Reynolds Solitude

[dimsy]

This is sort of a report/complaint. Though the complaint isn't something too major thought I'd share just in case someone was in the market for these wheels and needed some feedback.

I run these on my steel colnago w/ campy record 10s parts.

First thing I noticed is when braking there's a sort of pulsating feel to them which is a bit annoying but doesn't really effect braking power (record brakes work impeccably well).

They spin up quite nicely and roll very well. They're fairly light and I've hit some major potholes (yesterday) and the wheels stayed surprisingly true.

The bad news:

A few weeks ago I started noticing a clunk.clunk.clunk noise coming from down under and started to worry. The record cranks I'm using are square tapered and I've read about some users having them creak after a while. Since these were bought second hand, I really started to worry, thinking it was a sound coming from the BB/Crank area. After trying to trouble shoot it myself. Taking the crank off, removing the BB, inspecting it thoroughly I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the crank. Fed up, I brought it over to the best wrench I can think of (Verazanno Bikes in BK, Tom's been a good friend for many years and for big ticket troubleshooting, he's been extremely helpful). Turns out that under a change in torque, both downshifting and upshifting, the spokes on these wheels rub together causing the sound in question. They're laced radially up front and radially on the NDS rear. The DS rear is laced in a 1x pattern. Apparantly it doesn't effect the functionality of the wheels but is a nuisance nonetheless.

So if you're in the market for a pair of pre-built aluminum clinchers, keep this in mind before pulling the trigger on these.

I'm trying to figure out a work-around and have had a few suggestions thrown at me.

1. replace the spokes.
2. solder the spokes.
3. use a copper tie.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[SPOKE]

Are you sure the rear is 1X drive side? Most builds like this are 2X.
Got a Gage to check spoke tension? Tension may be a little low.
Cheers.....

[dimsy]

I've never built a wheel and I can honestly say I'm a little clueless about it. I'm pretty sure it's a 1x drive side lace pattern. I've attached a picture, hopefully it can be made out. My camera crapped out on me in my crash yesterday so It's a cell phone picture. I do have a tension gauge, the park tool one. It's been sitting in my box for a while. I'm not exactly sure what the tension SHOULD be though.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/5205/48663569.jpg

[wasfast]

I believe they are 2X. If you look near the hub flange, the spokes will cross very close to the flange as well as the one you see further out on the spoke length.

The other option is a drop of lube at the intersection of the spokes. I've had this issue on several other wheels but mostly from rain bike wheels where water and grit get in between the spokes and then dry. The resulting residue then makes noise. I also have this issue on nipple intersections at the rim.

[dimsy]

I believe they are 2X. If you look near the hub flange, the spokes will cross very close to the flange as well as the one you see further out on the spoke length.

The other option is a drop of lube at the intersection of the spokes. I've had this issue on several other wheels but mostly from rain bike wheels where water and grit get in between the spokes and then dry. The resulting residue then makes noise. I also have this issue on nipple intersections at the rim.

wasfast,
You're absolutely right. It is a 2x. I'm going to give the lube a try before I do anything that requires dismantling or extra materials.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[MattTuck]

I find it funny that the product name is called Solitude, and there's a problem with not getting solitude :p