Touring wheels

Paul D said:

So to sum up, I don't know and won't know for a while how good his wheel
builds are, but I'd recommend his site/shop to anyone. That is until my poor
wheel gives up in the back end of nowhere, France.

Paul Hewitt has a reputation as one of the best wheel builders in the
UK. I've had four wheels built by him and they've been superbly
finished and incredibly reliable. One tandem set and a set of
touring/audax wheels based on MAvic T217 and Campag Record hubs.
They've remained impressively true[1] over 7 years or more.

The T217 was a great rim, shame Mavic dropped it.

No commercial connection, just a happy customer.

tom.

[1] That was until August when Ryanair baggage handlers managed to
bend my rear wheel about 3" during a flight to Belfast. Great start
to a touring holiday!

Dave Kahn said:

Quoted message said:

IMO a 16 spoke wheel is not a sensible choice for a touring bike. If a
single spoke breaks the wheel will immediately be unrideable.

you can replace a driveside spoke without removing the gearcluster! (but
you'll need a pump 😉)

It looks like Santana uses this rim with heavier spokes and a wider hub
in tandems.

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Paul D said:

The time has come to get some decent road wheels for touring purposes, but
the array of hubs & rims is a little bewildering.

Was looking at the Paul Hewitt site & custom built wheels with shimano hubs
& mavic open pro rims come in at about £170. Are custom built wheel worth
the extra over pre-built ones?

Yes, if you can't re-true them yourself or don't want the hassle.
Machine built wheels can be made as good as handbuilt in half an hour by
someone who knows what they're doing, but the best handbuilt ones won't
ever need touching until the rims wear through.

Quoted message said:

So, the questions. Is this a decent price?! Are ultegra hubs considerably
better than tiagra ones, or does anybody else have any recommendations for
other (shimano 9spd compatible) hubs? What rims would the masses recommend
(only chose mavic open pro's as i've heard good things about them before).
And finally, recommendations on people/places/websites for quality wheel
builds?

Open Pros aren't the best rims, they're just the most common. They're
basically the old Open 4CD rims with a machined sidewall. The best rims
are not black anodised - they're silver anodised, IME. Hard black
anodising promotes cracking around the spoke holes, and no anodising at
all is unsuitable for British roads that get salted in winter. Go for
something appropriate for your weight - sub 400g rims aren't recommended
for 200lb claymores - and ensure the rim has a proper box section for
the best strength/weight ratio. "Aero" rims are actually rather good in
this respect, so what about Mavic CXP33, in silver?

Most people should use double butted spokes, which save weight and are
more springy, which helps to stop the wheel going out of true. There is
an argument for plain gauge spokes on a touring bike because the wheel
will go out of true by less if a spoke does break, and you can fix it
later (who wants to remove a cassette in the rain?). However, a good
wheel with d/b spokes is unlikely to have problems in the first place.

Most builders use MTB hubs for touring, not Tiagra or Ultegra, but if
your bike is 130mm between dropouts then you'll need road kit. I'd go
for Deore (MTB) or 105 (road), which are plenty good enough.

So in a nutshell I'd have CXP33 rims and Deore or 105 hubs, handbuilt
with d/b spokes. Get LX or Ultegra hubs if you want to spend the extra.

David Martin said:

MA2 are good as well, and not very expensive.

MA2 are long gone, having been too simple and not profitable enough for
Mavic. The joke on r.b.t. is that the remaining world supply is sitting
in Jobst Brandt's kitchen (he has admitted to stockpiling them before
they were discontinued).

John Everett said:

Potential problems: 1) Are Phil Wood hubs available in the UK?

Yes - at least, the track hubs are, and I expect the others can be ordered.

2) Who

Quoted message said:

can offord them?

Not me, at the moment anyway!

Zog The Undeniable said:

Open Pros aren't the best rims, they're just the most common. They're
basically the old Open 4CD rims with a machined sidewall.

There are both CD and non CD versions of Open Pro.

Quoted message said:

The best rims
are not black anodised - they're silver anodised, IME.

The standard Open Pro is silver anodised (soft anodised).

Quoted message said:

Hard black
anodising promotes cracking around the spoke holes,

....and worse, but you don't have to have it.

~PB

Tom Jackson said:

All this talk about wheel bits has reminded me that I saw some
interesting bargains in the Edinburgh Bike sale (ends Sun 16th
apparenty).

Fans of the Mavic MA2 can pick them up for 6.95, but only in 32hole.
They've also got various silver or blue Mavic Open Pro rims at 11.95
or 14.95 (blue)

Any, maybe best bargain, 9/10 speed Campagnolo Chorus Hubs at about
half price (42quid for a rear and 25quid for a front).

look at the sale section under accessories/rims at:
http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/

Thanks very much Tom. I've stocked up on blue Open Pros since no one else
seems to sell them any more (Mavic stopped making this colour?). I
managed to hold myself back from the Chorus hubs, though -- not easy! :-)

Quoted message said:

Ususal disclaimer; no commercial connection

Ditto.

Quoted message said:

but thought those prices
were worth knowing about, esp if you still hanker for MA2 rims!!

Another bargain: Specialized Nimbus EX 700x38 tyres @ £3.95.

Postage seems to be £3 for any accessories order.

~PB

Tom Jackson said:

All this talk about wheel bits has reminded me that I saw some
interesting bargains in the Edinburgh Bike sale (ends Sun 16th
apparenty).

Fans of the Mavic MA2 can pick them up for 6.95, but only in 32hole.
They've also got various silver or blue Mavic Open Pro rims at 11.95
or 14.95 (blue)

Unfortunately they sold out of blue Open Pros before I could nab them.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

Tom Jackson said:

All this talk about wheel bits has reminded me that I saw some
interesting bargains in the Edinburgh Bike sale (ends Sun 16th
apparenty).

Fans of the Mavic MA2 can pick them up for 6.95, but only in 32hole.
They've also got various silver or blue Mavic Open Pro rims at 11.95
or 14.95 (blue)

Unfortunately they sold out of blue Open Pros before I could nab them.

They've sold out of the MA2s also. :-(

--
Dave...

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the
future of the human race. - H. G. Wells