New Wheels for the Raleigh Super Course

New Wheels - DT Swiss R 460 700c Tubeless-Ready Road Rims

I built a set of new wheels with the goal of solving two problems. First, I wanted to be able to try out a bunch of different kinds of tires and be able to go tubeless. That meant I needed to go with 700c rims. Second, I wanted to replace the 5-speed freewheel (14–28) with a 7-speed cassette and get some better gearing options. (The plan is 48/34 on the front, with a 32-25-21-18-16-14-12 cassette.)

For hubs, I had some Shimano hubs from Karen’s old, long done, early 1990s bike. The front hub is a “sealed mech. EXAGE HB-RM50” and the back hub is a “sealed mech. EXAGE FH-HG50.” The back hub fit a 7-speed cassette, so that was good. The hubs seemed to be lightly worn and fit into the frame nicely - no bending required. That was good news, so I cleaned them up put some new grease into the bearings and tried to tighten the cones just right.

For spokes, I used DT Competition Double Butted Spokes, since all of my wheel-building experience has been with these spokes. Thirty-two spokes front and 32 spokes back. 

For rims, after searching and price checking and getting some expert advice from a colleague, I went with a pair of DT Swiss rims, which were not too expensive, were tubeless-ready, and seemed to be reliable - DT Swiss R 460 700c Tubeless-Ready Road Rim. Here’s what DT Swiss has to say about them: “DT SWISS R 460 - The jack-of-all trades of road rims: light, wide and with an ideal price/performance ratio. The R 460 works perfectly with wide tires and will deliver many unforgettable rides on the road thanks to its reliability.” (Internal rim width: 18 mm.) Interestingly, the reported ERD, marked on the rims, is 596. But, my own measurement was 595. So, I used 595 to calculate spoke lengths and that turned out to be the correct decision.

These would be wheels #5 and #6 that I’ve built from scratch. Following Roger Musson’s beautiful book, The Professional Guide to Wheel Building, I was able to lace them up, tighten the spokes, and build a couple of solid wheels. For initial spoke tightening, I focussed on careful use of the nipple driver, tightening until the driver disengaged and then loosening the nipple two turns. I have found that this technique keeps the spokes loose enough so that I can keep the rim round and straight during later stages of tightening. When it came to the final tightening phase, I focussed on avoiding spoke wind-up and tried to carefully pre-compress the wheels. After I was finished, I took them out for a brief 100 yard ride and jumped up and down a few times. I did not hear a sound out of them. No pinging! Even better, after about 300 miles, with some fairly hard riding and braking on bumpy terrain, the rims have not moved a fraction of a millimeter as far as I can tell. So I think I have a pair of decent wheels - much better than last year’s wheels - for Gran Fondo Leavenworth and Grand Fondo Winthrop. 

The DT SWISS R 460 rims were about $50.00 each.  The spokes (32 x 292mm, 16 x 290 mm, and 16 x 289mm) and brass nipples were about $100.00 from wheelbuilder.com.  The hubs were free. I liked building with these rims, so much that I bought two more of them for future projects. 

On to tires. I want to be able to run tubeless so that I can use low tire pressures while avoiding pitch flats. After some reading and researching, I decided on getting Clement Cycling X’PLOR USH Clincher (120 TPI, 700c x 35mm). These tires have some aggressive knobs on the sides and at 35mm I was fairly confident that there would be enough clearance between the wheel and the rim. Unfortunately, after a lot of trying and some help at a local bicycle shop, I was not able to get them to work as tubeless. (This is despite the fact that I have read an online post where people have reported that they work fine in tubeless mode. Perhaps, I need to keep trying.)

So, I went with a different tire - Specialized Trigger Pro 2BR (60 TPI, 700c x 38mm).  Here's a review. I was able to get air into them easily and they work beautifully in tubeless mode. I was worried that they would be too close to the back drop-outs and, indeed, there is not much room, perhaps 1.5 - 2.0 mm between the tire and frame. I think that I will get into trouble in muddy conditions but for dry and wet gravel conditions they seem to work just fine. 

Fine Tolerances with Specialized Trigger Pro 2BR (700c x 38mm) on the Super Course frame

Are these tires good for the Gran Fondos? I think they will be awesome on the gravel uphills and super awesome on the gravel downhills. But, I’m not sure how much efficiency I’m giving up on the pavement. Running about 30 psi in the front and back, based on two weeks of commuting on the Burke Gilman trail, my inclination is that they will be fine. 

But, would a Specialized Trigger Pro 2BR in 33 mm be the better choice - could I ride these at 30 psi?  I don't know. 

Meanwhile, I plan to go back to the Clement X’PLOR USH tires and see how they perform on gravel and the road. Perhaps, with tubes, they will work well. We’ll see. Better yet, perhaps there is a trick -- would soapy water help? -- for inflating these tires in tubeless mode. We’ll see.

Other tire possibilities: Gravel Grinder (38mm) and Compass Bon Jon Pass (35 mm) and Compass Barlow Pass (38mm) and Clement X'Plor MSO 60 TIP Adventure Tire and Clement X'Plor MSO Tubeless (36 mm) and Cross Boss (35 mm) and Hutchinson Sector.

So, check on riding goal #4 (build a set of tubeless wheels).