in the near future (in january probably) i am going to buy a try-all rim (not sure which one yet) and i want to get it built to my current profile hub. for trials, what guage of spokes would i need? where could i find them to order to get to my US doorstep?
thanks all!
evan
ps, yeah, i know profile. i said it. i know it’s become somewhat the dirty word around here. that hub’s been good to me for these past three years. i don’t want to swap it out until better or equally strong isis hubs come out. sure, it’s a little weighty. but look at my avatar to see what i can pull off with a profile drivetrain.
use the spoke length calculator for your existing rim too - you may find that they’ve got the same length spoke and (assuming your current spokes are in good shape) you can simple move the spokes across to the new rim instead of rebuilding totally. you may want new nipples though, available from any LBS (or from the uni retailer when you get the rim)
BS. It weighs less than the moments. I weighed mine (with bearings, bolts, etc) at ~1250g. Moments+nimbus hub were ~1300g.
I would advise you not to get the koxx rim. They are fairly week. The distance between the drilled hole and the nipple hole has almost no material and often snaps. When I took off my tire after two years of riding, every single last one was snapped. I would go the the KH drilled. It is cheaper and stronger, better quality.
For spokes, I used 172mm DT spokes with my profile hub / koxx rim setup. I had the bike shop make 4 extra spokes to go in my tool kit.
Just take your stuff to a bike shop and have them build the wheel and worry about spoke lengths. A good bike shop should build your wheel and cut new spokes for like 40 bucks.
Danni, you’ve said pretty much exactly what I would always say on a topic like this. People bash Profiles, but really… they are not bad at all, they are just made to look ‘outdated’ because they have been out for years and years and that every single Muni rider 3 years ago were running them and running into problems. In reality, the hub is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing of all and at the same time boasts the highest manufacturing quality out of any unicycle hub. Sure, some say it’s a bit heavy, but as Danni pointed out, the Moment set is heavier. Profile seems to have a completely different reputation in the unicycling world than in the BMX world. In BMX, Profile is like the ‘fruit of the Gods’ almost, haha, I mean 9/10 BMXers I see will be running some sort of Profile component or other. Evan, for now, I suggest you stick with your Profiles until the ISIS hubs have seen a marked improvement in the flanges. Or just go straight to Koxx (zero q-factor really isn’t as bad as you think once you get used to it).
As for rims… yes, I’ve been trying to point out for a long time that drilled rims always snap in the little joints of metal between the spoke holes and the big drilled holes. Even KH 07 rims suffer from this problem, I know for sure, as I’ve seen dozens that suffer from this. In my opinion, the drilled holes are too big in diameter, and reducing them by several mm would significantly reduce snappage. I’ve suggested this to Kris many a time, and he has stated there is some sort of improvement along those lines in the last email he sent me. That being said, if you aren’t too fussed about colour, go for the Try-All Street rim Evan, and get it powdercoated if you really wanted (North American powdercoating service seems scarily cheap compared to what’s on offer in UK).
Despite what people say about the Try-All Street rim… like “No man, don’t get it 'cos it’s so damn heavy!!!”… well, I’d rather have a few extra grams and have a near-indestructible rim than buy a lighter drilled one which’ll last 1/3 of the time, thus me having to spend MORE money on getting a replacement. Save weight on other parts… the pedals are THE SINGLE best place to save weight… there is a 350g or so weight difference between Wellgo MG1s and Odyssey JCs…
All these modern drilled rims you see… Try-All, Onza, Viz, Kris Holm, etc… they are all made by a rim company in China called Jetset. The rims from these brands are all the same initial design except mofications were made in things like drillings, colour, width, and the move from using 6061 to 7005 alu. The only 19" rims that I can think of off the top of my head that are not made by Jetset are Alex DX32s and the elusive Arrow Racing rims… those are a completely different design.
That all being said, the Try-All street rim is the best overall. There isn’t that much weight gain… and it has the advantages of being super wide, whilst being undrilled and having eyelets… This is currently the only of its kind in existance right now. Myself and Evan both hate the DX32 for its narrowness and it is definitely noticable in hindering our riding. I wouldn’t listen to those people who say things like this:
“Get the Viz rim, they are the best!.. Try-All Street rims are worse.”
^That is a serious crock of poop. To be blunt. The thing you want to avoid most on rims is the dreaded brake-line indicator on sidewalls… which marks Viz rims out as a never-option for me, until they change it. Remember when KH rims had the brake line indicator on them back in 2004 or whatever? (That was before my time unicycling, but whatever…)
In conclusion, rim-wise. I’d definitely definitely definitely advise the Try-All Street rim Evan. The orange is a bit ergh… but get the black, and have it powdercoated if you wish. Or just get coloured components for other parts of your uni… e.g. seatclamp, pedals. With a Triton frame, you are already shedding heaps of weight off your current steel set-up, so an extra measly 50g from a reinforced rim will be doing no harm. Hell, I bet the DX32 is heavier than the Try-All street rim, so what have you got to lose?
Just want to point something out, profile hub and KH rim or Try-All rim need 172mm spokes for a 3-cross pattern. This is the stock length of the KH 13 gauge spokes for the trials wheelset. So you might save a little money if you order those instead of custom spokes from some other place.
As for the gauge, no idea what profile hubs need. If you got that wheelset from UDC, the spokes are probably 14-gauge.
to back sponge (and danni, sorta), my KH rim has had nearly ALL of the braces break on the inner wall. i havn’t seen anything happen to the outer wall(where the spokes actually meet the rim), yet, but i won’t be surprised when it does happen. the holes drilled in the rim could easily be 1/3 smaller with 4 small holes drilled around them, save more weight, and be stronger.
its just a bad design. I would have a try all street rim, but they are rediculously expensive. about $5 worth of aluminum made the same as the cheaper rim, but with LESS tooling required= $80 USD that i don’t have, but may soon
yeah. i got it from udc, in 2004. it’s been a while. and that’s why i don’t recall what gauge they are. i knew the length i needed was 172. i’ll either get the kh spokes or mutiny ones.
let me just say that i am VERY skeptical about drilled rims. i once rode trials with a couple bicyclists, and that’s when i first found out about drilled rims. i couldn’t believe that people on bikes or unis would ever use something like that with the forces involved in trials. it seems so illogical to me.
try-all rims are a bit pricey. but i need a new rim. sponge is right. we both don’t like the dx32, and i’ve had mine for 3 and a half years. it’s a crap rim for the things unicycles put it through, but if it wasn’t so well built it wouldn’t have been the default rim of unicyclists for as long as it was. i want a wider rim, that’s strong. and try-all is the only one for now. the dx32 is so narrow in comparison. at least i have a decent job, so i don’t feel too guilty about spending the money on it;) i’ve waited long enough without upgrading some of the older parts on my unicycle that are starting to get warn.
