Wheel building

[greatwhite]

A bit of an oddball questions to all the wheel builders that read this thread:

How many and how often do you get to build a dynamo hub front wheel?

And have any of you ever had one that has come back to be stripped down and the hub sent off for repairs and if so how old was it when it needed repair? And was the fault bearing failure or something else? And what make was the hub that had failed?

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

17 hours ago, greatwhite said:

How the world changes - Arc24s were MTB rims when they came out. Now they are being pitched as gravel/road (still too wide for road IMO)

They're still great rims for XC with up to 2.25" wide tyres.
I wouldn't use them for road - they're not designed for higher tyre pressures.
For gravel they're cool.

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

17 hours ago, greatwhite said:

A bit of an oddball questions to all the wheel builders that read this thread:

How many and how often do you get to build a dynamo hub front wheel?

And have any of you ever had one that has come back to be stripped down and the hub sent off for repairs and if so how old was it when it needed repair? And was the fault bearing failure or something else? And what make was the hub that had failed?

I've built a handful of dynamo front wheels using SON hubs, for ultra-distance MTB riding, like Munga etc.
I've never had one come back to me with an issue.

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

The first wheelset of 2025 has left the building!
 

1235g for the set.

Nextie carbon 29er wheels with asymmetric 30mm inner width rims and 140kg system weight limit.
Beautiful, but not fragile.

I'm especially enamoured by the silver hubs.

Laced with lightweight Pillar PSR Xtra1420 bladed spokes and Sapim Securelock black brass nipples.

What say you?

[Super Sywurm]

Maybe this is my year for a decent wheel set!?

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

6 hours ago, Super Sywurm said:

Maybe this is my year for a decent wheel set!?

Who am I to argue? 🤣

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

Some more wheel p*rn for your viewing pleasure.

The 2nd wheelset for 2025 is an all-DT Swiss affair featuring EX511 enduro rims, 350 hubs and double butted spokes with brass nipples.

These are up for some serious punishment!

[Super Sywurm]

@nick_the_wheelbuilder  A light aluminum wheel set, how does the weight compare to a very light carbon set.

 

Edit:  Looking at a 30 inner dia set.

Edited January 13, 2025 by Super Sywurm

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

6 minutes ago, Super Sywurm said:

@nick_the_wheelbuilder  A light aluminum wheel set, how does the weight compare to a very light carbon set.

A very light carbon set is in the region of 1200-1300g. (approx R25k)

A light alloy set for XC riding is about 1500-1600g. (approx R15k)

[Super Sywurm]

4 minutes ago, nick_the_wheelbuilder said:

A very light carbon set is in the region of 1200-1300g. (approx R25k)

A light alloy set for XC riding is about 1500-1600g. (approx R15k)

Cool, for the alu set, what hoops and hubs will you be using as standard?

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

53 minutes ago, Super Sywurm said:

Cool, for the alu set, what hoops and hubs will you be using as standard?

I see now you're after a 30mm inner width rim option. That increases weight a bit from the 25mm rims I had in mind (Stan's Crest Mk4)

If you're after 30mm rims I'd go with either the DT Swiss XM481, Stan's Arch (28mm) or Flow (30mm) or the Raceface ARC Offset. 

The wheelset will be about 1750-1900g depending.

For ultimate light weight I'd suggest using the Nextie Rollingstar II hubs as in the carbon wheelset above (silver hubs, but also available in red, black or gold).

Another excellent lightweight option are the new OneUp Components hubs.

Unless you're running wider than 2.4" tyres, you can definitely use 25mm inner width rims to save 100g per wheel if you're looking for the lightest option.

Happy to have a chat to walk you through all the options.
Feel free to PM, email or WhatsApp me.

 

[Super Sywurm]

8 minutes ago, nick_the_wheelbuilder said:

I see now you're after a 30mm inner width rim option. That increases weight a bit from the 25mm rims I had in mind (Stan's Crest Mk4)

If you're after 30mm rims I'd go with either the DT Swiss XM481, Stan's Arch (28mm) or Flow (30mm) or the Raceface ARC Offset. 

The wheelset will be about 1750-1900g depending.

For ultimate light weight I'd suggest using the Nextie Rollingstar II hubs as in the carbon wheelset above (silver hubs, but also available in red, black or gold).

Another excellent lightweight option are the new OneUp Components hubs.

Unless you're running wider than 2.4" tyres, you can definitely use 25mm inner width rims to save 100g per wheel if you're looking for the lightest option.

Happy to have a chat to walk you through all the options.
Feel free to PM, email or WhatsApp me.

 

Thanx, I will contact you when I'm actually ready.

[NotSoBigBen]

Some super wheelsets @nick_the_wheelbuilder ... Maybe one day when I'm big I can have some custom wheels 😎

Just wondering how many other hubbers venture into 'amateur wheel building'?

I have been doing it for a few years now ... ONLY for my own use that is! Often out of necessity because I know the 'real' wheel experts would scoff at some of the crazy stuff I've done ... Quite a few odd rim/hub hole count combinations and sometimes need something that I can 'codge' up out of bits and pieces in my garage saving me a few shekels.

A single wheel build for me would take  2 or 3 days to get it close to true and round, often times I get it as close as dammit and then live with it.

 

 

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

27 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Some super wheelsets @nick_the_wheelbuilder ... Maybe one day when I'm big I can have some custom wheels 😎

Just wondering how many other hubbers venture into 'amateur wheel building'?

I have been doing it for a few years now ... ONLY for my own use that is! Often out of necessity because I know the 'real' wheel experts would scoff at some of the crazy stuff I've done ... Quite a few odd rim/hub hole count combinations and sometimes need something that I can 'codge' up out of bits and pieces in my garage saving me a few shekels.

A single wheel build for me would take  2 or 3 days to get it close to true and round, often times I get it as close as dammit and then live with it.

 

 

 

That's exactly how I started out!

...then I fell in love with the process and the rest is history!

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

Friday afternoon announcement!

I've just launched what I think is South Africa's first and only online custom wheel build portal.

In this first version, you can design and spec, and buy your own choice of DT Swiss MTB rims and hubs, spokes and nipples, and I'll build them and ship them to your door.

Phase 2 will be adding in rims and hubs from other brands so that you can mix and match, and put together a wheelset using any available components, from a raft of premium brands.

I'm keen to get your feedback on this, so that I can iron out any kinks.

Please check it out here: 
https://wheelbuilder.co.za/product/dt-mtb-custom-build/

 

[Super Sywurm]

1 hour ago, nick_the_wheelbuilder said:

Friday afternoon announcement!

I've just launched what I think is South Africa's first and only online custom wheel build portal.

In this first version, you can design and spec, and buy your own choice of DT Swiss MTB rims and hubs, spokes and nipples, and I'll build them and ship them to your door.

Phase 2 will be adding in rims and hubs from other brands so that you can mix and match, and put together a wheelset using any available components, from a raft of premium brands.

I'm keen to get your feedback on this, so that I can iron out any kinks.

Please check it out here: 
https://wheelbuilder.co.za/product/dt-mtb-custom-build/

 

I almost placed and order, then I remembered I have a wife.😳

Edited January 17, 2025 by Super Sywurm