hubs and spoke patterns

[alecstilleyedye]

i have a joytech hub on a vuelta wheel where the rim is concave and a spoke has broken. i intend to keep the hub and possibly marry it to an alex rim i have spare.

the spoke pattern on the vuelta wheel was nicer than the one in the alex wheel, so will marrying them up be impossible using the spokes from the alex wheel? from memory the alex wheel had more spokes than the vuelta wheel; will it matter that there are some empty spoke holes?

i'm going to use this as my first toe into the wheel building water, using a pair of old alu forks as a guide.

ta in advance 

[mattc]

... so will marrying them up be impossible using the spokes from the alex wheel? from memory the alex wheel had more spokes than the vuelta wheel; will it matter that there are some empty spoke holes?

Almost definitely, but you haven't given us much info!

(e.g. 36, 32 and 28 spoke setups are not interchangeable. I think ...)

[oncemore]

And...the spokes required may not be same length!

[Tewdric]

What do you mean by the spoke pattern being "nicer"?

You need to work out the dimensions of your hub - the diameter of the hub flange measured spokehole to spokehole on opposite sides of the flange, and the distance of each flange from the centreline of the hub.  You also need to know the effective rim diameter of your Alex rim - easier to look up than try and measure.

You can then use a spoke length calculator such as that at DTSwiss.com to work out what spoke length you need.  

Have a good read of Sheldon Brown's pages on wheelbuilding or, better still, get Roger Musson's ebook from wheelpro.co.uk.

If you're struggling post the exact model of hub and rim and spoke count and I'll try and help.

<Edit>  You need the same number of spoke holes in the rim and hub - don't leave gaps!  It's also a really good idea fr a first wheelbuilding foray to use new components, they build up more easily!

[eck]

Or get yourself to Big Al's Emporium of Cycling Delights and study the ready reckoner on his lavvie door. 

[alecstilleyedye]

hub is a 24 and the rim is a 32. so i'm guessing that i'd be wasting my time…

begs the question of whether a joytech hub from a £65 wheelset is worth keeping in the bits box…

[Tewdric]

It has to be said that Joytech hubs are cheap and nasty.  Sorry.  Use it to practice stripping, servicing and reassembling.

Front or rear?  Road or MTB?  I'll see what I have lying about.

[alecstilleyedye]

you might be right tewdric, although as it has outlasted the rim and only needed the cones tightening once i can't really complain on a £65 wheelset.

the shimano-hubbed wheel i've replaced it with seems to run a little nicer in a non-specific way, could just be the 'new(ish) kit' effect…

[Tewdric]

Oh indeed. 

Why not pick up a cheapie secondhand 32h hub from 't bay and get some ACI spokes from Velomax and build a wheel for fun? 

[alecstilleyedye]

in the end i've just serviced the odd hub on the alex wheel; it's one of those cheapo things that has no proper removable cassette cluster thing. it will do as an emergency replacement.

i might try and find a cheap 24h rim to marry the joytech hub to; i'll be harvesting the spokes as spares for the still serviceable front wheel…