Well, I finished the project. Just wanted to leave a note about how it all went. I had a great time, and will likely build all my wheels from now on - but I have learned some ‘cons’ for carbon rims that I wasn’t previously aware of. It’s really just a cost-to-benefit nitpick.
Firstly, though, I need to give a HUGE shout out and thank you to @mindbalance for them fielding endless questions from me. They were endlessly kind and helpful. I am just so grateful. I’m also grateful to everyone who chipped in and helped in this thread. Thank you thank you!!!
I got the spokes and nipples from https://www.spokesfromryan.com/. The delivery was fast, the ordering easy, and that is even with me being in the USA. The only nitpick is I chose black Sapim nipples and the paint did chip off at the edges almost instantly when tightening. No big deal, but its a note.
My experience with https://www.lightbicycle.com/ was overall pretty great. The product is fantastic, and very polished. The shipping was a considerable portion of the entire bill, which never feels great - but that is the case with almost everything I buy uni-related (including UDC which is like two states over from me). I will say that I think some of the instruction text could be improved, but no biggie.
I weighed everything. I weighed my original steel 27.5 uni with Duro Crux. I weighed the new Mad4One aluminum 27.5 with Minion. I weighed the aluminum wheelset and the carbon wheelset. The carbon wheelset (cranks+pedals+spokes+nipples+fluid+tire+hub+tape+bearing+spacers+valve) ended up being about 1.5 lbs/680g lighter than the aluminum setup. This is somewhere around a 15-20% decrease, which is likely significant. Eh, for the huge cost I’m not sure it is worth it for weight savings. I also didn’t love going back to Presta valves, and now dealing with the trouble of seating a tire and all that jazz.
With that being said, the real test is how it treats me over the next few months on trails. And I’m excited to see how it goes.
If anyone is reading this and contemplating building a carbon rim, I think I’d recommend really asking yourself why. If it is for weight savings, I’m not sure it is worth it unless you have a very specific goal. For example, when you go tubeless, you lose the mass of the tube BUT pick up about ~half~ of the mass in sealant. Again, no big deal, but just things I’ve learned. I’d also mention that there are other things that creep in. In other words, the story is always more complicated. The cost wasn’t a huge concern for me, but it did end up costing almost as much as a new quality unicycle-ish-ish.
The final product on the Mad4One.
Rotor installed!
Got the tire on.
All laced up.
Just a worktable shot.