Cycling UK Forum

I have a croix de fer and am buying a dynamo to get built up by my local bike shop. My current wheels are Kinesis crosslight http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/ ... ght-cxdisc and are 28h.
I want to keep this is cheap as possible so I'm looking at sp dynamos in 28h disc brake so I can get them to swap out the hubs. The problem is, is it going to be strong enough for light touring? I'm 70kg, I'm likely to carry around 20kg (complete guess)...
I just don't want to have to get 2 wheels rebuilt. But if I really should, I will.

28 spoke wheels with alloy nipples are for summer.
I would get another pair of wheels built for winter/touring/commuting etc.

28 spoke wheels would be borderline IMO with 32mm tyres or bigger run at the right TP's for load.For insanely narrow 28mm or less tyres with high pressures I'd say no.
There are people on here who tour with minimum spoke wheels without problems,but with minimum spoke(28 or less) the problems begin should you break a spoke though a 28 should be able to be fitted with a spare spoke and trued up by the road side,whereas a 36 the wheel could be trued up without a spoke that could be fitted later.
So my answer FWIW is yes,but have enough spare spokes and the wherewithal* to change one if the worst happens.

* that means the ability to remove the cassette by the roadside,one of these would be handy :- http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 2b0s72p595.

EDIT:- I didn't read the crosslight blurb,alloy nipples noooooooooooooooo

I am getting new spokes put in, I just can't run to new wheels before September when I go away.

20kg luggage is a lot really; not 'light touring' at all, I'd say.

20kg strapped to the bike is a good deal more stressful for the bike than (say) a rider 20kg heavier.

Whilst you can tour on anything, I can't help but think that 28 spoke wheels are liable to be a source of trouble if you carry a 20kg load any distance. If you are forced to use them, I'd suggest that you carry plenty of spare spokes, and have the tools and knowledge to replace them should (er, when..?) they break.

cheers

You won't be able to re-use the spokes, they'll invariably be the wrong length. So you are only talking about re-using the rims. Two rims for touring can be had fairly cheaply. You'd be better off ebaying the wheels you've got and getting new wheels for the sake of two rims.

I'm confused as to why you're getting the rear rebuilt on the same rim. Or have I read it wrong?

You don't say where you're touring (or whether you're loading the bike front, back or both). If you're exclusively on nice smooth Eurotarmac then you've a better chance of getting away with it than with potholed English roads, pavé or strade bianche.

28h for the front is workable for tarmac touring IMO, especially if you're just using rear panniers, but I would want 32 on the back unless you only load the front.

For the cost of the SP hub and spokes, you could get an XT hub, spokes and a new rim, from the German shops. Then you're sorted.

Here's a whole bunch of dyno wheelsets. They build to order and they're very helpful, so I'm sure they'd do you disc hubs at little or no extra cost:
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bik ... /standard/

+1 for the "alloy nipples are for unloaded summer bikes" comment.

OK, say I have 300-400 for a set of dynamo wheels. What would be advised in an ideal world?

What rim? What spokes? What dynamo hub? What rear hub? 32 or 36?

Thanks guys for all your help.

fossala wrote:OK, say I have 300-400 for a set of dynamo wheels. What would be advised in an ideal world?

What rim? What spokes? What dynamo hub? What rear hub? 32 or 36?

Thanks guys for all your help.

If I were you I'd go for 32 spokes front wheel with a shimano hub. Shimano hubs are the strongest out there. 105 hub would be good, they only come in 32 and 36 holes. I'd use an Ambrosio Evoution - that is what I have for my winter wheels and they are pretty tough. I'd go for DT double butted spokes such DT Competition.

Rear wheel would have to be a 36 spokes - DT Competion NDS and DT plain gauge spokes for the DS.

Having said all that, if the wheels are not built properly then not even the best components for the job would make a strong wheel. I would go for a wheel builder instead of the LBS.

EDIT: Ooopss I forgot to include a dynamo.

Where are you based?

"A set of dynamo wheels" I do not understand. The dynamo is only in the front wheel. The rear wheel has nothing to do with it.

I would not be happy with a 28-spoke dished rear wheel unless it had straight-pull spokes or twice as many in the right side than the left (in which case it would be a 27-spoke wheel) and preferably both of those features. With conventional bent-ended spokes I'd want at least 36 in back and single-butted on the gear side. But that's another matter.

Front wheels have an easy life on a touring bike (front spoke breakages are almost unknown) and if 36 are enough for a dished back wheel carrying 60% of the all-up weight and all of the drive torque: 28 are plenty in front. Admittedly a hub (disk) brake also imposes an even higher torque, but only occasionally and torque loads are nowhere near as fatiguing for the spokes as the rolling load. The disk also imposes some dish, but nowhere near as much as all those rear sprockets.

Same number of spokes front and back is a racer thing, because racers crash a lot, which tends to bend front wheels. The rest of us got lumbered with this arrangement in the 70s, when riding a bike for transport became a thing that only poor and undiscerning people did and all of cycling's smart money went on racing. Prior to that, 32 front and 40 rear was the standard arrangement. Now that we have better materials, 28/36 should be the modern standard. It isn't, because tourists are still being stupidly grateful for crumbs from the racing man's table. But if you can find hubs and rims you like with the right number of holes, you can be a smarter tourist. Even with panniers, the front ones are rarely more than half the weight of the rear.

Figured I had to learn at somepoint so I have a truing stand, spoke tension tool and dishing tool in the post. I will practise on a spare wheelset I have, then buy the parts and build them myself. Not the cheapest way but I had been meaning to learn to build wheels anyway.

Ah, a sound decision. Welcome to the thin end of a mildly obsessive wedge

Well worth the price of a pie and a pint:

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

fossala wrote:Figured I had to learn at somepoint so I have a truing stand, spoke tension tool and dishing tool in the post. I will practise on a spare wheelset I have, then buy the parts and build them myself. Not the cheapest way but I had been meaning to learn to build wheels anyway.

Out of curiostiy what truing stand have you gone for? Been looking for a decent one for a while - trying to get my dad to build me one!

Also what dynamo hub are you going for?

Bought this of ebay for 50 quid as it seemed decent enough for the price. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350806899714? ... 1497.l2649

As for the hub, it will either be a SON 28 or a SP PD-8.