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Old 11-05-13 | 09:27 AM
  #7  
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onbike 1939
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Fife Scotland

Bikes: Airnimal Chameleon; Ellis Briggs; Moulton TSR27 Moulton Esprit

Originally Posted by 3alarmer
.
Machine built wheels are a nice starting point, but so far do not approach
what you are able to do yourself in tensioning evenly at the higher tensions
required for a durable wheel. Also, I'm pretty sure they don't stress relieve 'em.

+1
Here's a post of mine recounting my experience with a machine built wheel-set.

"I thought it might be useful for anyone contemplating buying wheels from Rose to post my experience of this wheel-set: "Xtreme airline 4 / Shimano Tiagra" which sells at £87.59 plus £6 postage.
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/road ... aid:202991

These did look very good value and I bought the 700c version which I thought would be adequate for my Winter bike. These were delivered within a couple of weeks and communication was good throughout.

The wheels appeared to be sturdy and reasonably well-made and the rims (I believe these are made by Rose) seemed to be rigid without being too heavy.
Out of the box the front wheel had the overhaul tension of the spokes well within the acceptable limits and the tensions were even and needed no adjustment. After de-stressing it needed only minimal adjustment to bring the lateral deviation to less than 1mm. Radial deviation was acceptable.

Rear wheel had uneven spoke tensions which were out-with the limits and had reverse dishing which would have caused problems in obtaining all gears if fitted in the original condition. After evening-out the spoke tensions and applying the correct dishing, the wheel was de-stressed and acceptable tensions achieved on the drive and non-drive sides. Both rims required the join to be smoothed with a sharpening stone but this is usual with these cheaper rims. Hub bearings were smooth and properly adjusted.

Given these wheels use Tiagra hubs and DT Competition spokes I view them as good value, but clearly they had never been de-stressed which would cause future problems. I'm aware that these are machine-made wheels but I am led to believe that the latest wheel-building machines could perform this function.
Altogether I'm happy with my purchase and see these as good value.
All tensions were checked using a Park Spoke tension meter."
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