I wanted to share with you all the results of my first wheelbuild. The headline specs/stats are:

• weight: 1319g
  
• depth: 50/55mm (front/rear)
  
• width: 21/28 (internal/external)
  
• cost: $718

I've been meaning to make this thread for a while. I've been busy finishing my PhD and finally had the time to cobble it together. Theres some more build info I want to add in a later post but I'll put this up for now.

I had recently bought myself a truing stand and tensionmeter to rebuild a wheel with a rim that I broke racing CX. Now having the tools to build wheels, I got curious about the phenomenally low prices on wheelbuilding components, as well as the freedom to pursue interesting build configurations.

I'll be transparent here: this is a vanity build driven by questionable weight and aero-weenie-ing. Experienced wheelbuilders will probably cringe at my choices, and that's fine with me. The irony of scraping for grams on this build while I could stand to lose 20lbs of body fat is not lost on me. At the end of the day I had a lot of fun building these up, I think they look super cool, it's exciting to me that I've built up such a lightweight wheelset, and I've had a pretty good experience riding them so far. Given this premise of vanity over practicality, I hope you can appreciate my wheelbuild for what it is.

Rims:
I did a bit of searching for the manufacturer of the lightest rims and landed on Deerobust. It helps that they are the first result when you search "lightest carbon rim" into aliex. This is no exaggeration, the 21mm-internal-width, 50 and 55mm-deep rims I chose ("featherweight"-spec + paintless finish) were quoted at 390g and 420g respectively; the only manufacturer that seems to come close is Lightcarbon.

I chose 50/55 simply because it's a depth that seemed to strike a good balance between weight and aero. I also won't lie and say that the decision was influenced by the fact that the Enve SES 4.5 rims used by Pogi and UAE are 50/55mm deep, even though if we're being realistic those are completely different wheels. I chose 21mm internal width because it seems that this is still the ideal rim width for aero given a 28mm tire. I understand the rule of 105% says otherwise. On the other hand, Peak-torque's testing results (particularly the comparison of the Polaris Ascent 42 against the ICAN Aero 35 across 28mm and 32mm tires) suggests that a 28mm tire is faster on a 21mm internal width rim compared a wider one.

Another feature I chose for my rims is internally-drilled spoke holes. For one, there is the (dubious) aero benefit of having hidden nipples. But more importantly--as ENVE's marketing material points out--smaller spoke holes means stronger spoke holes, and therefore a stronger, safer rim.

I paid $507 (inc. shipping) to order my rims from Deerobust, with bespoke paintless finish, hole-drilling, and logo.  The rims weighed 410 and 415g respectively. I was a tad disappointed that my front rim came 5g over the spec weight +/- 15g margin of error. On the other hand, my rear rim came 5g under spec weight, the average weight between the two was under the +/- 15g per rim margin of error, so I called it good and decided to not complain.

Hubs
As for hubs, I chose GOLDIX 21-spoke hubs with 2:1 lacing. These have no official model number but appear to be a DT-swiss style ratchet hub with straight-pull lacing. I chose these because a) Goldix seems to have a fairly decent reputation on here, and b) these hubs are very lightweight. The standout unique design feature of these hubs is that there are 21 spokes, 14 spokes laced in a 3x pattern on the stressed side (drive side on rear, brake side on front), and 7 radially-laced spokes on the non-drive side. I went for this unusual design because fewer spokes theoretically means lighter and more aero, while the 2:1 3x lacing, especially when paired to such deep rims, potentially could make up for the loss in stiffness. Remember, this is a vanity build.

When my hubs arrived, they seemed to be of decent quality. The bearings were a tad notchy--something that has gone away since I started riding them. The bearings are "NBK" brand, and have metal ball cages, which are a feature of decent-quality bearings. These aren't showstoppers, but they aren't complete garbage either.

One criticism I have about these hubs is that that to achieve radial lacing on the non-stressed side, the hub axle has a hole drilled out to allow a spoke to be passed through into the back of the spoke hole. This means that the wheel bearing on the radially laced side is offset inboards an entire centimeter. This is bad for hub stiffness and longevity. The further inboards the bearing sits, the longer the unsupported section of the axle is (making less stiff), and the bearing has to bear more axial/side loading (which harms longevity). In the future I might swap these hubs out for a different design.

Spokes and nipples
For this build I chose Pillar Wing 20 with Pillar hex-10 internal nipples. I have a whole extra story to tell about these nipples that I will get to another time. I chose these spokes over the alternative (Sapim CX Ray/DT aerolite) because they are supposedly stiffer, lighter, just as aero, and definitely are cheaper. The idea that a wider spoke section is just as aero as a narrower one baffles me, but I'll trust in Campagnolo and Boyd, who have supposedly tested this difference and chose the Pillar wings. I also spoke-prepped my threads using Rock n Roll Nipple cream.

