Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

I had a bike fit session done by Mike Anderson at Bike Hutt earlier this week. I’d been having some issues with my right knee and suspected I was sitting off to one side of the bike – not good. I know the basics of bike fit but this is a specialized area…self-analyzation is very difficult and the consequences of getting it wrong can be painful. Mike is an extremely knowledgeable guy and his shop in Upper Hutt is well worth the visit (just don’t buy any wheels from him :-p )

I was fairly sure that my saddle height and setback were OK and was more concerned with leg tracking which I suspected was causing my knee problems. The short-version is that Mike shimmed my left foot which was struggling with tracking – this leveled me out on the bike and allowed my right leg to do it’s job correctly and therefore cut down on it’s problems.  My lack of core strength was also at fault: I don’t ride the trials bike, jump bike or bmx much these days and as a result have lost a huge amount of core strength and stability.

Changes in fit can take time to pay off, even small reasonably ones like what I needed. I’ve ridden every day this week and I feel pretty good but the test of time will be in a few more weeks to see if the right leg settles down.

The Kinlin XR-200 rims are much stiffer than their feathery 390g weight would suggest – in order to test the durabilty I built this set for my own use and as a demo pair for clients to enjoy.

The front wheel is an Alchemy ELF hub laced with CX-Ray spokes.  The rear wheel uses a Tune Mag180 hub laced 2x non-driveside and 1x driveside with all heads-in.  The idea here was to reduce the tension mis-balance between the driveside and non-driveside spokes by shortening the driveside spokes.  By lacing all heads-in the effective bracing angle is increased which will build a laterally stiffer wheel.

Total wheelset weight is 1289g – very light.  Lateral stiffness is great and they’re an enjoyable pair of wheels to ride so it will be interesting to see how the rims last.  Interested in riding these wheels yourself and finding out what all the fuss is about?

Surly make good stuff and this flip-flop rear track hub is no exception: A simple no-bullshit hub which can accept both a freewheel and fixed cog.

The rim is a used Mavic CXP22 and is laced with silver DT Swiss Competition spokes.

Generally Aksiums are a pretty bombproof wheelset so it was surprising to see this rear wheel with a spoke pulling through the rim.

I rebuilt the wheel with new rim and re-used the existing spokes and nipples.

The most frustrating part of rebuilding a Mavic hub is that the straight-pull spokes fall out of the hub shell when the tension is released.  To prevent this I cut some cardboard strips, fold them in half and place them between the spokes.

While visually similar to this pair this wheelset is designed for a completely different use and rider.  The ZTR Race wheelset is designed for race use for a light rider whereas this wheels is designed for a heavier rider and will see much more use.

Rims are the heavier, more durable ZTR Olympic at 361g each.  While still being a light-weight XC rim these can take a real bearing and last well.  Spokes are stiffer DT Swiss Competition and brass nipples are used on the rear wheel for a bit more durability.  While still being very light at 1633g these wheels should last a loonnnng time.

Two matching pairs of Kinlin XR-270 rims laced to an Alchemy ELF front hub and DT Swiss 240s rear hub. The ELF is a great hub – only 63 grams but it builds a very stiff wheel due to the wide flanges and wide bearing placement. The bearings are “full sized” so lifespan should be much greater than other lightweight hubs like the M5 or American Classic.

Spokes on the red wheelset are DT Swiss Aerolite, on the silver wheelset are Sapim CX-Ray.

The XR-270 rims are a fantastic all-round road rim – the weight is reasonable and lateral stiffness is excellent. Laced to these hubs with light bladed spokes and alloy nipples the weight is generally around 1390 grams.

One pair is for a local gentleman, the other pair was boxed and shipped to Australia.

I really enjoy building wheels with interesting lacing patterns but unfortunately I don’t get the chance very often.  These wheels are fairly standard Campagnolo hubs laced to Open Pro rims with DT Swiss Competition spokes and gold alloy nipples.

The spokes are a combination of three-cross and radial spokes.  Each grouping of 4 spokes consists of two radials inter-weaved with two of the crossed spokes. This pattern was surprisingly easy to lace and build and structurally should be similar in durability and stiffness to a standard three-cross wheel.

These wheels are not light but they’ll ride well and will look standard at first glance – a closer inspection will show the unique lacing pattern.

Special edition white DT Swiss hubs laced to super light Stan’s ZTR Race 284 gram rims. These rims build up very stiff despite their light weight which is a pleasant surprise – durability is still to be tested though ;-)

Sapim CX-Ray spokes and SILS nipples hold it all together. Custom red Wheelworks decals on the hubs. These hubs are for centerloc rotors but will be fitted with Magura 6-bolt adaptors and rotors.

The pictures show the rims fitted with Stan’s airtight yellow tape and tubeless valvecores which are needed to run these wheels tubeless. All the Stan’s rims I sell include tape and valvecores but by removing the valvecores a standard innertube can be fitted if desired.

