When you have built a great wheel with extremely high quality components what is more natural than to take photos and share it with the world!

 

So this is my new front wheel which I have stitched together for my beloved all mountain bike. The components are picked out to be the perfect blend of quality crafted parts to make a light, durable, stiff, easily maintained and beautiful, but not overly expensive, superwheel.

The center of it all is the DT Swiss 240s fifteen 100 mm front hub. As the name implies, it is a 15 mm thru-axel hub. In my opinion that is the perfect size of an axel to maintain security and performance. A larger axel would require a larger hub and thus weigh more. That is not necessary for normal single track use.

Radiating out from the hub are 32 DT Swiss Super Comp spokes. They are lighter than the Competition spokes without being exceedingly fragile. I thought about using the Revelation spokes, but after building a set of wheels for a street bike with the Rev spokes I saw that it would be unwise. The Revs are just too thin and weak for the tensions they would have to endure on a fast rocky twisty trail.

The rim is a chapter for itself. Stan’s NoTubes makes great stiff and light rims which are a dream to set up tubeless. I’ve tried other tubeless rims (read Mavic XM819), but NoTubes Arch EX is in a category for itself.

They are incredibly easy to set up. Just secure the rim tape, inject the Stan’s “The Solution Tire Sealant” through the valve, move the fluid a little bit around, and pump normally with a foot pump, and it all just POPS into place. It has never been easier. I have always had to use the gas station pump to get enough airflow to tighten the seal between the tire and the rim. Those days are gone.

To end it all up I chose to use a 203 mm Shimano XTR RT 98 rotor with center lock. It’s light, tough, well machined and reasonably priced. So what’s next? Getting out on the trail of course!