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Wheel build question

Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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I'm thinking about building up new wheels for my enduro 29er.

I've found some hubs that are 28h, straight pull. They're a really, really good deal. (Dt 350s)

Laced to carbon, 30mm wide, zero bead hook Nextie/Light Bike rims, and used for XC/trail (not lift, not enduro), do you smart guys think they'd hold up under a 200lb rider?

Normally i would want 32 spokes, and probably even more for an ideal 29er build, but I don't have the wheel building experience to really say yay or nay, and I have zero experience with carbon rims.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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my wang chung carbon wheels are 28h. i weigh about the same as you and they've held up no problem. i wanna say the front is 2x, and the rear is 2x disc side and radial drive side. i can check if you want.


fwiw i have something like 3 years on them now, and haven't even had to true them once. and i ride them HARD. :knocks on wood:
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

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oh, they're not straight pull and 26".

which aspect of the build would you be most concerned about? straight pull? spoke count? in theory straight pull are supposed to be strong because there's no bend.
 
yd35

yd35

Monkey
Oct 28, 2008
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NY
Damn, I thought this was the thread with the angry chav wheelbuilder. How disappointing.
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
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Ideally I'd go with more spokes but they should be okay.

I hate straight pull hubs because they can be a huge PITA to lace, and because finding the right spokes for them is a million times harder. But that's a separate issue. They're sturdy enough.
 
blindboxx2334

blindboxx2334

Turbo Monkey
Mar 19, 2013
1,340
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HAB said:
I hate straight pull hubs because they can be a huge PITA to lace, .
Click to expand...
its funny you mention that. i was talking to one of my buddies who works in a shop a couple of months ago, and he was raving how about much easier it is to lace straight pull spokes because when you insert the spoke into the hub 'it essentially tells you what hole in the rim to put it in'.

ive never laced a straight pull wheel; although the timing on this is funny.. i plan to do one soon. so i will see how i like it compared to traditional wheel builds.

thank god i still have the matching front wheel to use as a reference. the rear rim didnt last a week, landed side ways and turned the rear rim into a big wavy/lock washer.
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,006
Seattle
blindboxx2334 said:
its funny you mention that. i was talking to one of my buddies who works in a shop a couple of months ago, and he was raving how about much easier it is to lace straight pull spokes because when you insert the spoke into the hub 'it essentially tells you what hole in the rim to put it in'.

ive never laced a straight pull wheel; although the timing on this is funny.. i plan to do one soon. so i will see how i like it compared to traditional wheel builds.

thank god i still have the matching front wheel to use as a reference. the rear rim didnt last a week, landed side ways and turned the rear rim into a big wavy/lock washer.
Click to expand...
It depends on the hub. Some are easy. Some have the flange arranged such that you have to bend the spoke a bit to get it through, and it becomes super shitty.

The absolute worst were some of the older Cane Creek wheels that had straight pull spokes with the nipples mounted at the hub. They had this special spoke wrench that you could only turn about 1/16 of a turn at a time, so lacing them up took FOR FUCKING EVER. Fuck those things.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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jonKranked said:
oh, they're not straight pull and 26".

which aspect of the build would you be most concerned about? straight pull? spoke count? in theory straight pull are supposed to be strong because there's no bend.
Click to expand...
spoke count. I've had good luck with straight pull in the past, they lace really easy (in my experience) and make for a pretty simple wheel build. First wheel i ever built. I believe straight pull is a little bit stronger, as it doesn't have the bend, but that force is just transferred to the flange, so you could probably make an argument either way. Again, I plan on XCing on these wheels, no DH, so I'll keep the stockers to beat the piss out of, and these will be lightweights for regular stuff.

I had a set of those, they were chronometros before they got bought by cane creek. Ti spokes, CR18 rims, straight pull, with the nipple at the hub. They looked gorgeous, and were light weight, but terrified me.
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
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Seattle
Sandwich said:
I had a set of those, they were chronometros before they got bought by cane creek. Ti spokes, CR18 rims, straight pull, with the nipple at the hub. They looked gorgeous, and were light weight, but terrified me.
Click to expand...
I owe you a cock punch for keeping those fuckers in business. I had to work on them a bit when I was working in a shop, and they are a nightmare.
 
jstuhlman

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
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I liked the straight pulls on my old set of easton havocs. Spoke were easy to replace and didn't need much truing. Pretty sure they were 28 spoke. I beat the piss outta them. But I weight 160 max. Now the rear hub, on the other hand, started doing some weird shit after a while. Went Hope and never looked back.
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
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Seattle
I think the first gen Havocs were 24 front, 28 rear. But yeah, they were pretty solid. An old riding buddy of mine had a pair that held up pretty well, and he was like 200# and managed to break EVERYTHING. I do remember rebuilding his rear Havoc (as in a new rim and spokes) while drunk in a hotel at like 1am on a riding trip once. Good times.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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Sandwich said:
spoke count. I've had good luck with straight pull in the past, they lace really easy (in my experience) and make for a pretty simple wheel build. First wheel i ever built. I believe straight pull is a little bit stronger, as it doesn't have the bend, but that force is just transferred to the flange, so you could probably make an argument either way. Again, I plan on XCing on these wheels, no DH, so I'll keep the stockers to beat the piss out of, and these will be lightweights for regular stuff.

I had a set of those, they were chronometros before they got bought by cane creek. Ti spokes, CR18 rims, straight pull, with the nipple at the hub. They looked gorgeous, and were light weight, but terrified me.
Click to expand...

For xc I wouldn't worry about 28 hole. I've been trying to figure out a way to lace the 28 hole Wang Chung carbon rims I have to some 32 hole hadleys
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
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Radial? http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#radial

Generally, I think this is a bad idea. Those big wheels need all the stiffness they can get. My fat 26 wheels with the spokes 1.5" apart laterally and 90mm of cabon rim aren't anywhere near as critical, so I built them with revolution spokes, something I rarely do, but for the 29er wheels I'm going full count and at least super-comp spokes, if not comp or straight, because stiffness is that important with these huge wheels and this becomes a significant place for it in my experience. Just tightening up the stock spokes cut my "tire buzz" problem down significantly, but that shows you how flexy these wheels can be and how straight gauge spokes may be needed.
 
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