Another day of wheel building (and so on).
Continuing from yesterday.
I built a 27.5-inch MTB front wheel using a Crest MK4 rim.
Although yesterday's post mentioned 650B,
I'll note here that it's also 27.5 inches.
It's a ZETTO BOOST hub, 32H, half-CX three-cross lacing pattern.
I'll do the spoke threading later.
The Crest MK4 has gotten heavier compared to the MK3, which had a non-offset design.
Also, the rim's internal width is now 2mm wider.
The Crest MK3 29-inch rim has a stated weight of 364g, and Stans has earned trust with their "Stans Doesn't Lie" reliability,
with actual measured weights not deviating significantly from that figure.
The current Crest MK4 29-inch rim is rated at 399g.
For the 27.5-inch rim, it's rated at 374g, and
although I've only weighed the front rim, it came in right at the stated spec.
To be precise, it occasionally displayed 375g and fluctuated a bit, but I grabbed the lighter reading.
Since this configuration lacks the incantation to summon that thing in the text,
it won't remain in the archives, so be careful.
Stans' rims progress in width in the order of
Crest, Arch, Flow, Centry, and Baron, with corresponding
tubeless tape options for each,
but with the shift to MK4, the lineup has essentially shifted by one tier.
However, since Baron is still only available in MK3,
I thought Centry MK4 and Baron MK3 would end up with nearly the same rim width.
But it turned out that only Centry MK3 was discontinued and is no longer in distributors' inventory.
The fact that distributors are out of stock suggests there was decent demand,
so presumably those customers are now expected to buy Flow MK4 instead.
I've compiled the internal rim widths for Stans' aluminum MK3 and MK4 models,
and carbon CB7 rims.
Flow offers a model called "Flow EX3" with the same internal width (29.0mm) as the MK3
but with internal walls and a slightly different shape
for improved buckling resistance, which is still available but I've excluded it from this table.
Incidentally, compared to Flow MK3, it's about 100g heavier for 27.5-inch rims
and about 90g heavier for 29-inch rims.
Crest, Arch, and Flow each have
budget-tier models called "S1" with the same dimensions as MK3 but heavier weight, and
"S2" with the same dimensions as MK4 but heavier weight.
Currently S1 is discontinued and S2 is available, but Japanese distributors don't carry it.
The rims with internal widths written in red are discontinued,
and I was surprised to see the Crest CB7 and Grail MK3 discontinued.
The rim diagram above shows bead hooks, but
the CB7 is a hookless rim.
The MK3 and MK4 have shallow hooks, so
they're almost like hookless rims anyway.
Aside from Grail, these are all MTB rims, but
on the manufacturer's website, only Crest MK4
lists its recommended use as "XC or gravel."
Regarding tubeless tape width,
if the 25mm were actually 24mm,
they'd all be in 3mm increments—I wish that were the case.
Since rim internal widths change with model revisions,
you don't always get a perfect fit for a particular rim.
Stans rims have extremely low flange heights
and minimal contact area with the tire bead, so
if tape covers the inner sidewall of the rim,
it could cause tire burping, so
"slightly narrower tape is safer if not a perfect fit."
In fact, I've wrapped 21mm-wide tape on Crest MK3 and
33mm-wide tape on Baron MK3.
So where would 36mm tape even be used, you'd think.
Stans tape stretches under air pressure, so
even if the tape sticks neatly to the rim's central depression,
the tape width doesn't shrink much.
Of the discontinued models in the diagram above,
Arch CB7 27.5-inch in 28H and 32H
have a small amount of inventory remaining at Japanese distributors
at the time of writing this article
on a "while supplies last" basis.
If you're interested, get them soon.
Continuing from yesterday.
I built a 27.5-inch MTB front wheel using a Crest MK4 rim.
Although yesterday's post mentioned 650B,
I'll note here that it's also 27.5 inches.
It's a ZETTO BOOST hub, 32H, half-CX three-cross lacing pattern.
I'll do the spoke threading later.
The Crest MK4 has gotten heavier compared to the MK3, which had a non-offset design.
Also, the rim's internal width is now 2mm wider.
The Crest MK3 29-inch rim has a stated weight of 364g, and Stans has earned trust with their "Stans Doesn't Lie" reliability,
with actual measured weights not deviating significantly from that figure.
The current Crest MK4 29-inch rim is rated at 399g.
For the 27.5-inch rim, it's rated at 374g, and
although I've only weighed the front rim, it came in right at the stated spec.
To be precise, it occasionally displayed 375g and fluctuated a bit, but I grabbed the lighter reading.
it won't remain in the archives, so be careful.
Stans' rims progress in width in the order of
Crest, Arch, Flow, Centry, and Baron, with corresponding
tubeless tape options for each,
but with the shift to MK4, the lineup has essentially shifted by one tier.
However, since Baron is still only available in MK3,
I thought Centry MK4 and Baron MK3 would end up with nearly the same rim width.
But it turned out that only Centry MK3 was discontinued and is no longer in distributors' inventory.
The fact that distributors are out of stock suggests there was decent demand,
so presumably those customers are now expected to buy Flow MK4 instead.
I've compiled the internal rim widths for Stans' aluminum MK3 and MK4 models,
and carbon CB7 rims.
Flow offers a model called "Flow EX3" with the same internal width (29.0mm) as the MK3
but with internal walls and a slightly different shape
for improved buckling resistance, which is still available but I've excluded it from this table.
Incidentally, compared to Flow MK3, it's about 100g heavier for 27.5-inch rims
and about 90g heavier for 29-inch rims.
Crest, Arch, and Flow each have
budget-tier models called "S1" with the same dimensions as MK3 but heavier weight, and
"S2" with the same dimensions as MK4 but heavier weight.
Currently S1 is discontinued and S2 is available, but Japanese distributors don't carry it.
The rims with internal widths written in red are discontinued,
and I was surprised to see the Crest CB7 and Grail MK3 discontinued.
The rim diagram above shows bead hooks, but
the CB7 is a hookless rim.
The MK3 and MK4 have shallow hooks, so
they're almost like hookless rims anyway.
Aside from Grail, these are all MTB rims, but
on the manufacturer's website, only Crest MK4
lists its recommended use as "XC or gravel."
Regarding tubeless tape width,
if the 25mm were actually 24mm,
they'd all be in 3mm increments—I wish that were the case.
Since rim internal widths change with model revisions,
you don't always get a perfect fit for a particular rim.
Stans rims have extremely low flange heights
and minimal contact area with the tire bead, so
if tape covers the inner sidewall of the rim,
it could cause tire burping, so
"slightly narrower tape is safer if not a perfect fit."
In fact, I've wrapped 21mm-wide tape on Crest MK3 and
33mm-wide tape on Baron MK3.
So where would 36mm tape even be used, you'd think.
Stans tape stretches under air pressure, so
even if the tape sticks neatly to the rim's central depression,
the tape width doesn't shrink much.
Of the discontinued models in the diagram above,
Arch CB7 27.5-inch in 28H and 32H
have a small amount of inventory remaining at Japanese distributors
at the time of writing this article
on a "while supplies last" basis.
If you're interested, get them soon.