Another wheel day (and so on).
Built Murase Labo Wheel #5 with an Akamatu Systema front hub.
We stock this hub at our shop.
Akamatu Workshop keeps them in the state of unpierced flanges,
so you can order with your preferred spoke hole count.
(Though I don't think 36H is feasible given the smaller flange diameter)
This one is 24H.
Spokes are CX-RAY.
Laced radial with outpoke.
I build wheels with this hub myself (→here), and
on my personal wheels, as long as it's a hub where inpoke lacing is possible,
I basically lace radial builds with inpoke.
Yet even I lace this Systema hub with outpoke.
Because even if you laced it inpoke,
the "flange width at the section where spokes emerge from the flange"
wouldn't come close to what you get with a standard front hub laced outpoke.
With flange width this narrow, I think it's more interesting to give up on lateral stiffness altogether
and instead aim for minimizing frontal projected area.
I explained this thinking to the customer, so this wheel also ended up with outpoke lacing.
When I built a 24H Tni Murase Labo Wheel #5,
I tensioned it at 105–110% spoke tension ratio, but
the deformation during the "breaking in" process—laying the wheel flat and pressing the rim—
is indeed substantial.
This deformation roughly correlates with front wheel wandering in downhill corners,
and rear wheel brake rub in the rear.
Lateral stiffness depends almost entirely on flange width.
Some people say "just tension the spokes more," but
tensioning further near the end of wheel building doesn't really reduce deformation much.
Looking purely at lateral stiffness, that's how it is, but
it's definitely true that you can feel the pleasant airflow through the spokes with this hub.
Some of that comes from it being a front hub.
Despite the narrow flanges, it's not a driven wheel,
so it doesn't have the critical weakness of a rear hub.
I use it myself, and as long as you're not pushing to extremes,
you can treat it just like a wheel with a normal hub.
Man, it's narrow.
The spokes almost completely hide behind the rim.
I put this hub on a bike I measured at just under 4kg,
even though lighter hubs exist—I choose this one because
"I just kind of like the shape."
Built Murase Labo Wheel #5 with an Akamatu Systema front hub.
We stock this hub at our shop.
Akamatu Workshop keeps them in the state of unpierced flanges,
so you can order with your preferred spoke hole count.
(Though I don't think 36H is feasible given the smaller flange diameter)
This one is 24H.
Spokes are CX-RAY.
Laced radial with outpoke.
I build wheels with this hub myself (→here), and
on my personal wheels, as long as it's a hub where inpoke lacing is possible,
I basically lace radial builds with inpoke.
Yet even I lace this Systema hub with outpoke.
Because even if you laced it inpoke,
the "flange width at the section where spokes emerge from the flange"
wouldn't come close to what you get with a standard front hub laced outpoke.
With flange width this narrow, I think it's more interesting to give up on lateral stiffness altogether
and instead aim for minimizing frontal projected area.
I explained this thinking to the customer, so this wheel also ended up with outpoke lacing.
When I built a 24H Tni Murase Labo Wheel #5,
I tensioned it at 105–110% spoke tension ratio, but
the deformation during the "breaking in" process—laying the wheel flat and pressing the rim—
is indeed substantial.
This deformation roughly correlates with front wheel wandering in downhill corners,
and rear wheel brake rub in the rear.
Lateral stiffness depends almost entirely on flange width.
Some people say "just tension the spokes more," but
tensioning further near the end of wheel building doesn't really reduce deformation much.
Looking purely at lateral stiffness, that's how it is, but
it's definitely true that you can feel the pleasant airflow through the spokes with this hub.
Some of that comes from it being a front hub.
Despite the narrow flanges, it's not a driven wheel,
so it doesn't have the critical weakness of a rear hub.
I use it myself, and as long as you're not pushing to extremes,
you can treat it just like a wheel with a normal hub.
Man, it's narrow.
The spokes almost completely hide behind the rim.
I put this hub on a bike I measured at just under 4kg,
even though lighter hubs exist—I choose this one because
"I just kind of like the shape."