Today it's wheels again (etc.). But first.
↑This is the front wheel I built yesterday, but
with internal nipples, the spoke angle orientation
pierces through inside the rim, so
the grip position of the nipple relative to the rim hole
ends up looking like this.
The rim hole diameter on the outer circumference is small to begin with,
and since there's no hole offset and it's drilled straight through the center,
the tool scrapes against the rim hole edge.
If I lace the final cross on the small flange side,
this nipple position tilts even more outward from the rim hole, so
with the spokes no longer flexing during the initial lacing,
I determined it would be impossible to build the wheel beyond that point.
Anyway, today it's wheels (etc.) again.
I built the rear wheel to go with yesterday's front wheel.
Extra Light Cyber rear SPD-3 rear hub, 24H,
black half CX Sprint with no tie-ins.
Before worrying about tie-ins, neither side has a final cross laced,
so there's no way to tie them in anyway.
This rim has no markings on it, not even a sticker,
but I can say with certainty it's an AX Lightness Ultra 25T
for a reason.
↑This is a separate case, but it's an AX Lightness Ultra 25T from the old logo era.
The logo is embossed in.
↑This is the current Ultra 25T rim, but
there's no emboss on the rim, just a new logo sticker.
AX Lightness has a Selection 25T,
a second-grade rim rated at 215g,
while the Ultra 25T is rated at 195g.
This absolute weight is the same as the old EDGE 25 rim,
and for my personal EDGE/ENVE 25 rims rated at 195g,
I have ones that actually weigh 194g and 202g,
and from two generations later of the same rim,
a heavier specimen at 274g.
So this rim has a serial number embedded in the outer circumference
that is definitely in AX Lightness format, and
looking closely at the right edge of the label in the image,
it's not manufacturer-written, but says 189g.
The other one says 192g, and the actual measured weight matched that too.
The early EDGE/ENVE 25 and
AX Lightness Ultra 25T are
tied for first place as the world's lightest rims, two of them.
Regarding the Extra Light hubs I used this time,
they're specified for mandatory left-right 2-cross lacing,
so spoke length relative to rim inner diameter is fixed to just one value,
and they publish a conversion table.
Since that matched my calculations exactly,
I decided to trust it this time
(it's a fact that spoke length relative to rim inner diameter
is uniquely determined,
but whether the manufacturer's conversion table
is always correct for every rim inner diameter is another matter).
With disc brake hubs, the spoke lengths for front left and rear right,
and front right and rear left, are usually the same or nearly the same
(differing by about 1mm),
but with Extra Light's hubs this time, the spoke lengths
published by the manufacturer for
front left/rear right and front right/rear left
were exactly the same.
Since the rear hub has larger dimensional constraints,
there's a possibility they designed the front hub flange dimensions
to match the rear hub spoke length.
The large flange diameter on the left side of the front hub
feels deliberate enough to suggest this.
Yesterday's front wheel came in at 407g actual weight,
and the CX Sprint and CX-RAY lengths for the rear wheel
are the same as the front.
The rim is 24H for both wheels with only a 3g weight difference,
and the total weight of spokes and nipples is the same,
so the combined weight of front and rear wheels works out to roughly
"double the front wheel weight plus the weight difference of the hubs."
With Tni's rim brake hubs,
front and rear hubs are around 60g and 220g respectively,
a difference of about 160g, but
disc hubs have a disc rotor mount on the front,
which tends to reduce the weight difference between front and rear hubs.
With Tni's Revo disc hubs it's about 110g difference,
and with LW Super hubs it's about 100g difference.
So I calculated that the combined front and rear wheels would be
407 + 407 + 100, which I predicted
would barely not come under 900g,
but because the hubs themselves are so light,
the weight difference between front and rear exceeded my expectations
and came under 900g for the pair.
