Another wheel day (and so on).
A customer left me a PowerTap rear wheel.
Though it's something I built myself in the past.
It has a PowerTap Elite Plus hub 32H
laced in black all-Campagnolo 4-cross.
I'm pretty sure I didn't tie the black spokes back then.
They wanted me to rebuild it with all CX-RAY spokes
and the Nomu Lab Wheel #5 rim,
but we're currently out of stock on that rim.
So unable to wait, I'm going with their other request:
swapping to an 11S freebody
while keeping this rim as-is with all CX-RAY laced and tied.
DT's road rims were originally just two types—RR1.1 and RR1.2—
but RR1.1 became RR415 and RR1.2 became RR585
(the numbers also represent catalog weight)
and then RR465 came out (←discontinued, current model is RR440)...
but RR415 got discontinued too.
Rated at 415g, actual measurement was just over 420g,
so it was definitely slightly lighter than Mavic Open Pro,
but DT rims have soft aluminum material (you can feel it even when building),
so I'm not really a fan.
Only RR585 is hard, but that's not an aluminum material issue—
it's from the weight being nearly 600g.
I've been asked before, "Why don't you offer Nomu Lab Wheels with RR465 offset rims?"
but I couldn't really consider it.
You need a decent bulk order and several months lead time,
and DT rims beyond the domestic distributor's standard stock of 28H and 32H
can be ordered in 20H, 24H, etc.
But building 24H rear wheels with DT rims other than RR585 gives me the chills.
Mavic, and then Kinlin rims really do have a hardness that's unusually good in the best way.
Even if RR415 weighed around 435g like Open Pro,
it still wouldn't match Open Pro's hardness.
By the way, this rim is model R450.
RR stands for Road Racing, R stands for Road,
and RR models except 585 have single eyelets while R has none—
but the recently released RR511 rim has no eyelets either.
R450 is also a discontinued model; the current version is R460.
RR415's rated spoke tension limit is 1100N,
but this one is 1200N (≒120kgf), which is a relief.
That 100N difference is huge.
DT rims tend to have stickers that peel up like bonito flakes
from brake heat on descents,
but with this R450, it doesn't seem to peel like the RR series.
Plus, for some reason it's noticeably harder than RR465.
Strange, isn't it.
"Could it be that the R series has different sticker properties and isn't in-house made?
But if the R series is outsourced and a budget grade,
and it's harder than the main RR series rims,
does that mean the outsourced aluminum is actually better?"
—I'm not raising that question, just so you know.
While cleaning the hub...
Swapping from steel 10S freebody
to aluminum 11S freebody.
Built.
All CX-RAY 4-cross laced and tied.
Since yesterday's Nomu Lab Wheel #5 20H front wheel is its partner,
I went with red aluminum nipples here too.
...For some reason the rim looks like Open Pro,
but don't worry about it.
This shot shows a particularly bad area,
but the R450 had severe corrosion, rim dishing, and significant brake zone wear,
so even as a temporary interim solution waiting for rim stock,
building a wheel with this rim was impossible.
So I'm lending them my personal Open Pro
and assembled the rear wheel as a temporary measure.
I didn't want to hold onto the PowerTap hub long-term
since they'd be unable to train.
A customer left me a PowerTap rear wheel.
Though it's something I built myself in the past.
It has a PowerTap Elite Plus hub 32H
laced in black all-Campagnolo 4-cross.
I'm pretty sure I didn't tie the black spokes back then.
They wanted me to rebuild it with all CX-RAY spokes
and the Nomu Lab Wheel #5 rim,
but we're currently out of stock on that rim.
So unable to wait, I'm going with their other request:
swapping to an 11S freebody
while keeping this rim as-is with all CX-RAY laced and tied.
DT's road rims were originally just two types—RR1.1 and RR1.2—
but RR1.1 became RR415 and RR1.2 became RR585
(the numbers also represent catalog weight)
and then RR465 came out (←discontinued, current model is RR440)...
but RR415 got discontinued too.
Rated at 415g, actual measurement was just over 420g,
so it was definitely slightly lighter than Mavic Open Pro,
but DT rims have soft aluminum material (you can feel it even when building),
so I'm not really a fan.
Only RR585 is hard, but that's not an aluminum material issue—
it's from the weight being nearly 600g.
I've been asked before, "Why don't you offer Nomu Lab Wheels with RR465 offset rims?"
but I couldn't really consider it.
You need a decent bulk order and several months lead time,
and DT rims beyond the domestic distributor's standard stock of 28H and 32H
can be ordered in 20H, 24H, etc.
But building 24H rear wheels with DT rims other than RR585 gives me the chills.
Mavic, and then Kinlin rims really do have a hardness that's unusually good in the best way.
Even if RR415 weighed around 435g like Open Pro,
it still wouldn't match Open Pro's hardness.
By the way, this rim is model R450.
RR stands for Road Racing, R stands for Road,
and RR models except 585 have single eyelets while R has none—
but the recently released RR511 rim has no eyelets either.
R450 is also a discontinued model; the current version is R460.
RR415's rated spoke tension limit is 1100N,
but this one is 1200N (≒120kgf), which is a relief.
That 100N difference is huge.
DT rims tend to have stickers that peel up like bonito flakes
from brake heat on descents,
but with this R450, it doesn't seem to peel like the RR series.
Plus, for some reason it's noticeably harder than RR465.
Strange, isn't it.
But if the R series is outsourced and a budget grade,
and it's harder than the main RR series rims,
does that mean the outsourced aluminum is actually better?"
—I'm not raising that question, just so you know.
While cleaning the hub...
Swapping from steel 10S freebody
to aluminum 11S freebody.
Built.
All CX-RAY 4-cross laced and tied.
Since yesterday's Nomu Lab Wheel #5 20H front wheel is its partner,
I went with red aluminum nipples here too.
...For some reason the rim looks like Open Pro,
but don't worry about it.
This shot shows a particularly bad area,
but the R450 had severe corrosion, rim dishing, and significant brake zone wear,
so even as a temporary interim solution waiting for rim stock,
building a wheel with this rim was impossible.
So I'm lending them my personal Open Pro
and assembled the rear wheel as a temporary measure.
I didn't want to hold onto the PowerTap hub long-term
since they'd be unable to train.