Hi All,
I recently bought some pre-built wheels which turned out to not really
be up to the task. So now I am going to build some replacements.
First a little background on wheels I have and their various strengths
and weaknesses.
The pre-builts had 20 bladed radial spokes in front, 24 2x bladed
back. The rear hub had high and narrow flanges. The rear felt ok
(until I broke the freehub), but the front was too flexible. The
brakes would rub when I stood. These had 50mm deep aero section.
My every-day wheels are 28 2x front, 32 3x back. Ultegra hubs,
Velocity Deep-V rims. Those are rock solid and plenty stiff. Just not
very aero, and heavy.
I have also a set of lightweight tubulars which are 28 radial front,
28 back 2x drive side, radial NDS. These are on American Classic hubs
which are very narrow with virtually no dish, so the radial NDS is
probably dumb. These wheels are very light, but the rear has a
disconcerting springiness to it. My suspicions are that the narrow
flange spacing and radial NDS are the main culprits. I only mention
these wheels are evidence of why I am skeptical of radial NDS.
So on to the new wheels. The rims are 28h 50mm deep carbon. 32 was not
available. The hubs are Dura Ace 7800. Dura Ace have wider flanges
than the AC, so I'm not too worried about the wheels being too floppy.
I want aero, but also I want solid out of saddle feel like my Deep-
V's.
But the question is whether radial up front will provide a more
laterally stiff wheel, or should I go with 2x? Spokes wil be CX-Ray.
On the rear, it will be 2x drive side, but what about radial NDS? Is
there any real reason I should do that? Any reason not to use CX-Ray
on all 28, or should drive side be different? Rider weight 205lbs.
Joseph
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