Actually, AX Lightness makes a complete wheelset called
Ultra Disc 25T using two 24H Ultra 25T rims,
with the same Cyber front/rear SPD-3 hubs as this build,
DT all-black aero spokes,
and DT Pro Lock internal nipples,
rated at 845g ±5% on the manufacturer's site
and 840g ±5% by Japanese distributors.
For example, a 70g saddle might vary by ±3.5g (5%),
but Extra Light hubs have minimal weight variance between individual units,
and spokes and nipples vary even less,
so if wheel weight varies ±84g from 840g as the midpoint,
and AX Lightness released theirs as 195g nominal without
varying ±40g (←which is impossible),
you wouldn't get 840g ±5%.
I'm sure rims that deviate that much from nominal weight
would be rejected at 100% inspection
before even being laced into wheels.
I suppose it's self-defense to just slap ±5% on everything.
The nipple notation on the manufacturer's site was
DT Pro Lick, not DT Pro Lock.
If it were Pro-Lick with a hyphen,
you could interpret it as
Protection against Lick (licking with the tongue),
and thinking about the original meaning of Nipple feels poignant.
It's probably just a typo.
AX Lightness's distributor is
also a distributor for Sapim and Tni,
but the image for Ultra Disc 25T is
an image of a rim brake wheelset, or rather
an image of the rim brake version of Ultra 25T.
This wasn't a mistake by the Japanese distributor—
it's a mistake on AX Lightness's manufacturer site itself.
I rarely link to other sites,
but I'm doing it this time (here).
Extra Light's disc hubs aren't limited to
Cyber front/rear SPD-3, so if the image is wrong,
you have to check the spec sheet to see what they're actually using,
so I had to look it up.
What? You don't care about that, just tell me the actual rear wheel weight?
By going with half CX Sprint instead of all CX-RAY,
I've gained confidence that I'm correctly evaluating
not just "feels light to hold" but the bigger picture
of how it actually performs,
and I have photographic evidence that it came under 900g,
but I'm not interested in showing it.
↑ Hey this guy's getting carried away
A bit hungry, I make my entrance—pardon the intrusion!
Please take a look at this image!
↑No you don't!
↑This is the front wheel I built yesterday, but
with internal nipples, the spoke angle orientation
pierces through inside the rim, so
the grip position of the nipple relative to the rim hole
ends up looking like this.
The rim hole diameter on the outer circumference is small to begin with,
and since there's no hole offset and it's drilled straight through the center,
the tool scrapes against the rim hole edge.
If I lace the final cross on the small flange side,
this nipple position tilts even more outward from the rim hole, so
with the spokes no longer flexing during the initial lacing,
I determined it would be impossible to build the wheel beyond that point.
Anyway, today it's wheels (etc.) again.
I built the rear wheel to go with yesterday's front wheel.
Extra Light Cyber rear SPD-3 rear hub, 24H,
black half CX Sprint with no tie-ins.
Before worrying about tie-ins, neither side has a final cross laced,
so there's no way to tie them in anyway.
This rim has no markings on it, not even a sticker,
but I can say with certainty it's an AX Lightness Ultra 25T
for a reason.
↑This is a separate case, but it's an AX Lightness Ultra 25T from the old logo era.
The logo is embossed in.
↑This is the current Ultra 25T rim, but
there's no emboss on the rim, just a new logo sticker.
AX Lightness has a Selection 25T,
a second-grade rim rated at 215g,
while the Ultra 25T is rated at 195g.
This absolute weight is the same as the old EDGE 25 rim,
and for my personal EDGE/ENVE 25 rims rated at 195g,
I have ones that actually weigh 194g and 202g,
and from two generations later of the same rim,
a heavier specimen at 274g.
So this rim has a serial number embedded in the outer circumference
that is definitely in AX Lightness format, and
looking closely at the right edge of the label in the image,
it's not manufacturer-written, but says 189g.
The other one says 192g, and the actual measured weight matched that too.
The early EDGE/ENVE 25 and
AX Lightness Ultra 25T are
tied for first place as the world's lightest rims, two of them.
