Rear wheel spoke #
 

Hey guys, I am thinking about ordering the parts for a new rear wheel, and having it put together. I have been learning about wheel building and what not, and I learned that 36 spokes is stronger but heavier than 32 spokes.

I was wondering what you all run, and what you would recommend for the rear wheel on an AM hardtail. Cheers =)

Rims have gotten so much better that 36 is overkill any more unless you are a 200+ bruiser and doing a lot of jumping. My DH wheels are 32h laced in a standard cross-3 pattern and are going on their third season without a whimper.

Awesome thanks! That pretty much answers exactly what I was wondering =)

If you can get away with 32 cross 3 DHing for 3 years then I am pretty sure that should be enough for me (~180lbs). I figure a Sun MTX29, DT Swiss competition spokes, and a Shimano XT 756 with a decent build-up should keep me going without serious work for awhile. I can get everything for around 85 euros before wheel build.

Oh yea, one more question. In the DT swiss spoke calc it says there should be a 1mm difference in spoke length between left and right. Is this 1mm important, or is it ok to order the same spoke length for both sides?

Edit: Durr.. more than 1 question. The length comes out to be 260mm precise (258mm rounded) for the dimensions I put in. I have read some places it is good to round up 1 size increment (2mm in this example). Would it be better to go 260mm or 258mm?

1mm difference between sides is negligible, you'll be able to order same size for the whole wheel. The way I've been told, as long as you're 2mm difference or less, you can go same. I personally would go 260mm; it buys you a little 'insurance' - - you get one side laced up, and if you were stingy, it's going to feel like you're not catching a lot of threads with the nipples when you get to lacing the other side.

Thanks a ton for the help.. now I just need to get some money lol!

You can save a bit if you lace it up yourself and buy the mechanics a six pack to let you use their truing stand.

Sheldonbrown.com has fantastic how-to's on wheelbuilding.

If I could fit that in that is a great idea, but I've never done it before, and I don't really have the time to learn right now unfortunately. I barely have enough time to ride. Once I can afford my own truing/dishing stands then I will start to learn, but for now I need a tough, reliable somewhat decent priced wheel =)

Depends on who/how the wheel is built. I jump and am fine on 32's.

me three

^^ :lol: Well . . . I meant to qualify that by saying "and doing a lot of jumping the way I jump" - - I.e.- casing landings, airing them to flat, slamming berms on hips, etc, etc.

^^ I try to ride with quite a bit of finesse, and had actually put around 2,300 km on my 24mm outer, ~19mm inner WTB rims before some spokes started coming loose (ended up bending one..). I don't really ever get more than 4-5 ft vertical air, and I land with both wheels nearly every time, and always look where I'm gonna land if I am going to flying more than a few feet (saw some dude wipe out rrreally bad once when he landed on a root wrong..luckily I could apply first aid). I had it trued, but for some reason some of my spokes keep coming loose which I usually have to retighten every few rides.

Is this a condemnation of the dude who trued the wheel, or has it just had the crap beat out of it for too long?

On the dj'r I have to replace wheels every 2 seasons.

A spoke that continuously comes loose could me one of two things.
1: Wheel is starting to ovalize.
2: Rim has a flat spot.

Just shy of 5yrs on my 32's. Done all kinds of stupid stuff on them.