Re-building wheels..

[shinomaster]

I have been riding a set of 32 hole open pro's laced to Record 10 speed hubs. Aside for a few broken rear spokes they have been fine. After racing cross on them for two years the rims seem, well, rather worn. I think I may want new rims as these may soon meet their ruin. The hubs I was told are still in excellent condition after a recent overhaul.
Is re-using hubs a tricky thing? Can the spokes be used again? What I am really thinking I would like would be some cool Dt or Velocity rims and some lighter revolution spoke to make a quite light wheelset. I only weigh about 145lbs when I am not chubby. How could I turn these hubs into the best possible wheels for me? How light would they be?


much love,

Shino

[ergott]

I have been riding a set of 32 hole open pro's laced to Record 10 speed hubs. Aside for a few broken rear spokes they have been fine. After racing cross on them for two years the rims seem, well, rather worn. I think I may want new rims as these may soon meet their ruin. The hubs I was told are still in excellent condition after a recent overhaul.
Is re-using hubs a tricky thing? Can the spokes be used again? What I am really thinking I would like would be some cool Dt or Velocity rims and some lighter revolution spoke to make a quite light wheelset. I only weigh about 145lbs when I am not chubby. How could I turn these hubs into the best possible wheels for me? How light would they be?


much love,

Shino

At your weight you can definetly use Revolution spokes without a problem. Hubs are reused all the time. It is wise to do so if they are indeed in great condition.

[Serotta PETE]

Many folks out there build very good wheels....our own SPOKES and FLYDHEST are 2 that come to mind. I would replace the spokes when I replace the rims. The old saying "paying me now or pay me later" holds true.
The only problem is that the spokes will break at the wrong time and you will get to rebuild the wheel again. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AND ENJOY THEM>

I could not rebuild a wheel if my life depended on it. WIth your weight you should be able to get a nice, light, responsive wheel. Others will know far more than I on which spokes and rim - - although you can not go wrong with DT!

Have fun

PETE

[shinomaster]

Flydhest builds wheels? Maybe if I sent him some more coffee he would build me a set? ha ha..

Ergott, any lacing recommendations?

[Serotta PETE]

Flydhest builds wheels? Maybe if I sent him some more coffee he would build me a set? ha ha..

Ergott, any lacing recommendations?


Send coffee, wine, and some great Jazz and you will have them by the end of the week,

[ergott]

Flydhest builds wheels? Maybe if I sent him some more coffee he would build me a set? ha ha..

Ergott, any lacing recommendations?

I'll venture to guess that they were 3 cross before. Stick with the same pattern. There is no reason to use anything else. Switching to different rims forces you to use different spokes anyway because of the different rim dimensions.

[raven]

It is best to re-build the hubs using the same spoke crossing pattern, including heads in/out. This has something to do with the indentations on the flanges from the previous build(s) and not wanting to introduce further stress to the flange.

To insure a quality build, new spokes should be used every time. Reusing spokes isn't a bad idea, but the wheels integrity would be minimal and could lead to further trouble down the road. I did this with a wheel- kept replacing a broken spoke with another used one. I did this for about 6 months, replacing about 12 spokes total. I would break a spoke every other ride. I gave up- I'd rather be out riding than fixing.

Revolutions on a 32h rim at your weight should be fine. They are a bit stretchy in the middle section and tend to wind up during a build though...A good builder should have no trouble.

[autoloclys]

I recently finished a set of road wheels, King Hubs, DT Revolution spokes(1.8/1.5) and DT R1.1 rims. Im really happy with the results. Im pretty light as well (130) and still built them 3 cross, I didnt do the math but the weight savings seemed pretty small and the roads in newengland can be pretty bad. With that kind of stuff your not going to get into crazy light wheels. But mine ended up lighter than a pair of ksyriums, i dont remember the exact # though. I am pretty confident that this is an investment wheelset that should last forever, im sure campy hubs will be up there with the king stuff in that respect.

id be suspicuous of trying to resuse spokes, they will be stretched and twisted after being in a wheel, especially a cross wheel, and that much more likely to fail. consider that as much as your rim is out of true or has been out of true, the spokes have stretched with the rim. Plus i think the sanity you will retain by just cutting the old ones out instead of trying to delace each spoke by hand will be worth the cost of new spokes. plus you can get the new ones in BLACK!

nothing looks hotter than black spokes.

[ergott]

PS If you do cut the spokes, it is wise to loosen each on 3-4 turns. You shouldn't cut the spokes under full tension.

[1centaur]

"nothing looks hotter than black spokes"

Really? On the continuum of hotness, black spokes are all the way to the right? Jessica Alba's publicist will be sorry to hear that.

