Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

This silver Rohloff 14 speed hub is laced to a Stan’s Arch EX rim.  This was the first time I’d had a chance to see the internals of a Rohloff and they’re truly impressive!

Neville wanted a Rohloff 14 speed gearbox hub built into a 20″ rim for a human-powered vehicle.  20″ rims in 32 hole are hard to find so we had to wait a couple of weeks for this Velocity Psycho to arrive from Australia, but it’s a great rim and worth the wait.

The wheel is built 1-cross with very short (153mm) spokes and brass spoke nipples.

Most of the wheels I built use spokes nearly twice this length so it was great to see that my methods for calculating spoke length work just as perfectly on wheels of this size.

This 14 speed Rohloff hub is off to New Zealand importer PureSports for one of their lucky customers.

The new Stan’s Arch EX rim takes the outer dimensions of the excellent Crest rim and adds an internal brace to stiffen the rim. This version is lighter than the old Arch, and a slightly wider.

DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples build a durable, long-lasting wheel.

Doug is converting an old steel Eddy Merckx frame into a run-around and had opted for a Rohloff 14 speed internal hub. In order to match the original Campagnolo Roma rims I choose a Mavic Open Pro which is the closest of the modern rims to the classic box-section.

These two pairs of Rohloff hubs are for PureSports new demo bikes.

Both are laced to Crest 29er rims and use DT Swiss Competition spokes.

The black ZTR front hub uses black brass nipples and a black rim. The red Pro2 front hub is laced using red alloy nipples and white rims.

Get in touch with Chris at Puresports if you’re interested in trying out a gearbox hub.

Bill sent me a used Rohloff and a new Pro2 EVO front hub for his new 29er. The Rohloff had been used on a 26″ wheel.

I supplied the Stan’s Arch rims, DT Swiss Competition spokes, and the hard-to-find black brass nipples.

The front wheel is built 3x on both sides. The Rohloff needs to be laced 2x because of the large flanges and the design of the cutouts. I’m not 100% sure as I don’t keep the serial numbers of the Rohloffs but I think I built this hub a few years back into it’s 26″ rim.

This wheel will be used for some long distance touring.

The Mavic rim uses FORE eyelets to ensure UST tubeless compatibility. Mavic recommend 16mm nipples however I generally use 12mm so that the spoke extends all the way through the nipple rather than stopping 4mm short and leaving the nipple’s head unsupported. The longer nipples are suggested so that a spoke can be removed and the nipple won’t be able to fall into the eyelet – this is only an isssue for the wheelbuilder and not the customers in my opinion.

Black DT Swiss Competition spokes and black brass nipples will keep things strong and they look great with the red hub.

One of the great things about a Rohloff hub is that they just simply don’t wear out.

I re-laced this used Rohloff onto a white Arch rim with black DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples.

Mike matched the rear hub to a new Hope Pro2 EVO 20mm thru-axle front hub.

One of the key elements of building a Rohloff hub is that the large flange diameter means the spokes enter the rim at a very steep angle. Some spoke are better than other at coping with these angles, and while I’ve felt this difference I’d never measured it before. So out of curiosity I did this quick test:

An old rim was clamped to the bench on top of a sheet of A3 paper. This particular rim is an old American Classic CR350 which should be representative of most rims.

I used a big ol’ hunk of aluminium square bar to hook the spoke’s end and keep it straight.

Using a sharp pencil I scribed a line along the paper.

Then using a protractor did my best to measure the angles.

Ladies and Gentleman: your podium

1st: Wheelsmith with 19 degrees included angle.

2nd: DT Swiss with 15 degrees

3rd: Sapim with 14 degrees

Not a perfect scientific test but it backs up what I felt from using each of these nipples.

Gearbox hubs are becoming more popular with the launch of Shimano’s Alfine 11 and SRAM’s Torpedo range. The Rohloff is the original gearbox hub and is built so well that, simply put, nothing wears out. Ever.

I laced this Rohloff to a Stan’s Arch 26″ rim for use on a freeride hardtail.

Spokes are DT Swiss Competitions cut to the very short length needed on my Morizumi and brass DT Swiss nipples are the best nipples for the high entry angle of the spoke into the rim.