Another day, another wheel build (and so on).
I built a wheel with a mysterious low-profile carbon rim.
Front wheel is Leaf hub 20H CX-RAY outpoke radial laced,
Rear wheel is Leaf hub 24H half-competition 4-cross laced with solder-joined connections.
This is just my opinion, but for the rear wheel in this build,
if you evaluate it based on factors like how well it engages during actual use
and resistance to deflection,
I think a wheel laced half-comp would be more of a "runner"
than if this wheel were built entirely with CX-RAY spokes.
I understand the temptation to build an ultra-light wheel when you have such a light rim,
but wheel performance isn't determined by the number on the scale alone.
Compared to a standard all CX-RAY 4-cross laced wheel without solder joining,
the spoke selection on the freewheel side, the lacing method on the non-freewheel side, and solder-joining the connections
are all spec differences that add weight.
If someone really wanted such a light wheel, they could just thin out the spokes on both sides of the rear wheel,
build it 10H radial — but that's the kind of extreme logic I'm always writing about here.
Once EDGE and ENVE 1-25 stopped having published weights of 195g or 215g,
ultra-light rims became things like this one.
↑Front rim
↑Rear rim
There's a sticker that says "spoke direction,"
and if you build the spokes coming out of the nearest rim hole to this sticker
following its directional guidance, that gives you proper rim hole orientation as defined on this blog.
In other words, don't treat it as a flipped rim.
For the rear wheel, the sticker doesn't specify whether it should be on the freewheel side or the non-freewheel side.
Either way is valid if you treat it as a proper rim.
There's a holographic sticker that says "carbon rim,"
and seeing this kind of sticker,
some people might think of the word "head."
↑Front wheel
↑Rear wheel
It came out lighter than expected.
I've had what's probably almost the same rim on hold for about 22 months (not 2 months) for another project,
but the hub for that one is unusual,
so I'm having trouble sourcing the spokes.
I've figured out I could build it using spokes from a complete wheel (like Hyperon, for example),
but soon black CX-RAY straight-pull should start being regularly stocked,
so please be patient a bit longer.
I built a wheel with a mysterious low-profile carbon rim.
Front wheel is Leaf hub 20H CX-RAY outpoke radial laced,
Rear wheel is Leaf hub 24H half-competition 4-cross laced with solder-joined connections.
This is just my opinion, but for the rear wheel in this build,
if you evaluate it based on factors like how well it engages during actual use
and resistance to deflection,
I think a wheel laced half-comp would be more of a "runner"
than if this wheel were built entirely with CX-RAY spokes.
I understand the temptation to build an ultra-light wheel when you have such a light rim,
but wheel performance isn't determined by the number on the scale alone.
Compared to a standard all CX-RAY 4-cross laced wheel without solder joining,
the spoke selection on the freewheel side, the lacing method on the non-freewheel side, and solder-joining the connections
are all spec differences that add weight.
If someone really wanted such a light wheel, they could just thin out the spokes on both sides of the rear wheel,
build it 10H radial — but that's the kind of extreme logic I'm always writing about here.
Once EDGE and ENVE 1-25 stopped having published weights of 195g or 215g,
ultra-light rims became things like this one.
↑Front rim
↑Rear rim
There's a sticker that says "spoke direction,"
and if you build the spokes coming out of the nearest rim hole to this sticker
following its directional guidance, that gives you proper rim hole orientation as defined on this blog.
In other words, don't treat it as a flipped rim.
For the rear wheel, the sticker doesn't specify whether it should be on the freewheel side or the non-freewheel side.
Either way is valid if you treat it as a proper rim.
There's a holographic sticker that says "carbon rim,"
and seeing this kind of sticker,
some people might think of the word "head."
↑Front wheel
↑Rear wheel
It came out lighter than expected.
I've had what's probably almost the same rim on hold for about 22 months (not 2 months) for another project,
but the hub for that one is unusual,
so I'm having trouble sourcing the spokes.
I've figured out I could build it using spokes from a complete wheel (like Hyperon, for example),
but soon black CX-RAY straight-pull should start being regularly stocked,
so please be patient a bit longer.