20" 406 rim suggestions

LSMike said:

I'm also quite tempted to get a SON, but am still thinking about
that one.

Last week I built myself a new wheel around a SON hub and used it on an
all night ride this weekend together with a Lumotec Oval Plus mounted
on the fork crown. What an amazing piece of kit it is! If you're on
dark roads and you want the endurance and high availability of a dynamo
system a SON would take some beating. As you would expect from a 3W
system it's not as bright as some of the battery lights you can fit but
you don't have to worry about conserving battery power or fading lights
on long rides. The light it produces is perfectly adequate for lighting
up the dark road ahead. The only time I felt I could have done with a
bit more illumination was on steep descents, but even here I was happy
to let the speed run up to around 30 mph.

The hub itself runs very smoothly. If you lift the front of the bike
and give the wheel a spin with the light off there is very little
braking effect. Switch the light on and the wheel stops within a
revolution or two. However, the drag of the dynamo was not at all
noticeable when riding with the light on.

--
Dave...

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:59:02 +0000 (UTC), "LSMike"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

I'm thinking about getting some new wheels for my Hurricane, and wonder what
rims and spokes you guys would suggest.

I have some Alesa Xplorer lookalikes (remerx brand) which are quite
good, but for total pose you need to speak to your nearest Sith Temple
about disc wheels.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

LSMike said:

I'm also quite tempted to get a SON, but am still thinking about
that one.

Last week I built myself a new wheel around a SON hub and used it on an
all night ride this weekend together with a Lumotec Oval Plus mounted
on the fork crown. What an amazing piece of kit it is! If you're on
dark roads and you want the endurance and high availability of a dynamo
system a SON would take some beating. As you would expect from a 3W
system it's not as bright as some of the battery lights you can fit but
you don't have to worry about conserving battery power or fading lights
on long rides. The light it produces is perfectly adequate for lighting
up the dark road ahead. The only time I felt I could have done with a
bit more illumination was on steep descents, but even here I was happy
to let the speed run up to around 30 mph.

The hub itself runs very smoothly. If you lift the front of the bike
and give the wheel a spin with the light off there is very little
braking effect. Switch the light on and the wheel stops within a
revolution or two. However, the drag of the dynamo was not at all
noticeable when riding with the light on.

--
Dave...

Thanks Dave, super feedback. I love the idea of SON dynamo and lamp
quality, and no charging or other maintenance, but I'm also just a little
tempted by an HID light. I guess a secondary lamp would improve lighting
with the SON setup at night. Since I imagine most of us cruise at over
10mph that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm impressed you built your own wheel!! Do you think it'd be worth me
attempting my first wheel build? I'm reasonably mechanically apt and a good
study.

LSMike said:

Thanks Dave, super feedback. I love the idea of SON dynamo and lamp
quality, and no charging or other maintenance, but I'm also just a
little tempted by an HID light. I guess a secondary lamp would
improve lighting with the SON setup at night. Since I imagine most
of us cruise at over 10mph that shouldn't be a problem.

An ultra-bright battery light in combination with a dynamo one could
work very well. You could keep the laser beam in reserve for high speed
descents and persuading moronic gits to dip their headlights. The SON
lights the road up at well below 10 mph incidentally.

Quoted message said:

I'm impressed you built your own wheel!! Do you think it'd be worth
me attempting my first wheel build? I'm reasonably mechanically apt
and a good study.

It's not actually that hard - I don't think you'd have any trouble.
It's also very satisfying to ride on wheels you've built yourself.
Jobst Brandt's book is well worth a read, as is Sheldon's web page. In
fact the latter is extremely clear and will give you all the
information you need to do a top job. Wheel building is one of those
things where an amateur can get as good a result as a professional. The
main difference is that the pro gets his good result very quickly - he
has to to make it economically viable. At home you can take your time,
be more fussy, and quite likely get a better result.

--
Dave...

On 26/4/05 12:44 pm, in article
[email hidden], "dkahn400"

Quoted message said:

LSMike said:

I'm impressed you built your own wheel!! Do you think it'd be worth
me attempting my first wheel build? I'm reasonably mechanically apt
and a good study.

It's not actually that hard - I don't think you'd have any trouble.
It's also very satisfying to ride on wheels you've built yourself.
Jobst Brandt's book is well worth a read, as is Sheldon's web page. In
fact the latter is extremely clear and will give you all the
information you need to do a top job. Wheel building is one of those
things where an amateur can get as good a result as a professional. The
main difference is that the pro gets his good result very quickly - he
has to to make it economically viable. At home you can take your time,
be more fussy, and quite likely get a better result.

Absolutely seconded. I borrowed a copy of Jobst's book, built my first pair
of wheels and rode round Londong for a couple of years on them with 20mm
tyres. At the end of that (10,000 miles) they were still as true as when I
built them.

...d

David Martin said:

On 26/4/05 12:44 pm, in article
[email hidden], "dkahn400"

Quoted message said:

LSMike said:

I'm impressed you built your own wheel!! Do you think it'd be worth
me attempting my first wheel build? I'm reasonably mechanically apt
and a good study.

It's not actually that hard - I don't think you'd have any trouble.
It's also very satisfying to ride on wheels you've built yourself.
Jobst Brandt's book is well worth a read, as is Sheldon's web page. In
fact the latter is extremely clear and will give you all the
information you need to do a top job. Wheel building is one of those
things where an amateur can get as good a result as a professional. The
main difference is that the pro gets his good result very quickly - he
has to to make it economically viable. At home you can take your time,
be more fussy, and quite likely get a better result.

Absolutely seconded. I borrowed a copy of Jobst's book, built my first pair
of wheels and rode round Londong for a couple of years on them with 20mm
tyres. At the end of that (10,000 miles) they were still as true as when I
built them.

..d

if you're building a 406 rim, get a 32H version over a 36. With 32 you
have just enough room to turn the spoke-key, with 36 probably not. For a
first build that is a distraction you can do without.
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

"m-gineering" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

if you're building a 406 rim, get a 32H version over a 36. With 32 you
have just enough room to turn the spoke-key, with 36 probably not. For a
first build that is a distraction you can do without.
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Cheers for that, will do! I wanted to get a lower spoke anyway, since I'm
fairly light. 🙂

And thanks for the encouragement all, I'm keen to have a go. I'll be
popping down to London Recumbents in a week or so to get a 65t chainring, so
may buy some bits and pieces then.