need new wheelset – build or buy?

[Tania]

I just parted out a wheelset with Pacenti SL23, sapim lasers and White T11’s and it came out to MORE than the prebuilt set that November has (and it turned out to be the same parts, coincidentally).

I think the prebuilt November set is the winner. Gold star to jabberwocky. I shall buy him food tomorrow after we ride.

[consularrider]

@Tania 117968 wrote:

I just parted out a wheelset with Pacenti SL23, sapim lasers and White T11’s and it came out to MORE than the prebuilt set that November has (and it turned out to be the same parts, coincidentally).

I think the prebuilt November set is the winner. Gold star to jabberwocky. I shall buy him food tomorrow after we ride.

But they don’t have red nipples!

[Tania]

@consularrider 117973 wrote:

But they don’t have red nipples!

I’ll take “Words I Never Expected To Hear consularrider Say” for $400 please Alex.

[consularrider]

@Tania 117974 wrote:

I’ll take “Words I Never Expected To Hear consularrider Say” for $400 please Alex.

They’d go well with the paint job on my vintage Raleigh (think they’ll make a 27″ wheel). Of course that would mean that the wheels would be worth five times as much as the rest of the bike. :p

[trailrunner]

@Tania 117950 wrote:

I’m slowly building a list of components and then I’ll throw them into a spreadsheet with weight and cost etc. Gotta say, the Kings R45’s are looking better and better weight-wise. There are just so many options it’s making my head spin. So far on my preliminary list are DT Swiss 440’s, Kinlin XR-270 (light and CHEAP!) and Mavic cxp 33. 28 spokes in rear, 24 in front.

I have a wheelset with CK hubs and CXP33s. in fact, I commuted today on my old Lemond Zurich with those wheels, which I built up around 12 or 13 years and about 12k miles ago. That is a very solid combination, although I think I have 32 spokes rear, and 28 spokes front.

[Bruno Moore]

In theory, I’d say going with a pair of Velocity A23 OC Comps—which you can, also in theory, order in whatever configuration you want from Velocity’s website—is the way to go. In practice, Velocity’s got Issues. Great wheels, just…well, my Consulting Wheelbuilder and I ordered celeste rims, 24 spokes 2 cross front/28 3x rear, black brass nipples.* Turns out they were out of celeste, so I went with blue. The last 28 spoke hole rim had QC issues, so I got a 32 spoke rear. When I opened the box, the front was radially spoked, the rear drive side 2x/nondrive radial.

I mean, they work well, I’m not a Big Dude™ so I can get away with radial spoking, the anodized blue actually looks really good against all that celeste, but they’re not what I ordered.

They sound like a really great fly reel with a fish running out the backing, though. That’s cool.

*The looks, expletives, and generally dismissive remarks about my intellect I got from my CW/coworker when I so much as asked if there was any reasons to consider alloy nipples were pretty priceless.

[Tim Kelley]

@Harry Meatmotor 117962 wrote:

I vote for that solution! Dave and Mike at November are great guys making some outstanding handbuilt wheels…

+1.

I’ve destroyed every single wheelset (road, tri, mountain) that I’ve owned and the Novembers were among those that lasted the longest!

[Tania]

I ordered the November wheels Sat am. Am now waiting impatiently for the “your wheels have shipped!” email.

[Tania]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8956[/ATTACH]

So pretty! And right-side up in real life…

But so quiet, after a week with a loaner wheel with a Chris King hub.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Humminna

[Tania]

That blur on the trail tomorrow, making angry bee noises and leaving dcv in the dust? Yeah. That will be me.

[dkel]

@Tania 118818 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8956[/ATTACH]

So pretty! And right-side up in real life…

Oh! I just thought they were reeeeally, reeeeally light!

[Powerful Pete]

Very curious to hear your thoughts when you have had a chance to ride those new, fly wheels!

[Tania]

Wider rims mean grabbier brakes that were already pretty grabby (tomorrow’s ride in should be fun). They also make my 28mm tires look like 32s. We forgot to weigh the back wheel but my old front was 870 or 890 and the new one is 640.

I rode it around my parking garage for a few minutes but hard to get a sense in flip flops.

Public thanks and promises of burgers to jabberwocky for helping me put them on. (And by helping me, I mean doing all of it.)

[dkel]

Be careful on those new wheels; that kind of change is what makes many people crash (myself included).

[Author]

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