May I ask for advice? I'm about to replace my wheels on my Surly LHT and I'd like to ask for recommendations / warnings.
I'm a heavy guy and I carry a lot of gear. I've always run 700x32 tires. Any guidance on hubs, spoke count, spoke type, lacing pattern, rims?
I'm contemplating putting a dyno in the front wheel.
•If you asked me, what's your primary goal in this purchase, I'd say: I never want these wheels to go out of true.
•If you asked me, what's your lowest priority concern, I'd say: lightweight is not a concern
My current wheels have XT 36-spoke hubs, DT 14 gauge spokes in a 4-cross pattern, and DT Swiss 7.1 rims.
Thanks in advance, my compliments to all. V.
So why not stay with your current setup and just add a dyno hub? You may also want to read Peter White's info/rant on custom wheels.
Also, why not run the widest tires the LHT can take? As discussed in other threads, running higher volume, lower pressure tires isn't going to do much to your overall speed, and will likely improve comfort. And, as Grant Petersen likes to say, as far as suspension goes, air is pretty cheap.
For my rando wheel set, I went to Peter White for 32-hole Deep Vees laced cross-3 to a SON dynamo hub and a Velocity rear. I've been running 35mm tires on them with no problems.
Data point 1: my first dynamo wheel was built by Peter 5 years ago, seen something like 15000 miles, and has never needed to be trued.
Data point 2: I'm 215-220 pounds, and also carry a good bit of gear.
Opinion 1: Unless you plan on doing a LOT of riding with the dynamo, I'd recommend going with the nicer Shimano hub offerings rather than the Schmidt hub...you'll save a great deal of money, and the connectors on the Shimano are nicer IMO.
Reddan (well first, thank you very much!) may I ask a noob question about your Opinion1? I've never had a dynamo, so I'm not sure I get it.
When you say "unless you plan on doing a lot of riding with the dynamo" do you mean, with the dynamo turned on or do you just mean with the wheel on the bike?
My intent is to get the dynamo hub because it's always intrigued me and I'd like to have that option, but pragmatically I don't plan on using it for lighting or electric supply that much at all.
thanks again, V
In theory, the Schmidt hubs have lower drag, and a longer life, than the Shimano dynamo hubs. That said, you pay a > $100 premium for what, in my limited experience, is an imperceptible difference.
The connectors on the Schmidt hub are two bare spade terminals in some goofy size (maybe 5mm?); the Shimano hubs use these nice little reusable connecting blocks that you feed the bare wire ends into and clamp down. Easier connection/disconnection for wheel removal, and easier rewiring if necessary.
BTW, I was just looking at this last week... here's a helpful article I found about new/old Shimano hubs vs Schmidt:
http://www.thebikebiz.com/Articles.asp?ID=153
Although, it seems like there should be a non-dyno hub on there for comparison purposes... it's hard to interpret the magnitude of the differences there, although in absolute watts it's pretty tiny, like Dan said.
I keep thinking about doing this too, but it's expensive. if I were doing more long-distance touring I'd do it, and a USB charger too... but for the riding I do, the rechargeable light I have is pretty bright and lasts a long time.
If you just want something to play around with, why not one of these?
http://handspunwheels.com/products/view_product/1740/
http://handspunwheels.com/products/view_product/1745/
i don't want something to play around with,
i want to marry these wheels. (lolz)
thanks very much Headloss, Salty, Reddan, and BrianJ, I really appreciate it.
