Another day with wheels (and so on).
Built a rear wheel with an Open Pro rim.
The anodize color of the rim is what Mavic calls "CD".
Compared to the silver and black versions of the same Open Pro,
rims in this color feel noticeably stiffer when building wheels.
Black is slightly stiffer than silver,
but there's an even bigger difference between black and CD.
The fact that the rim sidewalls are also CD probably contributes to this stiffness.
The hub is an FH-7700.
For rotational smoothness, this hub is still the best among all the Dura-Ace hubs I've used.
I've written before about my criticism of the 7900 and later design that lost infinite bearing cone adjustment,
but setting that aside,
the 7700 has larger bearing balls, and I think the contact angle and contact surface area with the cone are particularly well-designed.
Even when tuning hubs like the 7800 series, which also allow infinite bearing cone adjustment,
they don't achieve the rotational smoothness of this hub.
The Dura-Ace hub flanges are thick,
and they're made so that 14-gauge spokes don't pass through easily,
giving the spoke heads excellent grip.
This is the same with current models too.
32H semi-comp Yamashita lacing pattern with no cross-lacing.
Both the lacing pattern and the lack of cross-lacing were the customer's request.
The Open Pro is able to handle tension, and honestly
it's reached the point where cross-lacing feels unnecessary.
The build quality is textbook-perfect for left and right different-gauge asymmetrical lacing.
But there's more to it than that.
This hub has a right flange width of 20.8mm, which is quite wide,
so there's very little difference in dish between left and right sides.
Most hubs these days are around 19mm,
and you can feel the difference when building wheels under 20mm.
If you build 32H six-cross lacing, the non-freewheel side doesn't rise properly.
Hub dimensions really are a major factor.
Built a rear wheel with an Open Pro rim.
The anodize color of the rim is what Mavic calls "CD".
Compared to the silver and black versions of the same Open Pro,
rims in this color feel noticeably stiffer when building wheels.
Black is slightly stiffer than silver,
but there's an even bigger difference between black and CD.
The fact that the rim sidewalls are also CD probably contributes to this stiffness.
The hub is an FH-7700.
For rotational smoothness, this hub is still the best among all the Dura-Ace hubs I've used.
I've written before about my criticism of the 7900 and later design that lost infinite bearing cone adjustment,
but setting that aside,
the 7700 has larger bearing balls, and I think the contact angle and contact surface area with the cone are particularly well-designed.
Even when tuning hubs like the 7800 series, which also allow infinite bearing cone adjustment,
they don't achieve the rotational smoothness of this hub.
The Dura-Ace hub flanges are thick,
and they're made so that 14-gauge spokes don't pass through easily,
giving the spoke heads excellent grip.
This is the same with current models too.
32H semi-comp Yamashita lacing pattern with no cross-lacing.
Both the lacing pattern and the lack of cross-lacing were the customer's request.
The Open Pro is able to handle tension, and honestly
it's reached the point where cross-lacing feels unnecessary.
The build quality is textbook-perfect for left and right different-gauge asymmetrical lacing.
But there's more to it than that.
This hub has a right flange width of 20.8mm, which is quite wide,
so there's very little difference in dish between left and right sides.
Most hubs these days are around 19mm,
and you can feel the difference when building wheels under 20mm.
If you build 32H six-cross lacing, the non-freewheel side doesn't rise properly.
Hub dimensions really are a major factor.