Cheap(ish) strong wheels - anything else to consider?

[beardy]

Using db spokes instead of plain costs the shop (using their retail prices) an extra £2.50.

So they must think it offers a benefit more than a few grammes.

[Sweep]

I can recommend Spa's wheels.

I have a pair of Sputniks on Deore hubs.

But I have the impression that the plain Deore hubs are less well sealed than the LX ones.

Soon after I got them I discovered a bit of grit had somehow got into the front hub, marking cone and cup. It was clearly noticable when I spun the wheel. I am still puzzle as to how it got there.

I was advised (not by Spa) that though the cup was marked it could be retained, so no need to rebuild the wheel. Cheapest way to sort it (and simplest in view of Shimano's vast range of cones) was to buy another hub and just swap the innards over. Been fine ever since.

So while I can recommend them without reservation I'd go for LX.

Which then only leaves the debate about LX or XT.

[irc]

[b]However, I still question using thinner spokes on the NDS. What does that achieve? A bit of a weight saving but who is bothered about saving weight on a touring wheel

Thinner NDS spokes for the side with lower spoke tension?

For me I'll stick with Sapim Strongs driveside and thinner NDS because it has worked for me after spoke failures in several factory wheels on different bikes. Quite possibly DB spokes both sides on a good handbuilt wheel would work as well but since I have a recipe that works I'll stick with it.

[mercalia]

[b]However, I still question using thinner spokes on the NDS. What does that achieve? A bit of a weight saving but who is bothered about saving weight on a touring wheel

Thinner NDS spokes for the side with lower spoke tension?

For me I'll stick with Sapim Strongs driveside and thinner NDS because it has worked for me after spoke failures in several factory wheels on different bikes. Quite possibly DB spokes both sides on a good handbuilt wheel would work as well but since I have a recipe that works I'll stick with it.

can u get db Sapim strongs? that would be 13G both ends? 2.3mm? Sapim Strong are single butted at the hub end. Can most eyelets accept 13G? some may know here.

[TrevA]

My wheel had DB spokes on both sides of the wheel, but the NDS were thinner, perhaps Sapim Strong on the DS and Sapim Race on the NDS? Why not just use Strong on both sides? And why do only Spa build this way? My SJS built wheel has the same guage spokes on both sides.

I've no complaints about Spa Cycles in general. I bought my wife's touring bike there and have one of their chain sets on my audax bikes.

[Keezx]

However, I still question using thinner spokes on the NDS. What does that achieve? A bit of a weight saving but who is bothered about saving weight on a touring wheel. The wheel had been exclusively used for commuting, carrying perhaps 10lbs of luggage on a 10 mile round trip daily. Surely, a touring wheel should be built to take a lot of weight. Others experiences may vary, of course, but buying from Spa is not an absolute guarantee that you'll get a bombproof wheel.

Thinner spokes on the NDS are much less likely to go slack during heavy use and so are supposed to be more durable.
On a normal dished wheel build the tension is only < 50% of the DS tension., so thinner spokes will be elastic stretched far more.
I build all my wheels with Sapim Race DS and Lasers NDS and never a spoke breaks.
Someting must be wrong with your wheels:
Overall tension too low
Spokes not properly stress releived.
Bad batch of spokes

[Brucey]

FWIW I agree with the above post.

IMHO something was wrong with Trev's wheels, but it wasn't the spoke selection per se.

cheers

[531colin]

I retired from Spa in June 2012. Arthritis in my hands stopped me building wheels about six months before then, and several people have built wheels at Spa since then.
Any wheelbuilder depends on the spoke manufacturer, I have had "stainless" spokes go rusty, I have had spokes so weak I couldn't build and stress-relieve a wheel, over the years there has been a few batches of spokes which had inexplicable failures, like failing NDS spokes, or failures other than at the elbow.(not all the same brand of spoke). I imagine the spoke manufacturer has to depend on whoever makes the wire, and perhaps the wire manufacturer depends on somebody else to make the stainless steel.
On touring wheels with big strong rims, Spa use 13/14g single butted spokes driveside, and 14/16g double butted spokes elsewhere. I believe Hewitt was doing it before Spa, Chris Juden thinks its worth doing, and has explained why on these pages.....its also here http://www.ctc.org.uk/file/member/201105056.pdf

[chocjohn9]

Just to give you a different option to Spa, I've been more than happy with these:

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/atb- ... aid:640733

· rims: Mavic A 719, 36 hole
· front hub: Shimano XT DH-T780 hub dynamo, 36 hole
· rear hub: Shimano XT FH-T780, 36 hole
· spokes: DT Swiss Champion, silver
· nipples: DT Swiss Double Square, brass

£158 for the pair.

[PH]

I've had and been happy with wheels from Hewitt, Spa and SJS, all three have used different spokes either side on a dished wheel.

[73Chaz]

Those Rose wheels seem good value for the spec. Will consider them for my cross check; A719 rims are top of my list at the moment. Not looking for a dynamo hub though.

[iandriver]

Does anyone know if these Rose wheels are handbuilt? Or have they got use of a wheel building machine somewhere?
They don't seem to mention handbuilt on the page. They only medion assembly costs.

[georgew]

Does anyone know if these Rose wheels are handbuilt? Or have they got use of a wheel building machine somewhere?
They don't seem to mention handbuilt on the page. They only medion assembly costs.

They are machine-made and while mine were true when delivered, one or two of the spokes were very different in tension and all needed de-stressing. After doing so however they remained true and the pair I fitted to a friend's bike deviated by only a millimetre when the wheel hit a deep pothole and burst the tube.

[531colin]

I found this on a quick Google...http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=78113

I think there was another thread that got quite heated

[531colin]

Going back to "Mercalia's" spoke tension gauge, look what I found when looking for something else......http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=54115&hilit=park