New wheels, again!

[JhnBssll]

I did a bit more prep over the last few evenings - I've now fitted the purple rotors to the purple hubs and moved the black rotors over on to the black hubs. This means all three pairs of hubs now have matching rotors so we're all nicely colour-coordinated

Bianchi, Orange:

Pilot, Purple:

Shared all-road set, black:

I also unlaced the commuter's front wheel to liberate the dynamo hub in the hope that the new spokes would arrive this morning...

... and they did 😄

This evening I spent a rather pleasant few hours lacing wheels up Here's the front all done...

Pleased with how the front had turned out I set to work lacing the new rear 32 hole Shimano M475 hub up...

This is a mountain bike hub but since the axle length is correct, it's disc brake compatible and takes an 11 speed shimano cassette (albeit a mountain bike one) I figured it would be a more robust solution. It's not uncommon for the panniers to be carrying 10kg+ of kit so the rear wheel takes a bit of abuse - with the high spoke count and deeper, wider rim I'm rather hoping it stays round a bit longer than the Aksium it replaced Here's the finished rear wheel fitted...

The front wheel is 24 hole 2 cross and the rear is 32 hole 3 cross, should do the trick nicely Just need to finish the 105 conversion now and the commuter will be back on the road

My carbon rims are still in the Czech Republic

 

[JhnBssll]

Exciting update - after a month and a day the rims have finally cleared customs! Hopefully they're only days away now but I'm not counting any chickens this time

 

[JhnBssll]

I was right not to count my chickens The parcel made it as far as a UPS centre in Germany and then stopped again, it hasn't moved for 3 days now according to the tracking 😭 UPS customer services can't tell me why its delayed, or when it might start moving again. I don't think the Bianchi is going to do many more miles this year

In better news I rode the commuter to work today for the first time on it's new wheels. It rides really well, very pleased with it

I couldnt resist weighing her loaded - 22kg No wonder the Aksium surrendered

 

[JhnBssll]

My new rims are finally in the UK 😊 All being well I'll be able to collect them tomorrow from the depot! If so I'll have a fun afternoon and evening of wheel building tomorrow

 

[JhnBssll]

UPS "customer service" have been trying my patience over the past few days, suffice to say I havent got my rims yet Unless there's another unforseen disaster I should have them tomorrow as they've been in my local depot for two days I've just spent a bit of time cleaning up my wheelbuilding corner in anticipation of it getting some use tomorrow 😋

I'll be off to the depot first thing and intend to sit and wait in the car park until the parcel is ready

 

[Spiderweb]

Whats that? You think I should add more purple? Good idea

I've done the back wheel now too

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Joking aside, I love a bit of colour on my bikes as you've no doubt guessed by now As soon as you back away a few feet you barely notice them, just a nice little detail 😊

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I've had a fun day of fettling in the garage if nothing else, and my wheels are perfectly true again - not that they were bad before I started mind

As a practice run with the new spoke driver and double square nipples it went faultlessly though so I'm pleased with that. Looking forward to receiving the new rims now According to the tracking page, two of my four rims have now been moulded and one has had the spoke holes CNC machined 😊 The progress tracker is quite a neat little feature from Light Bicycle, although I can see myself checking it multiple times a day for the foreseeable

That looks lovely before and after, nothing wrong with a bit of tasteful colour.

 

[JhnBssll]

That looks lovely before and after, nothing wrong with a bit of tasteful colour.

Thanks mate, I'm really pleased with it

Exciting news! I got the rims this morning 😄 11 weeks from start to finish, but they seem to be worth the wait from what I've seen so far.

I got straight to building, having taken the day off work in anticipation I decided to start with the rear wheel of the Bianchi, so set about lacing the 65mm deep rim up to the orange hope RS4 rear hub...

I quite quickly got the drive side laced...

and then the other side...

I then started to gradually wind a bit of tension in to the spokes before moving the wheel in to the frame to check clearances - I still don't own a dishing tool so I have to measure it on the frame

Looking rather lovely So I whipped it off again, finished tensioning and making sure it was true then popped the disc and cassette on.

Finally on with the rim tape and tyre - of course I was too excited to check the tyre was the right way around, so I then had to take it off and swap it round. I'd already filled it with sealant so that was a fun job Why do I make this mistake so often?!

So here's a sneaky bad pic of it with the rear wheel on... I'm now off to the garage to build the front so I can see the final look Pretty exciting

PS the bike is balanced in the clamp, I havent clamped the top tube tight and its wrapped in pipe lagging before anyone gets too concerned

 

[JhnBssll]

Fresh in from the garage after a productive days fettling

I completed the front wheel earlier, same process as the rear but you don't have to put a cassette on The only other difference is the slightly shallower rim profile, 55mm on the front as opposed to 65mm on the rear.

I managed to check the tyre rotation arrow this time so didnt have to take it off again I love how it looks, really pleased with the end result...

So having finished my Summer bike just in time for Winter I decided it was time to start on the all-road/winter set of wheels

So far I've laced and partially tensioned the rear wheel - next job will be to pop it in a frame to set the dish, check and adjust the tensions and do a final true before the rim tape, tyre and disc rotor go on Then I'll start on the front wheel I think I've had enough of a play today though so will save that for another evening 😄

 

[JhnBssll]

I went out to the garage after work to have another play with the wheels. I've now got both winter wheels laced, trued and dished and will shortly go out to tape them and fit the tyres They're looking really nice

From what I've seen of the quality of the Light Bicycle rims I shall definitely be ordering another set to replace the ones on the ti bike's summer wheels If I order them soon I might even have them by spring

 

[JhnBssll]

I finished the winter wheels off after dinner

I just noticed how the weave matches the pump and the bottle cages Simple things...

So thats three bicycles with new wheels, next to save up so I can order the new summer rims for the Pilot I think I might go for a gloss 4k weave and 55mm depth 🤔

 

[Gunk]

The cement mixer adds a certain ambience!

 

[JhnBssll]

The cement mixer adds a certain ambience!

I only bought it to match the orange hubs

 

[JhnBssll]

Found a bulge in the front GP5000 so thats gone back and fitted a new one this evening 😊

Excuse the grubby marks on the front wheel, I clearly hadn't done a very good job of wiping it down after replacing the tyre

I've chosen the next rims - Light Bicycle AR56 in 3k twill weave and satin finish I'll get some more CX Ray spokes later to build them on to the purple hubs but no hurry as Spring is a way off yet

 

[Ridgeway]

Super nice wheel build
And glad you're happy with the Light Bicycle hoops, the new WR rims are out now if you're looking for something a bit beefier, up to 65mm as well

 

[JhnBssll]

Super nice wheel build
And glad you're happy with the Light Bicycle hoops, the new WR rims are out now if you're looking for something a bit beefier, up to 65mm as well

Thanks I noticed the WR range but think they're a bit wider than I want to go for this build. Interesting option though, might consider them if I explore the 650b route at a later date