hello all,
I recently gotten into off-road riding. now im hooked.
I consider myself a tourer really, but i have this lovely 28h internal geared hub i'd like to swop into my mountain bike (302%, 3 speed: here's the info if your intrested http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/brompton-wide-ratio-hub-gear-announced-19110/).
what do you think of using a 28 spoke rear wheel for light xc? is it going to survive? ( i wont be done drops... intentionally 🙂 ) asked at my LBS and he said "yes, its not just about the spoke count but more about the build quality"
Ultimatley the idea is to have enclosed chain guard for very low maintainance in all weather riding 8).
thanks
ive got 24s front and rear on my xc bike !
im pretty sure it will be fine
The issues with low spoke count are thus:
1. A bad build will allow wheel to get very out of true.
2. A Weak rim can fail easier as it has less support
3. If a spoke snaps wheel will become significantly out of true
So you have to weigh up the pros and cons. A good build will solve one, not buying rubbish will slove another, the final one... well, how lucky do you feel?
"yes, its not just about the spoke count but more about the build quality"
And the rim.
I guess few have done it so you may not get an answer. I'm not sure I'd risk it - you don't want problems to ruin a trip. But if you are not carrying much kit you may want to try it.
Finding a beefy 28h rim will be your biggest difficulty I should think. If you could get something like a Mavic A719 in 28h I'd certainly give it a try. The biggest things influencing my decision would be where/how far I was going. A bit of UK based touring with a light/moderate load, why not try it. Heading off around the world, maybe look for something else.
Aren't Brompton back ends only about 110mm OLN?
My Bontrager Race-Lites are 28 spoke and are surviving all the jeycore xc stuff this 16 stone racing snake can inflict on them....
Thanks for your responses.
this was the rim i was thinking of,
yes bromptons are narrower i would persuade in the back triangle the amount required as i have cromoly frame, any other material i would even contemplate doing this.
Can i ask those people with 28 spoke or less rear wheels do you find your wheel coming out of true ever?
Ive got a pair of extralight (italian) rims that run 28 spokes, the rims arnt amazingly light (450g) but they seem pretty sturdy. Both extralight hubs have now failed (afteral, they are Italian) and ive rebuit the rear onto a 28h Hope Pro2, since then ive never had any bother with it at all, i think the stiffness in the rim and tight build have helped. The front wheel failed when the hub flange went pop, leaving 2 spokes on one side not connected, this left the wheel with a fair sized buckle, but again due to the stiffness of this particular rim it wasnt bad enough that i couldnt ride it home (its a disc wheel too).
To contrast that, i replaced the front wheel with a hope-hoop/dt combo (32h) which turned into a giant wobbly pringle on its first crash (i fell out the van when wheeling the bike out, hilarious for everyone but me who was left with no front wheel). So in my experience.. 28h good, DT rim bad.
I ran a 28 spoke wheel in a race (217 rim) and it collapsed - only wheel ever to do this to me. I didn't build it!
Not a statistically relevant point I know, but it jinxed me for low spoke counts on handbuilts.
I suppose another way to look at it is that all the 'oldies' still baulk at the idea of using 32h for anything other than 'racing raod bikes' when clearly technology has leaped way beyond the 36h for anything other than heavy touring/tandem riding. Also worth noting, mavic dee-max wheelsets have been 28 spoke for a few years, and you dont see many of them buckled (just destroyed from rocks).
This will be zero or near zero dish wheel so will be stronger than most people expect. It's still only 28 spoke though. I'd give it a go but except that it will be a bit of a experiment.
£18 labour
£7 for spokes
£27 for rim
£52 total a little expensive for an experiement but .. for the pursuit of happiness.
actually when i think about it i could easily spend that on chains 🙂
Meant to say:
110 hub in 135mm frame 😯
no problem cro-mo frame 🙂
Sounds like an un-necessary load of bodging that could let you down badly. Using a 28 hole hub meant for 16" wheels in a 26" rim so the lack of dish would be more pronounced, then squeezing in the drop-outs by 20/25mm, then narrowing the rear rack by the same amount and going off-road touring. Hope you'll be carrying hiking boots.
Sounds like an un-necessary load of bodging that could let you down badly.
can certainly agree but i feel its worth trying.
do you not mean the dish would be less pronounced as due to the large wheel the spoke angle be be less?
It's only 4 spokes....
Should be OK, I wouldn't even be [i]that[/i] bothered about the narrower hub TBH... Make sure there's enough tension, don't arse about too much on it...
Edit; you could always bodge some spacers for the hub.
If you'll ignore the hyperbole.... the 4 less spokes are but pissing in the wind compared to bending each side of the rear triangle in by 12.5mm(!). Spacers and/or a longer axles are surely the way forward here, but even then it's not ideal.
anymore before i pay for the build?
Flog the hub and buy something proper for the job!
like
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32 or 36H alfine for starters?