Richard loves his XLR8 Mistral T38 road wheels so much, he came to us for a new pair of track wheels.
The brief was complex – stiff, stiff, stiff (whilst still being aero) and not a handful in the crosswind that comes across the finishing straight of his local velodrome.
Alloy was preferred, to keep the cost down, and be sure of as much stiffness as possible. The tried and true Velocity Pro-Elite tubular rim was a great choice – in all black (without any machining of the brake wall). These rims (and their clincher cousin, the Deep V) are known for providing killer stiffness at low spoke counts, and are the basis for 1500-1600g road builds that last.
Of course, White Industries track hubs won pride of place on this wheelset, due to their quality hardware, lovely finish, and silky smooth bearings.
In fact, whilst building these hoops, we spun one wheel in the stand, and then headed off to make a coffee. After cleaning the grip, filling up the hopper, grinding some beans, filling the grip, and then the classic “Lungo” pour (about 50 secs on our machine) – we made our way back to the stand – to find the wheel still spinning!
24 radially laced black Sapim Race spokes keep the weight down on the front, and retain stiffness.
On the rear, we custom cut and rolled 24 Sapim Leader plain guage spokes. To ensure the stiffness in acceleration that Richard is wanting, 2x lacing was the smart choice for both sides.
Stress relieving the spokes on this build required some “doing” – even more so than some 32h carbon CX rims we have built – they are that stiff!
DT black brass nipples were used for ultimate reliability.
And the weight? 1907g. Not bad with high flange track hubs. Not bad.