I have a set of wheels builtup with sapim spokes and was considering a carbon rim upgrade.

Can i reuse the spokes?

is the ERD the same? I have no problem re-using spokes as long as you are careful and put them in exact the same place on the rebuild (ie make a pile of DS inner, DS outer, NDS inner and NDS outer and then lace them exactly the same) and be honest about their condition – eh any chain damage, kinks from stone impacts etc.

Thanks, the spokes are mint as the wheels are only 6 months old

The rims are easton arc 30s using hope pro2 evo hubss

I ride pretty hard but im light and like to think smooth so i feel the arcs are pretty hefty for my use.

Can you recommend a carbon rim the same erd / overall width?

Can you recommend a carbon rim the same erd / overall width?

Just buy new spokes, trying to get a carbon rim to match your current spokes (ERD) will limit your choice for the minimal cost of new spokes, bit like looking for a new frame which has to fit your old forks (which aren’t tapeed in 2017)

If the ERDs match and you’re reusing the hub as well, tape the new rim to the old one and transfer the spokes one side at a time. Vastly simplifies relacing! 😀

If they fit (and I mean, if the rim you want is the exact right size, not that you’ve found a rim that fits that isn’t necessarily the one you’d choose otherwise), and they’re not old, no real reason not to. But if they’ve got a decent amount of use in them or any damage etc it might be worth just swapping.

I just googled carbon rim ERD 596 (easton spec) and the E thirteen new TRS carbon is the same spoke count and ERD

so that will work?

I just googled carbon rim ERD 596 (easton spec) and the E thirteen new TRS carbon is the same spoke count and ERD

so that will work?

so is that the Easton carbon rim with an ERD of 596 or the Arc 30 rim?

I am baffled by your approach in all honesty. Pick a rim according to the specs and price you want. Then see if you need new spokes.

Also I would be very wary going on published ERDs. If you do then you are setting yourself up for a fall IMO.

edit: check post 21 here: http://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/easton-arc-30-wide-aluminum-rims-972000.html

The rim ERD depends on the design of the rim, so you need to know the ERD or the rim you have, and find a carbon one with the same measurement. In fact, a decent wheel builder wouldn’t just trust what the manufacturer quoted, but measure it anyway and choose the spokes to suit.

so that will work?

Very unlikely.

edit – without appearing to seem rude, with your level of understanding of the subject, you’d be best to just buy a ready-built wheel or get a wheelbuilder to do it for you.

Is this the rim? https://eu.bythehive.com/collections/wheelgoods/products/trs-race-carbon-rim

550 euros, 425g for the 659b (assume from the ERD you want a 29″ so say 475g). How heavy are the current arc 30’s? Seem quite light for an aluminium wide rim tbh.

The Easton arc is quoted as 596 but possibly a tad more.

Personally I would go with a cheaper rim and buy the correct spokes once you have the new rim and can measure the ERD yourself.

or if you are spending that much on rims see if you can get a good deal on some new wheels built up and sell the old Arc 30’s complete.

Spoke wise my advice for cost vs lightness and toughness is ACI black double butted 2.0-1.7-2.0, then Sapim D-light 2.0-1.65-2.0 (slightly lighter, more expensive). You are only looking at £20 per wheel for spokes with the ACI.

Based on this it looks like i will have a nice set of wheels for sale!!

I will get a much better bang for my buck with a new set.

Keep them, and put some different/lesser used tyres tyres on. Really fast ones for the height of summer, or full on muds for the lows of winter.

before you do anything really weigh up what you hope to gain from going carbon.

How heavy are the Arc 30’s? In all honesty I wish for my 29er I hadnt gone for 30mm inner width carbons and gone for something like a 25mm carbon to save weight and looking at some of the new aluminium rims in that width range on a cost basis I don’t think I would have bothered with carbon.

The Arc 30 is a 535g (claimed) rim in 29er. I’m guessing the E13 at about 450, 460g (they don’t publish 29er weights as far as I can see so that’s an educated guess based on other similar wheels)

THe E13 seems to be a very beefy enduro rim- they’re definitely focusing on strength not lightweight in their bumf (though of course, that’s what you’d do if you just had an uncompetitively heavy wheel rather than a strong one, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt)

There’s tough alu rims at comparable weights like the DT XM421… (I haven’t used one but DT have been making damn fine rims lately, I feel pretty happy assuming it’s good)

If you were to throw, say, a 390g LB 29er rim on it you’d save about twice as much and spend less, and still get (ime) a strong wheel, I’ve been knocking around on my set for a year. But the ERD wouldn’t match obvs.

Aside- do you know what spokes are in it?

The biggest biggy on this subject that noone seems to have touched yet is that you should _never_ take a published ERD on trust, always wait for the rim and measure it yourself. Certainly if considering a different model and brand. The reason for this is that quite apart from rim profiles having an impact there isn’t a universally agreed standard for making the measurement. It’s worth noting that even Shimano publish different dimensions for the same hub in different tech docs sometimes.

Overall though, wheelbuilding is worth learning and everyone starts somewhere, but possibly this is not the ideal learning project – especially with your main/only wheelset.

Contrary to some advice, it’s better to learn with brand new parts rather than second hand ones. Sale season is a good time to pick up some bits. Rose bikes in Germany are usually the best deal for spokes even after Euro conversions and post. Spokes in the UK are very expensive for some reason. No reason used spokes shouldn’t be reused unless there’s obvious physical damage, so long as they’re the right length. If you wanted to do the brave rebuild you started with, I’d pick whatever rims I liked the look of spec and cosmetic wise and then wait for them to arrive, measure the ERD myself and then probably order spokes. DT Comps (2.0/1.8) with brass nipples are my preferred choice. The DT Spoke Calc is pretty much the standard web tool for working out spoke lengths. Again with hubs, measure your own hubs (cheap eBay digital callipers are fine) to get the sizes you need. Roger Musson’s ebook is about a tenner and is a very good place to start.

The Erd on my Light bycycle Chinese carbon rims erd was incorrect when I actually measured them properly.

Be careful and don’t assume that as it says something on the tin it is the case.

Luckily, my erd matched the old rims so I got to reuse my spokes,

vincienup – Member
The biggest biggy on this subject that noone seems to have touched yet is that you should _never_ take a published ERD on trust, always wait for the rim and measure it yourself.

At lease two of us have already mentioned this above.

Fro spokes you really cannot beat these for VFM: https://www.cyclebasket.com/m9b0s453p0/Components_/Spokes_-_Stainless_Steel_BLACK_Double_Butted_

not sure why people keep using heavier and more expensive DT Comps when these are 40p/spoke!

vincienup – Member

Contrary to some advice, it’s better to learn with brand new parts rather than second hand ones.

I’ve been assuming it was going to be a shop build from the posts but yep, this is 100% true. I thought wheel building was going to be hard because I’m so used to wrestling mangled old wheels with bent rims and spoke tension all over the place.