I've always heard that butted spokes are actually stronger than straight gauge. Counterintuitive, I know.

i wish they made the good kinlins in 650c.

first off, im sure there are at least 3 wheelset threads in the first 2 pages, so I dont care about your question.

Don't exaggerate.

If you plan on building an all purpose commuter/winter/rain/beater, then of course you should avoid alu nipples....you should avoid weight weenie stuff completely. That does not mean however that a lightweight wheelset will immediately melt if you get caught in the rain. I have several wheelsets with alu nips i(front and rear NDS) (without rim eyelets), and they are perfectly fine. I don't intentionally use these wheels in bad weather, but I do get caught in occasional rain and snow with them, and after several years they are perfectly fine. No retruing needed.

A bit late to the game, but a nice change from all the honest and interested people who cared to answer :-)

Mihlbach, I must thank you for your fair and balanced ( no Fox pun intended) replies, I based a lot of decisions on your info! I will be babying these wheels for the first couple of miles anyway, since I've never ridden anything this lightweight before.

The Mack hubs are a good recommendation. I just ordered a 36h set of their regular hubs for a MKE Bruiser I am building up. These hubs seem comparable to Phils. While talking with Mack he sent me details on their ultralight hubs. The low flange hubs weigh 330g and high flange weigh 410g. That weight is for the flip flops with mounting hardware. Low flange cost $237 and high flange cost $291. They come in a nice selection of colors too.

I'm contemplating building up a set of the ultralights with the 30mm Kinlin rims and Sapim CX-Ray spokes.

My wheels with aluminum nipples were destroyed in about a year. Half the nipples were seized and lots ended up breaking when touring with lots of weight. They round off a lot easier when you true the wheels at high tension too.

Sounds like you had the wrong equipment for the job.

Enjoy your light wheels!....mine are light, fast, surprisingly stiff, and haven't lost any of their trueness or tension over several thousand hard miles. They are pure pleasure compared to the heavyweight wheels I was using before.

Ok, just one more update and then I''l shut up about it until I've actually built the damn things. I e-mailed Mack about his hubs and he gave me a near instant reply. Very nice guy and quick to send me a tech and pricelist. It turns out the ultralight version of his rear low flange hub (single sided) weighs just 190 gms, including bolts, washers and lockring! The AC hub's weight listed on their site was without all of this. And Mack uses bigger and better bearings, so the choice was easy!

Quick update: Got the rims in today.
First rim:



372!

Second one is 382

Also have the Novatec front hub (not through the groupbuy) it weighs 82, 6 more than claimed.

Still have to wait 4 or 5 weeks for the Mack hub, but will start the build for the front wheel.

Front is done:



About 10 gms more than calculated. Built with Novatech hub, Sapim Laser spokes, Kinlin XR-200 rim.

I used Shimano antiseize for the spoke threads and nipple bed to try and prevent the alu nipples from welding to the spokes/rim in the future. Also a great mild lubricant Works great, though a bit messy. I didn't hear a single spoke 'ping' when I stress relieved.

Still waiting for the custom ordered Mack rear hub.

i dont think the xr200s are made of the same alloy that has garnered the other kinlins fame, but it looks good!

Thanks! How so? To my knowledge, the XR-200 uses the same Niobium alloy as the 270 and the 300, but I could be wrong.

i stand corrected! its the 240s that are the redheaded stepchildren. thats a good looking build!

looking at these two hubs as possible rears for myself.

https://www.bikeforums.net/group-buy/575710-novatec-fg-ss-hub-group-buy.html

however with the allen key nuts? is that lighter? i don't know i think it would just last me longer.

or possibly these hubs when they come out

https://allcitycycles.com/blog/view_e..._sheriff_hubs/


looking more at affordable and durable. Plan is the novatech road 24 hole up front and a 28 whatever is reccomended in the back.



hmm are rb-68's still available?

no, 254g vs. 235g

the group buy thread says 262 grams. different from the the site. so i was asking in general.

I'm looking to lighten my wheelset but cant afford an entire new wheel set. I currently have 32h weinmann dp18s, if I purchase the ird niobium aero rims 32h I should be able to just switch the rims over correct? Does anyone see any problems with this that I am missing?

new spokes

If the rims are the same depth (30) mm, then you should be able to reuse the spokes. I would use new nipples. You aren't really going to save much weight by only changing rims..maybe 150 gms at the most. I say ride those wheels till they die and build new wheels following the advice in this thread.

thanks, also from what I've read weinmanns are 710g so I would be saving over a pound between the two wheels. I should probably feel a reduction of over a pound in rotating mass only.

Wow, I wasn't aware that Weinmanns were that heavy! In that case you'll be saving about 510gms...thats a big difference. Consider tires as well...what tires are you currently using?

I have pretty light tires, 23c kenda c2c folding. perhaps plugs instead of cloth rim tape?