The joy of disc brakes and lots of wheels.

Now that I’ve decided to go with tubulars, it’s time to gear up. I need a rim, some spokes and nipples, and two hubs. Keeping in line with the Shimano Deore family, I am going to take advantage of my disc brake tabs and use Shimano Deore disc brake hubs in the front and rear. I agree with Lennard Zinn’s prediction of disc brakes becoming more prevalent on road bikes.

Disc brakes aren’t exactly super sexy on a road bike because they are big and bulky. Coming from the world of mountain bikes, these components weren’t designed with the weight weenie in mind. They’re designed to be tough and tough they are. Disc brakes are less likely to get clogged with mud and heat is almost not a factor. So what if the rotor and pad get hot? Heat is a bigger issue on rim brake system because heat could lead to tire failure. The rim pads would wear out quicker and the rim strength was compromised as it wore out. With the braking function separated from the rim surface, the rim needs only to hold up to your weight and help keep the tire on. Let the disc brake worry about slowing you down.

It may take a while for disc brakes to catch on to road bikes but manufacturers are seeing the trend too. Tektro makes linear pull road style brake levers. the RL520. Avid makes two disc brake calipers designed for road brake lever pull ratios: the BB5 Road and the BB7 Road. More and more commuter bikes and hybrids such as Giant’s Seek 3 either have disc brakes already installed on them or disc brake tabs on the frame and fork to accommodate an upgrade. Almost every cyclocross bike made today also has disc brakes mounting tabs, such as Redline’s Conquest, if not whole complete disc brakes already installed. So wonderful and powerful are disc brakes that the UCI even banned them from cyclocross competition. If the UCI bans something then you know there’s something good about it.

As time moves on, I think the disc brake system will lighten up and get a sexy make over. Carbon will replace aluminum alloy and whatever aluminum alloy is left will be streamlined and minimized. The rotors will be thinned and lightened up to better fit a road application. Rims can be made lighter as well since they won’t need to survive the gentle grinding of the pads. Carbon rims will be a perfect match for disc brakes.

The Deore hubs are tough and heavy. Together they weigh in at around 820 grams.

Hefty tough, these hubs are made for the long haul.

That’s starting to approach two pounds and we haven’t even added in the weight of the spokes, hubs, quick release levers, and rotors. I’m not going to win any sprints on these wheels but that’s not the point. The point here is tough.

I actually plan to build three sets of wheels so I have three sets of hubs tucked away. The first set is to be a “road” set for century rides and general sport touring. I want to mount 700×23 tubulars on these rims. Next, I want to build a set for mixed surface and wet weather riding. These wheels will have something beefier like 700×28 tubulars. Lastly, I want to build a set for off road punishment. These wheels will get the fattest tubulars I can find that will fit inside the frame and fork. Ideally, I’d love to get some 700×40 tubulars if I can find them. I will probably have to nix my ultra fat tubular idea and go with some wide clincher tires. In order not to raise my stand over height too much with bulbous 700c tires, I am thinking of going to a 650b wheel and tire system.

It sounds crazy and impractical. A single set of clincher wheels with three different tire and tube sets would be cheaper. But this is a hobby and a pleasure so logic doesn’t fit in very well here. Besides, I want lots of practice building wheels.

Each wheel will have 36 spokes and I want to have a 4x cross pattern. I believe that more crossings equate to generally stronger wheels. Having the spoke more tangential to the hub allows for a greater transfer of torque as well. In the end, I want the frame to fail before the wheels. Overall wheel strength comes from a combination of the spokes and the rim. If you shave off some material from the rim then you need to make it up with more spokes unless you’re gunning for a weaker wheel. Likewise, you can save on the spokes a bit if you have a sturdy rim. I’m a fairly light person. At 5′6″, I tip the scales at around 145 pounds. I’m no clydesdale. So, for my first set of wheels, the “road” wheels”, I have decided to go with a set of lightweight Saavedra Turbo rims.

Made for weight weenie and ridden by the tourist, these rims are a very unlikely choice.

I didn’t get these rims on purpose so to speak. They were found on eBay for the grand sum of $39 with S&H included. Who can beat that? That’s pretty cheap for a set. They are drilled out for 36h holes. The braking surface is irrelevant since I’m using disc brakes. And they tip the scales at a scant 290g!

Double butted spokes are considered to be very strong and very lightweight but there’s nothing wrong with straight gauge spokes either. They are plentiful and cheap. Lots of races were won on them and many wheels that are 20+ years old are still holding their true with straight gauge spokes. I bought a generic set of 75 spokes and nipples for $19 off of eBay with S&H included. The set was purchased to match a different rim and hub set I had and the length, at 297mm, was seemingly perfect for that. These were my practice spokes to begin to get the hang of the lacing pattern. My fear here is that the cheap spokes won’t be able to hold their true very well. They’ll stretch and require different tensions to achieve true. We’ll see.

According to Jobs Brandt’s spoke length calculator, the Saavedra Tubros when coupled with the Deore hubs require 295mm. It looks like I am 2mm too long. My biggest fear is that I will run out of threads and not be able to get the spokes up to tension. We’ll see how it goes. I may end up having to get new spokes. Just another excuse to keep wrenching.