XTR Wheel Rebuild

mtbmac said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

If your wheel is working fine, don't do this. It is not advisable and
will not make any difference. It wouldn't make any difference on a
road bike going up hill only. Much less on a mountain bike. You
probably can't tell the difference between riding with some accessory,
or an extra jacket, or more water. The difference in weight between
the spokes is so negligible that it is impossible to notice. I
wouldn't put revolution spokes on a mtb bike even if I got paid to do
so.

Finally, as a repair, the last thing that you ever want to do is
replace spokes while keeping hubs and rim.

Andres

mtbmac said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard to save 100 grams of weight.

Lou

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard to save 100 grams of weight.

I'm surprised that it comes to a quarter of a pound. That's actually a
fairly significant chunk of weight; if he's re-building it himself, why not?
People do sillier things to reduce a quarter pound of weight. I agree that
the only point to it might be to lose a quarter of a pound, and I wouldn't
do it myself, but if he can afford XTR components in the first place...

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard to save 100 grams of weight.

I'm surprised that it comes to a quarter of a pound. That's actually a
fairly significant chunk of weight; if he's re-building it himself, why not?
People do sillier things to reduce a quarter pound of weight. I agree that
the only point to it might be to lose a quarter of a pound, and I wouldn't
do it myself, but if he can afford XTR components in the first place...

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

DT Revolution 1.8/1.5 = 261 grams/64pcs
DT Competition 2.0/1.8 = 381 grams/64 pcs
So actually is a little more than 100 grams.
Still I think it is a dumb idea to tear perfectly good wheels apart for
120 grams weight savings on a ATB of lets say 10-11 kg and 500 grams of mud.
Well, he asked for opinions. This is mine...

Lou

mtbmac said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

re the weight question, yes it will give you a small reduction. so will
use of alloy spoke nipples.

re advisability, it'll make the wheels slightly less rigid as the
thinner spokes are more elastic. you'll have to make up your own mind
on the worth of that. if you /do/ rebuild, consider using "normal"
butted spokes, 2.0-1.8-2.0, drive side rear as the dish of the rear
wheel makes lateral deflection an issue - the thicker spokes will keep
it a little stiffer on the "unstiff" side.

as a side note, many people dislike building with skinny spokes due to
their torsional flexibility and windup. marking the spokes with a pen
before tensioning helps you keep a visual handle on this situation.

mtbmac said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Troll?

I have Revolutions on my wheels. They were built many years ago,
maybe '97? I don't ride as hard as i used to and i think they held up
well.
My bike has been sitting for 3 years and i have finally gotten back
into riding. I should have inspected/tuned up everything. Two rides
later, my rear spokes exploded.

If you don't get crazy, i think Revolutions would be fine. However,
if you like Urban/big air, I'd advise against them.

Right now I'm debating Revolution spokes on my XT/Sunset 217 rebuild.

mtbmac said:

Heres the deal, I am considering replacing the OEM spokes in my 2003
XTR Wheels, with either DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapin CX-Ray's. Does
anyone know if this will cut the weight of the wheels down? If so, how
much? Finally, would this even be adviseable to do?

Thanks, Mike

A wee bit but rebuilding with a lighter hub, like DT and a lighter
rim, with enough spokes would save more weight.
There are better places to save weight than doing this to the XTR
wheel.