Finishing touches
As is common, I have wrapped my wheels in 28mm Continental GP5000 clincher tires, with RideNow 19gr tubes inside, likely the lightest and lowest-rolling-resistance combo in the Continental range, barring the GP5000TT. I'm also running ONIRII's super-light 160mm floating disc rotors, and an S-ROAD one-piece 11-32 cassette

Overall impressions
So far I've logged about 100 miles on these new wheels on my road bike. They certainly sound cool and feel fast. And they do not feel like they're particularly lacking in stiffness. One major complaint I am experiencing is that my freehub ratchet has been slipping occasionally. I serviced it and found that I had reinstalled the o-ring incorrectly and that some dirt/grime had made its way into the ratchet. After a bit of cleaning and regreaseing it was nearly perfect once again, perhaps I need to clean it more and regrease with the special DT swiss ratchet grease.

Are these truly "fast" wheels? Who knows. They haven't stopped me from setting a bunch of Strava PRs here and there. But as far as bling factor, these are 10/10, super cool and super fun wheels to have.

Thanks for reading my wheelbuild story. Would love to hear your thoughts and questions. Hopefully soon, I can make a quick post about how I dealt with some challenges I experienced using the Hex-10 nipples.

Actually I must apologise, I misunderstood what tavelo is and can understand their prices now. They're not a bike company, they're a marketing company selling bikes, it's like specialized on steroids. They charge this much because they can. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the value proposition product is if it sells.

Their exorbitant markup for non-chinese market is because every frame they sell here potentially loses them eyes in their main market and because they don't really need us the sales quantity losses are balanced out by the suckers that will pay this much.

I really don't get what the hand-wringing is over the markup. They are charging what they think the market will bear for the perceived quality and service.

I've bought a Lightcarbon LCG071 and a Seka Exceed; the Seka Exceed cost me around 3x more and frankly I think I got my money's worth with the Exceed. The finishing kit on a Seka is much nicer, and every part included is far-superior quality spec. They replaced my whole damn frame (and even painted a new frame just for me with an out-of-production color) at no extra cost after I discovered an issue with it over 6 months after buying it. It's just a much nicer bike with much better after-sales service than what I'd ever expect from Velobuild or Lightcarbon. I absolutely think that a company that essentially exists to retail, market, paint, and (hopefully) QC frames can add enough value to justify a markup like this, and I also think that if PP adds enough value through after-sales service, then their markup is justified too. (note: I still haven't seen evidence that they really do enhance the after-sales service)

The calculus here is easy: is the added risk/hassle of going through a Chinese company worth the cost-savings when compared to buying an equivalent-spec frame locally? Different people will make either decision depending on their circumstances, and hopefully PP and Tavelo have found a price and level of service that adequately suits the needs of many people making this decision.

Personally I think the Arow looks like a better frame design than the Seka Exceed and the Bross Zenith. The paint jobs are a little out there but I think the Arow does the best job striking the balance between aero and lightweight features for my tastes. The Arow is also (supposedly) a lighter frame than the Exceed or the Zenith. Seka’s spear looks like a better product, but I believe it will be more expensive. I get that this is a matter of personal taste, but my point is there really is a market for the Arow

I just really want directmount chainrings

I bought Magene's QED crankset with direct-mount chainrings before it got pulled from the markets. Horrible experience, Magene bungled the design and they would bend and become permanently deformed from normal pedaling loads. Magene's warranty department was useless and asked me to delete my chinertown thread on the issue to cover up their screw-up. The most I got from this was a new chainring, which bent again. My experience might be part of the reason why that product got pulled from the shelves in the first place.

Even worse, they have a proprietary chainring interface and no aftermarket spider or alternative chainrings, which means I am completely fucked and have a $500 brick of a crankset. In summary, be thankful they learned from their mistakes and aren't making DM chainrings anymore.

I know the spider based PMs are great, PES is great, and their accessories are great, but damn do I feel bitter about Magene after my QED experience.

Did my first from-scratch build last spring. I really can't stop, I'm an addict indeed. Built up a new cross/gravel bike last fall. Did my first wheelbuild this spring. I've upgraded my road build so much that I nearly have an entire suite of parts that I could build onto a frame, so I've been speccing and pricing out a beater build around those parts. Maybe to sell second hand? Not sure. I do worry that going that route will lose me money. But I sure am having fun.

Can she go to a bike shop and try a road bike or two? That would take out a lot of guesswork. Cable integration and one piece cockpit are the enemies of an uncertain bike fit, too... And a gf in an uncomfortable position is an unhappy gf. Unhappy gfs are fire breathing dragons. Dragons are scary. Like snakes, but bigger and with fire.

Honestly at that point might as well just buy a lower-end bike at the shop. Personally I think chiner bikes are most suitable people who have their fit, mech-ing etc. figured out.

See attached photo. This cassette has been super cool and lightweight, albeit has exhibited some very rough shifting around the 3-tooth jump between cogs 7 and 8.

After no more than 100 miles of riding I noticed a tooth was sheared off. Thankfully I was granted a return (after nearly 3 months of ownership), but I'm posting this as a fair warning to everyone else.