Road wheel build with MTB disc hubs

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Tippster
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Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:11 pm
Location: Frederica (Denmark)

by Tippster

Does anyone have any experience of using or building a road wheel laced onto a mountain bike disc hub?

I plan to get a set of wheels biuld for my mountain bike.
I've checked the clearance and I can fit 700c wheels.
I use disc brakes so the placement of v-brakes is not an issue.

I'd like to biuld a light wheelset that is able to take the additional stress that disc brakes place on the wheel.

I'm 80kg and ride a 15 mile road commute 5 days a week. I dont run a car so I'm saving £300 UK a month. This and the 600 + miles a month, mean I can justify £300 to £500 UK on a wheelset. I'm also really keen on getting the weight down.


Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

Tippster

Oswald
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Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:11 pm

by Oswald

I've also been thinking about building a set like that... with 34mm cross tubulars, it would make a very fast wheelset... But it doesn't fit my fork... at least not when compressed...

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Terminator
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Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2003 6:42 pm

by Terminator

Tippster wrote:Does anyone have any experience of using or building a road wheel laced onto a mountain bike disc hub?


I have a hardtail MTB and I´m using a wheelset with DT-Swiss Onyx Hubs (Disk), 32 spokes and a Mavic CXP33 rim. I have Conti 23 mm Clinchers on it.
No problems at all. Best of all: When you travel and take MTB wheels and roadwheels with you - you have 2 bikes in one :D

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Tippster
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Location: Frederica (Denmark)

by Tippster

The frame is a Specialized M5 Hardtail, with Pace RC31 Carbon forks.

The frame will fit 700c wheels comfortably.
The fork has bags of spare room.

I know plently about MTB hubs.


My knowledge falls down in the area of:

What spokes will take the additional stress of disc brakes?
What 700c rims are both lightweight and suitable for disc brakes?

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Ivan
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by Ivan

I got sapim CX rays on my trialbike. They're fitted to mavic F519 rims ( 32 spokes both front and rear) and i use a disc brake in front (deore hydr. disc brake with a 180 mm disc) and i can tell you these wheels can take a HUGE amount of stress. I never broke a spoke on this bike. They're a bit out of true now but thats nothing to worry about after 1.5 year of abuse.

morrisond
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Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 8:34 pm

by morrisond

Hi Tippster,

I had some wheels built like that exactly. I built up a Cannondale Cyclocross Disc bike last fall for riding in the winter and the rain in the City(I live in Toronto Ontario Canada). It has 135 mm (MTB) rear spacing. I ended up using Mavic Open Pro Ceramics(Look Great and because your running Discs you don't have to worry about ruining the finish, about 430g each), with DT Super Comp Spokes, reasonably light at 318 grams for 64 and I'll quote DT "With the DT super comp, you can build perfect wheels for bikes with disc brakes. The triple cold-forged DT super comp withstands the most extreme loads. Butting of the middle section saves additional weight.
DT super comp is ideal for disc brake bikes, freeride and touring. Black and 100% Swiss made".

I used brass nipples 65 grams, and used Chris King MTB hubs(166g front and 306 grams rear ISO). I used 32 spokes in each wheel crossed 3x.

Total weight is about 1,706 grams, not ultra light, but not bad. I've put about 1,000 km on them bashing around the city and they've been perfect. I weigh about 220 so I can easily feel if there is any flex(I had some Kysrium SSC and they rubbed the brake blocks when I was standing on my road bike), but these have been great.

If you want to make a lighter set use fewer spokes in the front and use alloy nipples, and you should be able to get down to the low 1,600's.

Have fun.

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mrowkoob
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Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:35 pm
Location: Middle of nowhere, EU

by mrowkoob

I have a set. CXP 33´s and Deore hubs, Sapim race spokes, magura discs. I had them made for my mtb becuse I didnt own a roadbike that I could get myself to ride in bad weather. They performed just great and it was good training because you had to ride with a heavier bike than the others while training. No problem to keep a good 30+ average speed over 100k. Unfortunately I´ve only used them for 300k´s and now they just sit here and collect dust since my MTB was stolen :cry: . Any buyers? :wink:
Attachments
700 disc copy.jpg

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Tippster
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Location: Frederica (Denmark)

by Tippster

What is their weight WITHOUT disc rotors?

grams please.

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mrowkoob
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Location: Middle of nowhere, EU

by mrowkoob

I´ve never bothered to weigh them since they were mounted on a heavy XT equipped mtb.

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morrisond
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Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 8:34 pm

by morrisond

Those should be about 2,038 grams, heavy hubs.

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