Rear wheel advice.

[bigjim]

No I'm not on a wind up and not interested in arguing. Maybe I was being pedantic about assembled and built. Apologise for that. I'm just wondering whether the hand element justifies the extra cost against a factory wheel that has been trued and checked by a copmetent LBS. The consesus in my local CTC is that factory wheels are pretty good these days. Personally not had a problem with a factory wheel and thats all I've got to go on.

 

[ushills]

On a serious note, any other tried and tested places to check, other than david hinde and spa. Probs going to use spa atm, something reassuring about a man with a beard.

From my experiences with Spa I would highly recommend them for wheels.


I would also suggest Phil Sherwood in Stourbridge if he is still going, he had a bike shop, built some wheels for me and was a Team Raleigh mechanic for a while.

 

[Nigeyy]

Putting my 2 cents in:

i. unless you are a flyweight carrying minimalist equipment, try to get 36h rims and hub. 32h wheels can work, but for that bit extra ruggedness and peace of mind, go for 36*. Just one unlucky bump can mean a broken spoke on a heavily laden bike -so I'd say go conservative. That's not to say you can't tour successfully on a 32h wheelset, just that I'd reduce my chances of problems.
ii. building a wheel for the first time for touring might not be the best idea. I strongly suggest you practice on some old wheels first, and then test them by riding on them. If you are short on time to perfect your wheel building technique, I'd say give that a miss.
iii. usually hand built wheels are better than machine built wheels. Why? Because proper handbuilt jobbies will have a better feel on each spoke for tension. Assuming a good quality rim, spokes and hub, this should mean a stronger wheel. One of the problems with knocking a wheel out of true or breaking a spoke is that you then put more stress on the other spokes (sort of a house of cards thing). Better not to knock your wheel out of true or break a spoke in the first place..... If you aren't mechanically inclined, I'd recommend having a trustworthy source check your machine built wheels before you go touring on them.
iv. have one, but haven't used it yet on any of the wheels I've built, but the fiberfix gets good reviews -might be worth considering getting one given how much weight and space it takes up.

*got to remember a good quality well built 28 spoke wheel is going to be stronger than any poor quality ill built 40 spoke wheel. However, all things equal, more spokes should mean a stronger wheel.

 

[Crankarm]

Well looks like handbuilt is the way to go then, I reckon i should probably increase my budget to include mining gear now, expensive this cycling

On a serious note, any other tried and tested places to check, other than david hinde and spa. Probs going to use spa atm, something reassuring about a man with a beard.

Roberts cycles in Croydon also build pretty good wheels used by many a RTW cyclist on their Nomad bikes.

Geoffrey Butler cycles did used to build wheels at one point to a pretty good standard. I had a pair of Mavic open pro 32h rims with record hubs built by them and they lasted for years without going out of true.

The other place is Condor, but I think Monty has retired now. Maybe his wheel building skills will have passed to the younger guys in the work shops. I have had a few wheels built by Monty all of which have been very strong and never needed truing.

There is Paul Hewitt who I believe builds good wheels for those up North reasonable prices as well.

There are quite a few good wheel builders around.

 

[bof]

Byers Bikes (they do stuff on the internet) Luton/Dunstable way, built me a pair of wheels, front with dynamo, using Mavic Open Pro rims - excellent! I have had them 2 problem free years, done around 7000 miles at a guess, my weight has been up to 95kg + stuff for light touring. When the rims wear too thin, I will send the hubs back for more.

PS Monty at Condor has retired

 

[Zenroad]

Im planning to do some loaded touring (rear panniers only), and currently have these wheels http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/xtreme-atb-wheel-set-28700-c-cross-wheels-474126/aid:474128 on my cx bike, and am starting to think the rear will not be up to the job at 28 spokes. Is there any problems with building road/touring rims, thinking the ones from spa, onto a mountain bike hub (need a disk hub)? also would 36spokes be overkill?

Had a quick look around and cant find many ready built 700c disc wheels, any suggestions? Don't really want to spend more than £100.

ill probably have a bash at building it myself.

For touring, I go 40 spokes front and rear. Overkill? Spokes are light. 4 spokes are still light. 8 spokes are still light. The strength of eight extra spokes far outweighs (pardon the pun) the extra few grams. 40 spokes is good insurance that you will suffer no wheel problems. Nothing in this life is 100%, but 40 spokes approaches it.