will need attention before long. Not to forget the cost of buying the spares which most of the time are not just off the shelf spares. So, if you can still find them then you have to pay a premium for spokes, rims, etc.

The beauty with handmade wheels is that you can get hubs and rims that can be easily got off the shelf and in years to come you still can find rims to replace or spares for your hubs without braking the bank.

To create a system that can programmatically match your truing is rather simple, and that could build a wheel in less than ten minutes is also possible. Notably a machine could true a wheel far faster than a human and to much higher tolerance.

The bit I find difficult to work out how machines do is the lacing...

 

[Manonabike]

To create a system that can programmatically match your truing is rather simple, and that could build a wheel in less than ten minutes is also possible. Notably a machine could true a wheel far faster than a human and to much higher tolerance.

The bit I find difficult to work out how machines do is the lacing...

I agree, computers are very good and fast at doing repetitive tasks, they do that better than humans.

Rims are not perfect and the experience of a good builder can make the difference I think.

The other thing I think, when you order a handmade frame or say a pair of shoes, I bet you wouldn't say make me a pair of shoes just like those xyz. you'd probably order something that suits you and it's different to factory made shoes. I think people tend to miss that point too often.

There was a post that raised the issue of the expense and difficulty to source spare parts. That post reminded me of trying to source cones for my set of Shimano R550 wheels. It took me quite a while to find some cones for the front wheel but for the rear wheel Shimano not longer make cones. One single spoke is about £4 and they only sell them in black and for the rear wheel now so if I brake a spoke then I will not be able to replace it with a silver spoke. Even the nipples need their own spoke key. When I purchased these wheels some years ago, it never occurred to me than 5 years later I might not be able to find parts to repair them.

If I wanted to buy some nice wheels I will go for sure the handbuilt way simply because I can build them to suit my needs and with an eye in future maintenance.

 

[Basil.B]

My LBS built my rear, Miche hub on Mavic Open Pro rim.
Top notch!

 

[zigzag]

SS Retro, what is the reason you want to change your wheels - are the current ones worn out or too heavy? you can't go wrong building your own wheels, select the hubs, rims, spokes and lace them together. i was looking for some light, but durable ss wheels, but it appears they don't exist. in the end i sourced the parts (tensile flip flop hubs, cx-ray spokes 32/32 and kinlin xr-200 rims) and learned to build them myself. very happy with the result, but i've yet to test them once the winter is finally over. wheels weigh ~1.4kg, and it would be easy to shed another 150g if i wanted to.
you could build yourself a nice set of wheels for £150 - give it a go!

 

[SportMonkey]

I agree, computers are very good and fast at doing repetitive tasks, they do that better than humans.

Rims are not perfect and the experience of a good builder can make the difference I think.

The other thing I think, when you order a handmade frame or say a pair of shoes, I bet you wouldn't say make me a pair of shoes just like those xyz. you'd probably order something that suits you and it's different to factory made shoes. I think people tend to miss that point too often.

Your point about shoes is moot, they are custom fit to the person, a wheel isn't. Oh, that and leather is a far less homogeneous material than a metal rim.

My point was actually computers are very good at doing very accurate tasks. With laser interferometry and IR heat mapping one could make a wheel to far higher tolerances than a person.

I do, however, wonder how many wheel building factories use this level of kit.

 

[SS Retro]

SS Retro, what is the reason you want to change your wheels - are the current ones worn out or too heavy? you can't go wrong building your own wheels, select the hubs, rims, spokes and lace them together. i was looking for some light, but durable ss wheels, but it appears they don't exist. in the end i sourced the parts (tensile flip flop hubs, cx-ray spokes 32/32 and kinlin xr-200 rims) and learned to build them myself. very happy with the result, but i've yet to test them once the winter is finally over. wheels weigh ~1.4kg, and it would be easy to shed another 150g if i wanted to.
you could build yourself a nice set of wheels for £150 - give it a go!

You look to have done a excellent job and produced what could be called a classic wheelset. There's nothing wrong with the wheels I am riding, in appearance there very similar to yours they have only done around 500mile and are like new I just want deeper rims purely for aesthetics but if I can get better hubs too it's a bonus.