spokes: how many, how thick?

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DutchMountains
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:16 pm

by DutchMountains

So I couldn't resist the 62% discount on a Bish Bash Bosh! for winter, audax and light gravel riding. Now to turn that frameset into something that can be ridden 8) , starting with the wheels.

I pretty much settled on using Kinlin X31 rims (the disc specific, asymmetric version) with DT Swiss 350 hubs. Should make solid wheels I think, at a good price: 340 euro / 360 US$ for the hubs+rims. The X31 is 31mm high and because of the 3mm offset the tension on the NDS is 79% of the DS, as is the non-disc on the front wheel.

So the options I am contemplating for each wheel:
  1. 24x Sapim D-Light (2.0-1.65-2.0) -> ~254 gram, strong enough?
  2. 24x Sapim Race (2.0-1.8-2.0) -> ~300 gram
  3. 12x Race + 12x D-Light -> ~277 gram, thicker spokes on DS and front left
  4. 28x D-Light -> ~295 gram

Now those rims and hubs are no flyweights (est. 1370 gram total) and neither is that frameset, so maybe I shouldn't fret and go for option b, but hey, unnecessary weight is evil, right? Then again, few things worse than having to scratch a brevet in the middle of the night because one of your wheels broke... I will be using alloy nipples and nipple washers.

Any advice?

My weight is 61kg (135 lbs) and I can't rule out I'll load this bike someday with another 12kg for a bike packing trip. Options a, b and d are the easiest and cheapest to order; I can get by with using the same length spokes for all sides.

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F45
Posts: 1077
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:08 am

by F45

I would go with option A, and skip the nipple washers.

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