I'm looking for a pair of wheels for SSFG. They should be light, flip/flop hub, black but not carbon and must have machined sidewall for brakes.

Looking at various websites and everything seems to be 1800 grams or more. I keep coming back to Wabi Sub 15. If I could live with narrow rims and the 5 mm fasteners then why shouldn't I buy these at under $300?

Should I be looking at something else?


-Tim-

https://www.retro-gression.com/colle...heelset#tabs-2 ?

Yeah, that was what I was about to suggest. Also, given all the problems with Wabi lately, I don’t think I would trust their superlight wheels.

Is a 1.5 mm difference in chain line going to matter in terms of usablity, accelerated wear, noise or any other issues?

For example, cranks are 42.5 mm and hubs are 44 mm.


-Tim-

No. What hub is 44?

Thanks.

Paul high flange. 44 fixed and 48 freewheel.

https://paulcomp.com/shop/components...lip-flop-rear/


-Tim-

Many of my setups are off by more than that, and I haven’t had any issues. More important is to get the rear wheel parallel to the chainring.

Thanks guys.

Hmmm. 44 wouldn't bother me, but 48 seems a bit much. You are probably keeping it on the fixed side though, right?

I think I'd go a little nuts trying to zero my chainline to <1mm difference, especially knowing that my precision even when measuring with digital callipers is adequate at best. I usually get my chainline to within 1-2mm, and that's been good enough for me.

At one time I was riding with a 6mm difference, and even then there wasn't much difference in "feel" as there was maybe in chain wear.

Oh, and buy ^ those wheels because they look dope. I can only speak to the Gran Compe hubs - I really like them, and the cartridge bearings are still smooth with no play after about 3000 km. The bearing covers work really well at keeping grime out, and they look good too. I also like that they're threaded on both sides of the hub, giving you the option to flip it just in case thread damage does one day occur.

Yes, this will not use a freewheel. I'm not set on those hubs and was just browsing.


Thanks. Still looking at options.

I can get a 1550 gram set built locally for about $325 - Bitex hubs, Kinlin XR200 rims and Sapim spokes/nipples.

Also considering low profile carbon but $$$ and I'm concerned about the extra braking on descents required with fixed gear.


-Tim-

I was thinking about using Kinlin XR200's for a wheelset a while back, but read some not-great things about them with regards to durability and general quality. Don't have any firsthand experience with them, but when they're that light and that cheap, I get to thinking.

I think they are similar to what Wabi uses in their wheels which are only 13 mm inside width. I've had 25's on mine for a few thousand miles with no problems. Some roadies have used Bitex hubs and XR200's to build 1200 gram climbing wheels for about $400. Of course none of this means anything and I would not expect them to last forever.

Realistically it will probably be another set of Wabi Sub 15 or those H+ Son/Gran Comp wheels. I need to over analyze this for a few more weeks though.


-Tim-

General gearing question...

Is there an advantage to a bigger front ring rather than a smaller rear sprocket? Sprockets are obviously less expensive than chainrings but is there a benefit to either approach over the other in terms of wear, useablity, noise or any other issues?

For example, why would one go with a 51x16 (84.40) vs 48x15 (84.66)? Or am I splitting hairs apart from cost?

Chainstay clearance for the ring? I assume a smaller sprocket will wear proportionally faster.


-Tim-

This was discussed a few days ago starting at post 574 in this thread.

This will be important to me and exactly the information I was looking for.

Thanks again.


-Tim-

Hello everyone! I'm a new one in fixed theme, and never ride track bikes before, and now I'm looking for my first bike. And here is the question - can I buy a 49 Fuji Classic Track, if my height is 170 cm, or it will be too small? I got a good offer, an acceptable price, only the size slightly embarrassed me.

So, you are about 5’-7” tall, which means a frame with a 49 cm seatube is on the small side. However, you can probably make it fit with a long seatpost and a longer stem. The biggest problem is that you might have more saddle to bar drop than is comfortable. I’m guessing that you are probably better off with something in the 52 cm to 54 cm range, depending on your proportions.

Does anyone in SSFG have experience with the Velo Orange PBP rims? I need to replace the rear rim on my bike and this is the closest match to my rim where I can just reuse my spokes (but that isn't a priority for me) and match bike aesthetics. How true were they upon lacing up and tensioning? Do they feel like sturdy worthwhile rims?

You might ask in C&V too, because of the rim style.

I have them on a VO SSFG wheelset that I bought four years ago when I built my chrome Soma Rush. Can’t say what the rims were like before building the wheels, only that wheels were perfectly true and round when I got them, and that the rim seams are very smooth. As to the aesthetics, they are very shiny silver, and look great IMO.

I've built up a few sets for people. They're nice, similar to TB14s in overall quality and pretty easy to work with.

Will the brake tracks on black Archetypes wear down to silver or will they remain black?


-Tim-

They will wear down to silver. It takes a little while, of course depending on brake pads and riding conditions.

http://i.imgur.com/kPq6EQS.jpg

I'll be running tanwalls too so thanks for the photo.