Just building some wheels for a pal…PX 20mm carbon tub rims, rev spokes and I think A2Z hubs, **** me they are light!

Rude not to!

tubs tho………doesn’t count! 😉

Oh and Andy I’ll get them finished soon!

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mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I think my 288g/alpha build is going to get me in trouble with an ever spiraling series of “ohh that’d be lighter” moments!

Tempting, my roadie is on back order and I’m already thinking about upgrades

Is the life of them measured in hours?
(having spent 4 hours yesterday with a Lightweight registered technician)

my mate runs tubs and loves them, but ive told him if he gets a puncture i’m leaving him

No reason it should be. Rims are the same as FFWD F2Rs, androad hubs don’t have a particularly tough life!

IME road hubs do have as hard a time as mtb, even moreso when folk think they don’t and never service them…

I don’t that it was the hubs/spokes that anyone was thinking about in terms of reliability. It’s the rims that would be of most concern. Although as always this depends on your weight/power.

FFWD place an 80kg weight limit on them, I’d have no qualms using them, but I don’t weigh 80kg.

on-one have a limit of 80kg on their built wheels with the same rims, I was just sshy of 80 last time I weighed myself 😀

njee – how do you know all this stuff about which brands are running the same parts, and how do you retain it?!

Al – I was weened on Guinness; all good things come to those who wait!

njee – how do you know all this stuff about which brands are running the same parts, and how do you retain it?!

I know about the rims in this instance because when they first listed them they still had the complete description lifted from FFWD including things like: “Includes FFWD decals under clear coat”, which seemed unlikely!

There’s quite a bit of talk about this sort of thing on Weight Weenies too, and it’s reasonably obvious in a lot of circumstances where products are shared. The rims are made by a company called Gigantex, who also brand them for Token, FSA (I think) and various others.

I retain it because I’m a complete nerd who can reel off Pi to 65 decimal places, know virtually all Shimano part numbers by heart and like lightweight bike parts 😉

Excellent work!

Now, what do you know about the differences between these two? http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/RIPXCAR50/planet_x_carbon_r50_rim and http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/RIPX50C/planet_x_50mm_carbon_rim and is there any reason i couldn’t use the 24 hole version of the latter as a front?

Just a wee bit of preliminary research at the moment… – must resist urge when I haven’t even ridden a tub yet never mind glued one or had to change one roadside following a puncture – thinking some Ambrosio Nemesis rims for winter 😈

No reason at all you can’t use a 24h as a front.

The second one, without the decals is definitely a Gigantex one, not so sure on the front one, looks a little different. I’d ask them, no reason for them to be cagey. The cheaper one is lighter, if you can live with the decals it looks a better option!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I think my 288g/alpha build is going to get me in trouble with an ever spiraling series of “ohh that’d be lighter” moments!

Whats that your building? Are those stans rims?

I’m guessing that’s Novatech 288g hubs (from the ‘bay) and Alphas, rather than 288g Alphas, which was how I first read that.

Should still be a brilliant ‘everyday’ wheelset if you don’t want the faff of tubs.

No reason at all you can’t use a 24h as a front.

Just be aware that a 24 hole rim might be drilled with slanting spoke holes for the off side and vertical for drive.

Stans alpha rims (2x 350g) £150/pair posted 2x350g from CRC with £10 off £75 voucher codes

288g hubs off ebay (mine are branded sokin, but there’re loads of other ‘brands’ on there too, MrRide etc) £60 posted

24 spoke front, 28 spoke rear, about 40p/spoke @4.4g/spoke = 228g, £21 from rose bikes

KCNC Ti QR’s 40g, £40 from XCracer

Total weight = ~1300g inc QR’s for £270

Extras:
£10 for some Ti QR’s from China which were so badly made I binned them
£3 electrical tape
£60 Park spoke tension guage (not really needed as I checked my last pair of wheels with it and they’re almost spot on and under the stans tension limit)

I’m guessing that’s Novatech 288g hubs (from the ‘bay) and Alphas, rather than 288g Alphas, which was how I first read that.

Should still be a brilliant ‘everyday’ wheelset if you don’t want the faff of tubs.

yes that makes sense, the PX rims or the Alpha’s are my own current build dilemma.

KCNC Ti QR’s 40g, £40 from XCracer

If you’ve not got the skewers already check out Mt Zoom, mine were 1g heavier than the KCNCs, but are far far more confidence inspiring; much longer levers so they actually feel like they’re holding your wheels!

Already got them, I’ve got them on the mountainbike so should be Ok on the road bike, after the chinese ones I was sticking with what I already knew! The ones from China had plastic inserts where the KCNC ones are brass, which just chewed up as soon as they were tightened, then again, what did I expect, postage to return them to china would be £8!

What tires did you get in the end?

What tires did you get in the end?

me, Schwalbe Ultremo HT, or TINAS?

Haven’t decided yet, the bits are still on the kitchen table as I’ve been busy and haven’t had an evening free for spannering.

I’ll probably just get whatever’s currently on the best offer out of the usual ultremo/gp4000/pro4, much as I’d like tubeless it seems an expensive faff on a road bike, and I might treat myself to some of these tubs if I can get myself under the weight limit this summer!

My alphas came in at 1225g the pair similar spec to yours.
24/24 running tubeless for about a year no problems built by me.
Also completed the tour of Flanders on them and there still straight as a die.

Go tubeless. It’s great.

Last coat of glue and mounting tubs tomorrow *excited*

Pah, you need Tufo tape, you could have those tubs fitted and be out riding by now 😉

Nah, glue all the way!

1225g is good for the Alphas, considering that’d be a totally ‘normal’ wheelset.

Not been riding very much recently after a big crash in the bunch in a race (broke my pinkie 🙁 which then didn’t sit right and had to get wired a couple of weeks later) and the weather has been pish so didn’t think it would be wise to take them out in the chaingang until I was comfortable with the braking.

Took them out for my first proper ride on them yesterday , they feel so good, dunno if that’s ‘cos they’re tubs or just so bloody light. Braking wasn’t too scary even in the wet.

The only downside was the chunk of wire that sunk through my back tyre on the way home – looking at the bright side; changing a tub on the roadside wasn’t too bad, don’t think it took much longer than changing a tube, bit more expensive though!

Now, do I send it off to get repaired, cut it open and attempt to repair it myself or squirt in some Stans and hope for the best?

Thanks again for building them Al!

Bit of Stan’s won’t hurt, can always send it off if that doesn’t work.

Personally I’d get it repaired, I don’t think I could trust the tyre with only a sealant repair.

I’m thinking Stans and I’ll be putting some into the next training tyres I get (the cheap contis I’ve got at the mo don’t have removable cores 🙁 ) as a preventative measure, what’s 20ml of sealant when your wheels weigh this little 😀

I found a good vid of Stans at work in a tub here; [video]http://vimeo.com/6477712[/video]

3rd edit lucky 😆

I ran some Stan’s in my Conti Competitions. Never flatted, dunno if that was luck, or with assistance from the Stan’s though! I’d do it again as a preventative.

mustard – Member

Took them out for my first proper ride on them yesterday , they feel so good, dunno if that’s ‘cos they’re tubs or just so bloody light.

It’s the build 😉