Ian  Paintin’s race report after stepping onto the top of the Masters 2 podium in Nelson:

The rain set in at 8 am, and judging from the rain radar I downloaded off MetService’s site, we were going to get a decent hosing. I’d have preferred some better mud tires but was committed to the WTB Wierwolf [front] and Crossmark [rear]. As it was my last year in M2, I was keen to get near the podium but there were some heavy hitters on the start grid. The decision was made by BikeNZ to shorten the number of laps for all grades by 1 in light of the conditions.

Rob Kilvington set a smoking pace up the shingle road and I struggled to hold his wheel. The single track through the creek was awesome with so much water running down the track the wheels were not clogging with mud. At the end of the first lap, I was in fourth place, but still in sight of the leaders. I closed the gap on the shingle road climb to follow Chris and Rob into the creek single track. Through the forest switchbacks, I had Rob and Chris Gaze in sight 30-50 m ahead. I managed to get past Chris on a steep root section through the top of the course. Trevor had me in his sights on a steep descent where I was slowing for the corner but Trevor sailed through the corner and took a while to reunite with his bike.

I managed to pass Rob on a flat section before hitting the single track and the descents back to the start/finish.

Rob and I extracted maximum effort each other with Rob slowly pulling me in on the descents and I’d get away slightly on the climbs. There was no let up and I was not going to give up the lead easily. Back markers from the earlier starting grades were generally very accommodating letting us pass where they could.

We never lost sight of each other from half way through the second lap and so coming out of the forest descent on the third lap into the finish paddock Rob was right on my tail.

I was probably in a better gear than Rob and managed to hold him off, despite my rear end mildly fish tailing on the sodden grass.

The rain was actually a blessing as it kept the track well washed and the mud very sloppy. Any less rain and the mud would have clogged the tires making the descents much more exciting. There was surprising grip on the climbs as long as you were smooth in the pedal stroke.

Apart from a small flat section in the big ring I did the whole course in the middle ring using momentum to get up the short steep pitches.The bike behaved very well and the Stans ZTR wheel set was easy to spin up quickly.

ciao

Ian

The Past

Back when bikes were steal and breasts were real all high-quality aluminum rims used steel eyelets. Eyelets provide the rim with a larger contact surface for the spoke nipple which traditionally helped to reduce cracking around the nipple or the nipple pulling through the rim. As a nice side effect they often allow the nipple to rotate easier while building the wheel.

Eyeletted and non-eyeletted rims

There are two types of eyelets; single eyelets and double eyelet:

Single Eyelets

The eyelet is a small circular steel band which is pressed onto the rim after the spoke hole has been drilled.  A single eyelet only covers the inner wall of the rim.

Eyeletted and non eyeletted rims from inside - impossible to differentiate

Double Eyelets

Double eyelets are also known as “sockets.”  In this case the eyelet extends from the inner wall of the rim to the outer wall of the rim.  Double eyelets are heavier however they generally do a better job of preventing the nipple from pulling through as they spread the load of the spoke tension to both walls of the rim.  Visually the only way to tell if eyelets are single or double is to remove the tyre, inner tube and rim tape and examine the outer wall of the rim.

Single and double eyeletted rims

Pros and Cons of Eyelets

As with any rule there are exceptions, however generally speaking eyelets:

1. Decrease the chance of the rim cracking around the spoke nipple
2. Allow the spoke nipple a greater range of rotation
3. Increase the ease of building the wheel
4. Increase the weight of the rim

The Present

The quality of aluminum alloys and the ability to extrude them has improved dramatically in recent years and as a result there are modern high-quality rims which do not have (and do not need) eyelets. There are good rims with eyelets and poor rims with eyelets, and conversely there are good rims without eyelets as well as with them and in my eyes it doesn’t matter.  The rim should be chosen on it’s overall quality and reputation, not by whether it has eyelets or not.

A Few Examples of Good and Bad Rims

DT RR1.1 single eyeletted rim

DT Swiss RR1.1 single eyeletted road rim.  After being released 4 years ago these 420 gram rims quickly received a reputation for cracking, especially when used on the rear wheel.  As a result DT Swiss produced a 480 gram double-eyeletted version which is recommended for rear wheel use.  These rims build up really well and are beautifully true however I don’t see the value in an expensive, heavy rim which has poor aerodynamics and comparatively poor lateral stiffness.

Outland 390 gram eyeletted rim

An Outland Eyeletted rim.  Does a 390 gram rim eyeletted road rim sound too good to be true?  It is.

Kinlin XR-270 non-eyeletted rim

The Kinlin XR-270 is a non-eyeletted road rim which weighs around 455 grams, is amazingly stiff and durable, and has a semi-aero profile.  The supplier for these rims has not had a single report of cracking around the spoke holes even on low-spokecount wheels with high spoke tension.  This is a perfect example of a good non-eyeletted rim.

Alex R400 non-eyeletted rim

The R400 is another example of a great non-eyeletted road rim: 410 grams with similar lateral stiffness and aerodynamics to the DT RR1.1.

Alex Adventurer eyeletted rim

The Alex Adventurer is a 505g mountain bike rim with great stiffness and durability. It’s inexpensive and a great example of an eyeletted rim for low cost freeride / heavy use wheelsets.