Friday, January 18, 2008
Wheels of the Day
Will be back on Tuesday. The past week has been busy on other matters that will help when it's build time!
Hubs
I was asked today what our favorite hubs are. It depends on the application was my thought, but as we were talking about EDGE Composites rims, I said I'd post a few pictures. The choice of rims made it easy, as only a few hubs are available in the drillings needed; 16, 18, 20h front and 20, 24h rear hubs are not so common, and those I like are less so.
Typically I build with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. They are nicely made, finished well, and having several thousand in stock means we normally can build even custom wheels without waiting for spokes. The 36 different lengths in two finishes (black and polished) make for fun when it's inventory time. Add Revolution, Super Comp, Competition, Alpine 3, plus Sapim Race, Laser, CX-Ray and CX spokes, and it's over 402 combinations that we have available.
White Industries make some nice hubs, the H2 series is the heaviest set we use, but they are well made, nicely polished, US Made hubs. The titanium rotor is good with Shimano systems, as it won't get chewed like aluminum rotors will, and the polished finish looks great with a Record group. If you want a polished black finish, they do that too.
DT SWISS 240s hubs are good. They do everything well, are easy to service, and have only one failing, these days people will put them on a scale and comment that they are too heavy. DT had a response with the 190 hubs, which use ceramic bearings and some nifty machining to reduce the weight of the rear hub but at great expense. There are lighter hubs than the 190's, and there are people who like to weigh things, so look further down the page for my reply. Overall though, I don't think you can beat the 240s.
For really light hubs, I like the UltraHubs from Extralite. The SX is only 49gm and is rebuildable. The UltraRear SR is 158gm. Both use materials in exotic ways to trim weight as much as possible, yet the regular UltraFront and UltraRear are tough enough for off road use. They can be a little quirky when building, but I like them.
Extralite get a little more special with their UltraFront SP and UltraRear SP that use straight pull spokes. I like to build them with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, but have done the odd special with Pillar Titanium spokes. The 49gm + 153gm weights are getting into rare air indeed, with only a few exotics getting below that, like the hub below, all 36gm of it....
Typically I build with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. They are nicely made, finished well, and having several thousand in stock means we normally can build even custom wheels without waiting for spokes. The 36 different lengths in two finishes (black and polished) make for fun when it's inventory time. Add Revolution, Super Comp, Competition, Alpine 3, plus Sapim Race, Laser, CX-Ray and CX spokes, and it's over 402 combinations that we have available.
White Industries make some nice hubs, the H2 series is the heaviest set we use, but they are well made, nicely polished, US Made hubs. The titanium rotor is good with Shimano systems, as it won't get chewed like aluminum rotors will, and the polished finish looks great with a Record group. If you want a polished black finish, they do that too.
DT SWISS 240s hubs are good. They do everything well, are easy to service, and have only one failing, these days people will put them on a scale and comment that they are too heavy. DT had a response with the 190 hubs, which use ceramic bearings and some nifty machining to reduce the weight of the rear hub but at great expense. There are lighter hubs than the 190's, and there are people who like to weigh things, so look further down the page for my reply. Overall though, I don't think you can beat the 240s.
For really light hubs, I like the UltraHubs from Extralite. The SX is only 49gm and is rebuildable. The UltraRear SR is 158gm. Both use materials in exotic ways to trim weight as much as possible, yet the regular UltraFront and UltraRear are tough enough for off road use. They can be a little quirky when building, but I like them.
Extralite get a little more special with their UltraFront SP and UltraRear SP that use straight pull spokes. I like to build them with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, but have done the odd special with Pillar Titanium spokes. The 49gm + 153gm weights are getting into rare air indeed, with only a few exotics getting below that, like the hub below, all 36gm of it....
Friday, December 28, 2007
Christmas!
Well, we closed through Wednesday, and now it's time to do inventory. Counting spokes is not fun.....
No "Wheels of the Day" until next week at the rate things are going, but who knows...!
No "Wheels of the Day" until next week at the rate things are going, but who knows...!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Thought of the Week.
Hey it's my blog!
I've been collecting parts for a classic yet modern build. All aluminum Chorus and Record, for something custom steel by way of a frame. Maybe I'll build it myself, all I know is it will have polished or chromed lugs, a steel fork, and downtube levers. I want it to speak from the past, but have the joys of indexed shifting that works. Tubulars of course (maybe 2006 Record hubs and Mavic GP4's?), a San Marco Regal and Cinelli TOP64 Ergo/XA bar stem combo to cap it off. Something for those rides where you just want to go out and enjoy mother nature.
NO computor mounted!
I've been collecting parts for a classic yet modern build. All aluminum Chorus and Record, for something custom steel by way of a frame. Maybe I'll build it myself, all I know is it will have polished or chromed lugs, a steel fork, and downtube levers. I want it to speak from the past, but have the joys of indexed shifting that works. Tubulars of course (maybe 2006 Record hubs and Mavic GP4's?), a San Marco Regal and Cinelli TOP64 Ergo/XA bar stem combo to cap it off. Something for those rides where you just want to go out and enjoy mother nature.
NO computor mounted!
Wheels of the Day
Finally I get to build something for myself!!!
They are my Christmas present, classic with a modern twist, go anywhere, do anything "Where we are going there are no roads" wheels.
I bought some Fir ST-120 tubular rims from Zar International months ago, and saved the last pair for myself (perk of the job!). DT Swiss 240s hubs, with the low flange non radial front will be used, and silver Competition and Revolution spokes. Tires will be Vittoria Pave CG, 24mm fatties for the gravel and dirt fire roads. I would have used WI H2 polished hubs, but had the DT in stock already.
They are my Christmas present, classic with a modern twist, go anywhere, do anything "Where we are going there are no roads" wheels.
I bought some Fir ST-120 tubular rims from Zar International months ago, and saved the last pair for myself (perk of the job!). DT Swiss 240s hubs, with the low flange non radial front will be used, and silver Competition and Revolution spokes. Tires will be Vittoria Pave CG, 24mm fatties for the gravel and dirt fire roads. I would have used WI H2 polished hubs, but had the DT in stock already.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wheels of the Day
More EDGE. I am really liking their rims, the moulded spoke holes and bottom section really make for a nice building rim, plus the fact they can hold high spoke tensions is great.
Rims: EDGE 1.0 68mm
Spokes: DT Swiss Aerolite - Silver
Hubs: White Industries H1 - Silver
20h front and rear, it's a test set to see how they hold up. Personally I think 16h front, 20h rear will be perfect, but there are no 16h rims yet.
Rims: EDGE 1.0 68mm
Spokes: DT Swiss Aerolite - Silver
Hubs: White Industries H1 - Silver
20h front and rear, it's a test set to see how they hold up. Personally I think 16h front, 20h rear will be perfect, but there are no 16h rims yet.
Wheels of the Day
Last two days were spent with banks and Government offices, so nothing interesting was built. DT Swiss 240s Hubs with Aerolite Spokes to R1.1 Rims was all.
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