[e-RICHIE]

"nothing looks hotter than black spokes"

Really? On the continuum of hotness, black spokes are all the way to the right? Jessica Alba's publicist will be sorry to hear that.


well - i bought that one, and now i need a cigarette biwfd.

[autoloclys]

if Jessica Alba pulled up next to you on the bike path, riding a Pinerello pursuit frame, with shiny sugino cranks and zen chainrings, wouldnt it be a shame if as she passed you and you checked out her ride she was on suzue hubs with shiny spokes and polished rims? wouldnt the whole package be that much hotter if she was on pro-max-CF's with black spokes?

to put it another way, no-one looks good in white spandex. no-one.

[IXXI]

to put it another way, no-one looks good in white spandex. no-one.

uh, JA would. big freakin time.

[pdxmech13]

PS If you do cut the spokes, it is wise to loosen each on 3-4 turns. You shouldn't cut the spokes under full tension.

I have never in a million years dealt with a flange break do to this. Maybe on a poorly cnc'd hub but anything cold forged isn't a problem. The only reason I say this is on a combined 40 years experience in my service dept and others I trust immensly.

[pdxmech13]

stop by the shop and talk to Jens or myself and we could get ya on somethin in time for christmas. ;)

[ergott]

I have never in a million years dealt with a flange break do to this. Maybe on a poorly cnc'd hub but anything cold forged isn't a problem. The only reason I say this is on a combined 40 years experience in my service dept and others I trust immensly.

I never said anything about flange failure. In fact ignore my post entirely. I was thinking about when you are replacing spokes and keeping the rim. It puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the rim.

[sg8357]

reusing spoke is fine when talking about boring wheels, aka 32 plus
spokes. If the wheels have made it to the rim wear out stage, and
are still mostly straight and no broken spokes, you have a good set of really
well stressed relieved spokes, keep using them.
Users of Revolution and other race weight stuff can have their sponsors
buy them new spokes.

I have one set of wheels on their third rim, one rim wore out, a couple
others died in potholes, no broken spokes. 36/32, dbl butted, 135 rear
road wheels.

Scott G.

[shinomaster]

stop by the shop and talk to Jens or myself and we could get ya on somethin in time for christmas. ;)

Christmas???? dude...of this year? Cross season starts in, what September? :banana:

[Ken Lehner]

I have been riding a set of 32 hole open pro's laced to Record 10 speed hubs. Aside for a few broken rear spokes they have been fine. After racing cross on them for two years the rims seem, well, rather worn. I think I may want new rims as these may soon meet their ruin. The hubs I was told are still in excellent condition after a recent overhaul.
Is re-using hubs a tricky thing? Can the spokes be used again? What I am really thinking I would like would be some cool Dt or Velocity rims and some lighter revolution spoke to make a quite light wheelset. I only weigh about 145lbs when I am not chubby. How could I turn these hubs into the best possible wheels for me? How light would they be?


much love,

Shino

First, unless the rims are pretty close to the same height, the current spokes might be the wrong length. If you replaced the rim with Open Pros, you could just move the whole spoke-and-hub system with ease (don't have to unlace anything!).

I'd also suggest that if your rear spokes broke without having been damaged by hitting something, that wheel wasn't built very well. Spokes should not break.

[pdxmech13]

I never said anything about flange failure. In fact ignore my post entirely. I was thinking about when you are replacing spokes and keeping the rim. It puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the rim.


roger roger

:beer:

[flydhest]

. . . for the record, I'd put myself in the hobbyist wheel building class, not a real wheel builder. I do my own mechanical work, but I wouldn't call myself a real bike mechanic out of respect for the real deal. Thanks for the props, though, Pete.

Shino, lots of good advice. I'd echo what ergott said about cutting spokes, not for the hub, as was misconstrued, but for the reasons he listed and the fact that, in my first attempt at rebuilding a wheel, I did exactly what he suggested not doing and had the spoke spring sideways with a very sharp edge on it. I got off easy, but you could easily cut yourself or lose and eye if you are the type who likes to look closely and watch all the cause and effect.

That said, if there's a shop that's good nearby (as seems to be the case) buying the rims and spokes from them and having them do the rebuild seems like a good idea. Good shops stand behind their work. Spokes should not break, as pointed out by Ken Lehner, and if the builder is local, they should hook you up.

If you're thinking about rebuilding it yourself, I say go for it, but take a good chunk of time and learn as much as you can about the process first. It's fun, with 32 holes and your weight, it shouldn't be a problem, and if you screw up, you can have it done right by the shop only having wasted spokes, assuming you didn't stress the rim too badly. I would, however, suggest you buy the rim from the shop.

Shipping the hubs off to a long-distance builder is another good possibility, but for standard builds, I say stay local and keep a good relationship with the LBS . . . if they are good. I don't have such a luxury.