Wheels again today (and so on).
Continuing from yesterday.
I'm rebuilding the rear wheel that was assembled with a WTB rim and XTR hub,
this time using an ONYX hub.
FH-M9111-B 28H
All Aero Star Bright, bright, 6x JIS lacing.
Why the front wheel is 32H and the rear is 28H—
whether that's the builder's preference
or the customer's request, I'm not sure.
If I'd sourced a front 28H and rear 32H hub for this rebuild,
it would've been a chance to swap the rims,
but since we're keeping the same spoke hole count,
I'm leaving that alone.
This Aero Star Bright is current production, and it's one of the recent models where
the magnetic properties are definitely
those of Star Bright.
Unlike the previous star spokes, the paper slip inside the spoke bag
that lists the length now also includes
a number that lets you track shipment date/time and lot.
These flat-butted spokes pass through the normal round holes of most generic hubs—
the same as the old Aero Star Bright III, aka Aero SB3—
but the square-aero shape of the butted section
isn't as angular as the SB3,
so this is something different, not a reissue.
These spokes are trustworthy in resisting spoke hop,
and they're nice in terms of spoke weight distribution
when doing asymmetric lacing,
so I'd like to reuse them on the freewheel side.
Unlike the front wheel, the rear was built quite tight.
The fewer spokes you have,
the higher the tension per spoke needs to be,
but being 28H instead of 32H isn't just slightly tighter than the front—
it's noticeably tighter.
↑When you squeeze the final cross on the high-tension freewheel side,
it looks like this.
There's even wear marks on the contact surface.
The front wheel was built with generic DT aluminum nipples,
but the rear was built with Squorx nipples bare—no PHR washers.
The spoke length is short, like the front wheel.
The wheel center had shifted to the right, but
it probably just drifted over time, and
when this wheel was originally built,
it might've been dead-center.
I disassembled the wheel and pulled one outpoke
from each side flange.
There's a 3mm difference, but both are
shorter than what I consider ideal length.
When I did the math, the original non-freewheel outpokes
could be reused on the freewheel side of the rebuild
in a 6-spoke 6-spoke arrangement, so that worked out.
I temporarily put the extracted spokes
back on the original hub.
I transferred the outpokes from the original hub's non-freewheel flange
to the new rebuild hub's freewheel flange.
Next, I transferred the inpokes too.
Built.
ONYX Vesper MTB BOOST ISO hub 28H
Current Aero SB/CX-RAY 6x6 JIS lacing.
I couldn't machine the Aero SB down to 4-spoke length.
As for lacing ties, if the customer's use case were
short-duration XC racing, I'd do it,
but since they're using it for things like Otaki,
I'm skipping ties this time.
↑Freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly to the left)
↑Non-freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly toward center)
↑Freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly to the left)
↑Non-freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly toward center)
Since I prioritize reuse for the freewheel-side Aero SB,
the spoke length is on the short side,
but it reaches to the bottom of the slot,
so it's within spec.
14 spokes from the original freewheel side.
The current Aero SB—I don't think I've written about this before—
has a spoke weight ratio of around 91–92%.
At the spoke length shown in the photo above,
if it were exactly 92.0%, the estimated weight would be
95.66g, so this batch is slightly heavier than 92%.
As for this rim,
while it's not light by weight standards,
durability is the selling point,
and its buckling resistance should be stronger than
an aluminum rim of the same weight.
Actually, considering this rim width and its standout strength,
you might even call it light.
The maker does have specific conditions, but
they offer a lifetime crash replacement guarantee.
I'm not going to share the exact weight,
though.
↑jeez this guy's got some nerve
Sorry for the wait! Please take a look at this image!
A 32H rim!
A 28H rim!
↑Stop it already!
Continuing from yesterday.
I'm rebuilding the rear wheel that was assembled with a WTB rim and XTR hub,
this time using an ONYX hub.
FH-M9111-B 28H
All Aero Star Bright, bright, 6x JIS lacing.
Why the front wheel is 32H and the rear is 28H—
whether that's the builder's preference
or the customer's request, I'm not sure.
If I'd sourced a front 28H and rear 32H hub for this rebuild,
it would've been a chance to swap the rims,
but since we're keeping the same spoke hole count,
I'm leaving that alone.
This Aero Star Bright is current production, and it's one of the recent models where
the magnetic properties are definitely
those of Star Bright.
Unlike the previous star spokes, the paper slip inside the spoke bag
that lists the length now also includes
a number that lets you track shipment date/time and lot.
These flat-butted spokes pass through the normal round holes of most generic hubs—
the same as the old Aero Star Bright III, aka Aero SB3—
but the square-aero shape of the butted section
isn't as angular as the SB3,
so this is something different, not a reissue.
These spokes are trustworthy in resisting spoke hop,
and they're nice in terms of spoke weight distribution
when doing asymmetric lacing,
so I'd like to reuse them on the freewheel side.
Unlike the front wheel, the rear was built quite tight.
The fewer spokes you have,
the higher the tension per spoke needs to be,
but being 28H instead of 32H isn't just slightly tighter than the front—
it's noticeably tighter.
↑When you squeeze the final cross on the high-tension freewheel side,
it looks like this.
There's even wear marks on the contact surface.
The front wheel was built with generic DT aluminum nipples,
but the rear was built with Squorx nipples bare—no PHR washers.
The spoke length is short, like the front wheel.
The wheel center had shifted to the right, but
it probably just drifted over time, and
when this wheel was originally built,
it might've been dead-center.
I disassembled the wheel and pulled one outpoke
from each side flange.
There's a 3mm difference, but both are
shorter than what I consider ideal length.
When I did the math, the original non-freewheel outpokes
could be reused on the freewheel side of the rebuild
in a 6-spoke 6-spoke arrangement, so that worked out.
I temporarily put the extracted spokes
back on the original hub.
I transferred the outpokes from the original hub's non-freewheel flange
to the new rebuild hub's freewheel flange.
Next, I transferred the inpokes too.
Built.
ONYX Vesper MTB BOOST ISO hub 28H
Current Aero SB/CX-RAY 6x6 JIS lacing.
I couldn't machine the Aero SB down to 4-spoke length.
As for lacing ties, if the customer's use case were
short-duration XC racing, I'd do it,
but since they're using it for things like Otaki,
I'm skipping ties this time.
↑Freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly to the left)
↑Non-freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly toward center)
↑Freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly to the left)
↑Non-freewheel side (rim outer hole slightly toward center)
Since I prioritize reuse for the freewheel-side Aero SB,
the spoke length is on the short side,
but it reaches to the bottom of the slot,
so it's within spec.
14 spokes from the original freewheel side.
The current Aero SB—I don't think I've written about this before—
has a spoke weight ratio of around 91–92%.
At the spoke length shown in the photo above,
if it were exactly 92.0%, the estimated weight would be
95.66g, so this batch is slightly heavier than 92%.
As for this rim,
while it's not light by weight standards,
durability is the selling point,
and its buckling resistance should be stronger than
an aluminum rim of the same weight.
Actually, considering this rim width and its standout strength,
you might even call it light.
The maker does have specific conditions, but
they offer a lifetime crash replacement guarantee.
I'm not going to share the exact weight,
though.
↑jeez this guy's got some nerve
Sorry for the wait! Please take a look at this image!
A 32H rim!
A 28H rim!
↑Stop it already!