sloppy robot

can someone school me on this.. i know theres flex and durability issues.. but im not that sure about the details.. im 160 and building new wheels.. high flange hubs.. im all ears.. thanks..

teadoggg

can't go wrong with 32. it's a good looking number, and it's easy to get rims/hubs.

Jaminsky

I'd say that it depends how you want to lace the wheels. If you want to go with a 3x wheel, 28 is an option. If you're going radial on the front, I'd go 36. I ride 32x3.

Ceya

32 holes hands down but you can pick anyone due to weight . I ride all 3 with no problems but get the right person to do your wheels.

S/F<
CEYA!

bostontrevor

You can ride 'em all, but really just go with 32h. Everything comes in 32h.

pitboss

for riding on the street, day-in/day-out, 32h would be my minimum. Especially here in Chicago.

flythebike

My road bike is 32r 28f and that works fine. It is built really neat - front is 2x with DT revolutions spokes with alloy nipples. The rear is 3x drive with brass nipples and DT super-competition spokes. The non-drive is 2x with revolutions and alloy nipples.

The thing is, your front wheel only bears 30% of your weight, whereas the rear holds 70%. So building them up exactly the same really doesn't make sense.

There is no easy way to answer your question. People are very different in terms of how hard they are on their wheels based on their local road conditions and their own riding style.

My fixie is 32 r with 14/15 butted spokes a 400gm rim (or less) and the front is a bladed 20H radial. I spend very little time on pothole covered streets and stuff stays true. IMHO the rear is overbuilt, but I did that deliberately because I'm not racing on it (or at least only once a year) and I'd rather have it last than have it fast. So you have to make that choice between speed and durability. The front wheel is a royal pain to true when I have to do it every couple months, I really dislike radial wheels (I bought the wheel on ebay mainly for the phil hub) and when it goes for good I'll rebuilt it 2x with revolutions or eliptical spokes, because bladed spokes are not actually aerodynamic in anything but a block headwind. But they do built a kind of durable wheel, because they are pretty heavy and beefy.

celephaiz

But low spoke-count radials are pretty....

flythebike

Agreed, and they ride fast, I meant to say that they are a pain to true/round.

celephaiz

Oh I wasn't disagreeing with the statement... i also think high spoke-count radials look pretty sweet too

flythebike

I know...just to claify. Pretty, fast, a pain to work on.

jgsjr

Agreed. On my rough road set, I run 32 front using 2 leading/2 trailing and 36 in the rear 3 leading/3trailing (14 guage). For the regular road I run a Ksyrium Equipe radial lased front ( from a road bike) and a 28 Mavic CXP33 rear.

SSSasky

I ride 32 f/r 3x, and it's been all good. Only been trued once, a week after getting them. Perfect ever since. I weigh 240, and ride rough roads. IRO hubs and cpx33 rims (i think)

celephaiz

Can someone do a quick rundown for me as to what it means to have a number/leading or trailing? i mean i get spoke counts, whether they are laced or radial and that stuff... but as for the 3x leading trailing stuff i am a little miffed

teadoggg

check out this link:
https://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacingcl.htm

Shiznaz

be like me and get your front wheel laced 72 hole radial!

r-dub

I'll put in my vote for 48...build them right once, jump off curbs, into potholes, run people over, throw your bike off a cliff, still true 8 years later, never touched. for a bike mech, I sure don't like doing bike maint.