Another day with wheels (and so on).
A customer (sort of) left me with the front wheel
from a Reynolds THIRTY TWO tubular wheel set.
The rear wheel's partner has been respoken in our shop following
the standard practice we use for Reynolds (and also Shimano, ZIPP, FF Yamaguchi, etc.),
but they're asking if I can respoke the front wheel with a Leaf hub.
It's not that respokeing is a hassle or anything,
but honestly, this swap doesn't offer much benefit.
Not that respokeing is a hassle or anything.
As it came fully built, it was laced with straight DT Aerolite spokes
and has super-wide flanges,
so if we're going to respoke it with a Leaf hub, we'd be looking at
something like a black CX-RAY broken-head setup.
"Spokes with 65% specific gravity and work-hardened processing,
laced at tension right up to the rim's limit—nearly bottoming out"—
if those conditions stay pretty much the same before and after the respoke,
and the only real difference is flange width,
then even with some minor hub weight differences,
the original setup's overall performance is definitely superior.
The Leaf hub does have better rotational performance,
but this Reynolds hub allows ball race adjustment
and has larger bearing diameters, so it's more durable than the Leaf hub.
If this were my own wheel, I'd never skip respokeing the rear,
but the front? I'd leave it as-is.
So that's the word—take it home like this.
Plus, respokeing is kind of a pain.
↑Front wheel weight.
Pretty much identical to the Colima VIVA MCC from the other day.
For that one, the rim's share of the total wheel weight isn't clear,
but from what I can tell, the rim alone is probably similar in weight too,
so with that being the same weight but far stiffer,
the VIVA is the superior version,
and no matter how hard you tension this rim with straight or broken-head spokes,
you'll never match the VIVA's rigidity—
that's just a wheel that's entered a realm beyond standard materials.
Disassembled.
Reynolds hub
Leaf hub
Built up.
Leaf hub 20H, black CX-RAY outpoke radial lacing.
It definitely got lighter.
The lost flange width can't be fully compensated with spoke tension,
but I've built 20H front wheels with Leaf hubs before,
and nobody's complained they're weak, so I figure it's fine.
For someone weighing about 0.1 tons, they might be totally satisfied with the original setup
and feel the respoken version is a bit soft laterally—
that could be their take on it.
A customer (sort of) left me with the front wheel
from a Reynolds THIRTY TWO tubular wheel set.
The rear wheel's partner has been respoken in our shop following
the standard practice we use for Reynolds (and also Shimano, ZIPP, FF Yamaguchi, etc.),
but they're asking if I can respoke the front wheel with a Leaf hub.
It's not that respokeing is a hassle or anything,
but honestly, this swap doesn't offer much benefit.
Not that respokeing is a hassle or anything.
As it came fully built, it was laced with straight DT Aerolite spokes
and has super-wide flanges,
so if we're going to respoke it with a Leaf hub, we'd be looking at
something like a black CX-RAY broken-head setup.
"Spokes with 65% specific gravity and work-hardened processing,
laced at tension right up to the rim's limit—nearly bottoming out"—
if those conditions stay pretty much the same before and after the respoke,
and the only real difference is flange width,
then even with some minor hub weight differences,
the original setup's overall performance is definitely superior.
The Leaf hub does have better rotational performance,
but this Reynolds hub allows ball race adjustment
and has larger bearing diameters, so it's more durable than the Leaf hub.
If this were my own wheel, I'd never skip respokeing the rear,
but the front? I'd leave it as-is.
So that's the word—take it home like this.
↑Front wheel weight.
Pretty much identical to the Colima VIVA MCC from the other day.
For that one, the rim's share of the total wheel weight isn't clear,
but from what I can tell, the rim alone is probably similar in weight too,
so with that being the same weight but far stiffer,
the VIVA is the superior version,
and no matter how hard you tension this rim with straight or broken-head spokes,
you'll never match the VIVA's rigidity—
that's just a wheel that's entered a realm beyond standard materials.
Disassembled.
Reynolds hub
Leaf hub
Built up.
Leaf hub 20H, black CX-RAY outpoke radial lacing.
It definitely got lighter.
The lost flange width can't be fully compensated with spoke tension,
but I've built 20H front wheels with Leaf hubs before,
and nobody's complained they're weak, so I figure it's fine.
For someone weighing about 0.1 tons, they might be totally satisfied with the original setup
and feel the respoken version is a bit soft laterally—
that could be their take on it.