Regarding the Extra Light hubs I used this time,
they're specified for mandatory left-right 2-cross lacing,
so spoke length relative to rim inner diameter is fixed to just one value,
and they publish a conversion table.
Since that matched my calculations exactly,
I decided to trust it this time
(it's a fact that spoke length relative to rim inner diameter
is uniquely determined,
but whether the manufacturer's conversion table
is always correct for every rim inner diameter is another matter).
With disc brake hubs, the spoke lengths for front left and rear right,
and front right and rear left, are usually the same or nearly the same
(differing by about 1mm),
but with Extra Light's hubs this time, the spoke lengths
published by the manufacturer for
front left/rear right and front right/rear left
were exactly the same.
Since the rear hub has larger dimensional constraints,
there's a possibility they designed the front hub flange dimensions
to match the rear hub spoke length.
The large flange diameter on the left side of the front hub
feels deliberate enough to suggest this.
Yesterday's front wheel came in at 407g actual weight,
and the CX Sprint and CX-RAY lengths for the rear wheel
are the same as the front.
The rim is 24H for both wheels with only a 3g weight difference,
and the total weight of spokes and nipples is the same,
so the combined weight of front and rear wheels works out to roughly
"double the front wheel weight plus the weight difference of the hubs."
With Tni's rim brake hubs,
front and rear hubs are around 60g and 220g respectively,
a difference of about 160g, but
disc hubs have a disc rotor mount on the front,
which tends to reduce the weight difference between front and rear hubs.
With Tni's Revo disc hubs it's about 110g difference,
and with LW Super hubs it's about 100g difference.
So I calculated that the combined front and rear wheels would be
407 + 407 + 100, which I predicted
would barely not come under 900g,
but because the hubs themselves are so light,
the weight difference between front and rear exceeded my expectations
and came under 900g for the pair.
Actually, AX Lightness makes a complete wheelset called
Ultra Disc 25T using two 24H Ultra 25T rims,
with the same Cyber front/rear SPD-3 hubs as this build,
DT all-black aero spokes,
and DT Pro Lock internal nipples,
rated at 845g ±5% on the manufacturer's site
and 840g ±5% by Japanese distributors.
For example, a 70g saddle might vary by ±3.5g (5%),
but Extra Light hubs have minimal weight variance between individual units,
and spokes and nipples vary even less,
so if wheel weight varies ±84g from 840g as the midpoint,
and AX Lightness released theirs as 195g nominal without
varying ±40g (←which is impossible),
you wouldn't get 840g ±5%.
I'm sure rims that deviate that much from nominal weight
would be rejected at 100% inspection
before even being laced into wheels.
I suppose it's self-defense to just slap ±5% on everything.
The nipple notation on the manufacturer's site was
DT Pro Lick, not DT Pro Lock.
If it were Pro-Lick with a hyphen,
you could interpret it as
Protection against Lick (licking with the tongue),
and thinking about the original meaning of Nipple feels poignant.
It's probably just a typo.
AX Lightness's distributor is
also a distributor for Sapim and Tni,
but the image for Ultra Disc 25T is
an image of a rim brake wheelset, or rather
an image of the rim brake version of Ultra 25T.
This wasn't a mistake by the Japanese distributor—
it's a mistake on AX Lightness's manufacturer site itself.
I rarely link to other sites,
but I'm doing it this time (here).
Extra Light's disc hubs aren't limited to
Cyber front/rear SPD-3, so if the image is wrong,
you have to check the spec sheet to see what they're actually using,
so I had to look it up.
What? You don't care about that, just tell me the actual rear wheel weight?
By going with half CX Sprint instead of all CX-RAY,
I've gained confidence that I'm correctly evaluating
not just "feels light to hold" but the bigger picture
of how it actually performs,
and I have photographic evidence that it came under 900g,
but I'm not interested in showing it.
↑ Hey this guy's getting carried away
A bit hungry, I make my entrance—pardon the intrusion!
Please take a look at this image!
↑No you don't!