Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Downsides to custom wheels over factory?

Search
Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Downsides to custom wheels over factory?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-25-11 | 02:03 PM
  #26  
bikerjp's Avatar
Thread Starter
Beer >> Sanity
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,449
Likes: 0
From: Colorado

Bikes: 2014 Evo DA2, 2010 Caad9-4, 2011 Synapse-4, 2013 CaadX-disc

Originally Posted by Tunnelrat81
I'll definitely look into it, but the pulsing was apparent immediately upon building. They are laced 24h x2 front, 28h x2 rear. Tension on the front is (according to my TM-1) around 110 kgf on the front, +/- maybe 5, and 120 kgf RDS, +/- 5. I had to bring the rear up this high to get tension on the NDS up to around 60 kgf, which was enough for me to trust not to go slack under torque. According to all that I've read, these rims should be just fine at that tension, and I wasn't close to stripping any nipples while building. Nor have I had any sever impacts, falls or crashes. I haven't pinch flatted even once on this set, and I weigh 145-150, running 100 psi in my gatorskins consistently. Unless the tension is too high, I can't imagine any other reason for the pulse. At speed it's less of an issue, but really annoying while coming to a stop. The pulses feel like they are at a single spot in each rim, big slow pulses, not multiple (each spoke) pulses. I'd love there to be a solution, but just assumed that it was normal.

-Jeremy
This may be of no help, but my crappy RS10 wheels do this too. Just one spot on the rim and worse as I slow. I took it to the lbs and was told it's normal and probably due to the weld seam or however the ends were joined when they were made. I would hope the kinlin rims are better made and don't have that issue, but maybe your rim seam is a bit more apparent.
bikerjp is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 02:23 PM
  #27  
Tunnelrat81's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,407
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by bikerjp
This may be of no help, but my crappy RS10 wheels do this too. Just one spot on the rim and worse as I slow. I took it to the lbs and was told it's normal and probably due to the weld seam or however the ends were joined when they were made. I would hope the kinlin rims are better made and don't have that issue, but maybe your rim seam is a bit more apparent.
Well The kinlin's have a pinned joint, not welded, and although I haven't taken note of where in the rotation they are pulsing, I know what a disjointed rim joint feels like, and this doesn't seem the same. It's easy enough to check when I'm at home and close to the bike, so I'll check that while I look for reflection differences (warping) at the nipples. I will say that I was quite surprised by the fact that I hadn't heard any reports of similar experiences here or elsewhere. Although I do remember finding something about it after the fact, once I was searching specifically for it. The rims were straight and true out of the box and I was able to get them very true within a really good tension tolerance.

When I first built them up and noticed the pulse, I (wrongly) assumed that it might improve with time, not get worse. It seems to be getting a bit worse and has become more bothersome lately.

-Jeremy
Tunnelrat81 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 05:26 PM
  #28  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by bikerjp
The factory wheels I'm considering are Easton EA90sl. They are 24/28 spoke wheels, "acoustically tuned" so should have even tension, 1530g, and handbuilt so I don't see these particular drawbacks..
As I understand, machine built rims will always have uneven spoke tension. The machines can't tell when they are twisting the spoke, like a person can. I don't know about high end machine built rims, they may have better machines?
clink83 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 05:41 PM
  #29  
bikerjp's Avatar
Thread Starter
Beer >> Sanity
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,449
Likes: 0
From: Colorado

Bikes: 2014 Evo DA2, 2010 Caad9-4, 2011 Synapse-4, 2013 CaadX-disc

Originally Posted by clink83
As I understand, machine built rims will always have uneven spoke tension. The machines can't tell when they are twisting the spoke, like a person can. I don't know about high end machine built rims, they may have better machines?
Unless I'm missing or misunderstanding something, the Eastons are not machine built. They say on their website "hand built". Is that a code word for machine built but hand adjusted or are they truly hand built?
bikerjp is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 05:48 PM
  #30  
fa63's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,586
Likes: 1
From: Atlanta, GA

Bikes: A couple

Eastons are hand laced (built).
fa63 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 05:55 PM
  #31  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 0
Well, then what I said doesn't apply then!
clink83 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 09:13 PM
  #32  
urbanknight's Avatar
Over the hill
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 24,602
Likes: 1,364
From: Los Angeles, CA

Bikes: Pinarello Nytro, Momentum Transend

I thought Eastons were hand finished (machine built, but tension adjusted by hand), but I could be wrong. My only issue with them is that they run a very high tension (at least, any that are still based on the Velomax designs) which makes it very difficult to repair by hand.
__________________
It's like riding a bicycle
urbanknight is offline  
Reply
Old 01-25-11 | 10:12 PM
  #33  
bikerjp's Avatar
Thread Starter
Beer >> Sanity
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,449
Likes: 0
From: Colorado

Bikes: 2014 Evo DA2, 2010 Caad9-4, 2011 Synapse-4, 2013 CaadX-disc

Originally Posted by urbanknight
I thought Eastons were hand finished (machine built, but tension adjusted by hand), but I could be wrong. My only issue with them is that they run a very high tension (at least, any that are still based on the Velomax designs) which makes it very difficult to repair by hand.
Their website uses the term "100% handbuilt".

Originally Posted by easton web site
In order to guarantee durability and incredible trueness, every wheel that you’ll see from Easton is 100% hand built and trued using our proprietary acoustic method. That’s right, our trained builders don’t judge a wheel as straight and round simply by watching it glide through a truing stand. No, they listen to the tone that each spoke makes when plucked. Even tones make for a wheel that’ll stay straight and round much longer than other methods.
If they are hand finished that seems false advertising. I hear lots of good things about Easton wheels and I'm tempted to go that route but to me they look bland and uninteresting. I want something more unique and semi-designing them myself is fun. However, factory seems an easy, "safe" way to go but not as fun. I'm in the for the fun and to see how much debt I can rack up before dying.
bikerjp is offline  
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
drew62266
Bicycle Mechanics
12
07-15-19 08:06 PM
MikeDVB
Bicycle Mechanics
14
06-07-14 02:38 PM
Snapperhead
Road Cycling
5
02-09-12 10:55 AM
BHOFM
Bicycle Mechanics
7
12-30-11 12:08 PM
Venturarace
Commuting
27
07-22-10 11:02 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.