Right i have no idea at all what i am doing and i like a challenge.

I want to build a carbon rim

http://www.light-bicycle.com/wider-mtb-26er-carbon-bike-rim-26-inch-rims.html

with hope hubs 32 holes

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=60993

what spoke length will i need and can someone piont me to a cheap but good spoke torque wrench

http://spokes-calculator.dtswiss.com/Welcome.aspx?language=en
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/
http://www.kstoerz.com/freespoke/fullcalc

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

enter the details of erd diameters, flange etc from the manufacturers web site in here;

http://spokes-calculator.dtswiss.com/Welcome.aspx?language=en

and get spoke length

edit – damn beaten to it!!

I read this yesterday but wanted to check my stuff before replying. Sorry for the delay.

I’ve just built a pair of wheels like your planning. 32hole Hope Evo Hubs on the wider carbon Light-Bicycle 26″ rims.

I used a few spoke calc programs to check spoke lengths before buying, and I can confirm that these work since I’ve built and ridden the wheels 😉

Hope Pro II rear 135mm with the carbon rim
32h three cross – 260mm Left (disc) and 258mm Right (cassette)

Hope Pro II front with the carbon rim
32h three cross – 258mm Left (disc) and 260mm Right (cassette)

So 32 x 258mm and 32 x 260mm… easy 😛

I would say these are on the short side as they were a bit of a faff to get the nipples on so you could easily go 1mm (or even 2mm) longer on the spokes and I think they would still build up with no problems.

For the record I built my wheels up with silver DT Revolution spokes and Alloy Nipples (black and silver alternating). Rims where 363g each. Wheels are 683g front (20mm), 811g rear (135×12), which is 1494g for the pair 8)

I’ve built loads of wheels and didn’t use a torque wrench. Compared with most light wheels I’ve built these were a doddle to true because the rims are very stiff; more like building a DH rim rather than a light XC rim (which can be a bit of a faff to true as they flex).

I ended up buying spokes from Rose as they had stock of what I wanted… although having ordered I was in a panic as to whether I had bought the correct stuff as it was a bit confusing; but worked out in the end.

I’ve been riding them for a few weeks now and was hammering them properly at the weekend and they were great. They feel like a good pair of wheels should. I’ve had them tubed and tubeless with no problems although they were harder to set-up tubeless than Flow’s due to the deep center well… I’m going to swap tyres soon and will use Bontrager Remedy Rim strips which are meant to work better than tape or Flow rimstrips with these rims.

Enjoy!