Tied and Soldered Update

As you may recall from previous posts I was lucky enough to receive the very first prototypes of the Checkerboard Deep V's from Velocity. This wheelset was built by the gents over at Handspun Wheels, and was my first forray into the world of tied & soldered wheels.

For the last seven months I have been riding the crap out them on several different bikes, most notably on the Gangsta which is the bike I ride freestyle on.


On our last day of filming for BSV3 I finally killed the rear wheel. Two huge dents from square edges, going up and down a bunch of weird ledges and stair sets.



With the death of my rear wheel comes reflection: 7 months, never once trued.
Awesome.

This was my first tied and soldered wheelset and they were more impressive than I ever could have imagined. The build consists of All-City hubs, DT Competition spokes, DT brass nips, to Velocity Deep V handlaced and tensioned. I beat the holy shit out of these wheels; spins, hops, drops, crashes and they didn't once even blink. The hubs never needed adjustment and the Deep V's were rock solid as always.

Since this wheelset, I have had Matt tie and solder all my other rear fixed wheels, my 29er wheelset, and the wheelset I rode in Stupor Bowl. I am completely sold on it's merits, however I do feel that in some applications (deep section rims) the added stiffness to the front wheel is less comfortable and unnecessary unless you're really hard on front wheels (freestyle). It's something of a lost art, but if you can find someone who'll do it and you're building up a new set of wheels, I highly recommend it. It's worth the extra expense.

This experience also makes me question whether or not we (freestyle fixed riders) need 48 hole rims. I have heard alot lately about riding 48's for freestyle, and new 48 hole hubs keep popping up.
I weigh about 180 pounds and rode the bejeesus out of these for 7 months. The rim didn't fail, or detension, or come out of true. I just hit too many square edges with too small of a tire mounted. If a person my size can jump, drop, and crash (although to be fair I don't do a lot of 180's which have a tendency to throw rims out of true) a set of 32 hole tied and soldered's without any problems. Then I imagine that most people would have similar good results, and if you built them on 36's they would be even stronger. The BMX guys have moved away from 48's in favor of the weight savings of 36's, although obviously our 700c wheels are much more vulnerable than their smaller ones to side loads. (make sure to follow this link: 48's don't guarantee they'll survive spinning either) Anyway, these are the kinds of things I spend my time wondering about.

It always amuses me that we are following the exact same progression that BMX has. From using parts and frames that weren't designed for the application, to now building heavier duty (Milwaukee S700, Charge Scissor, Velocity B43, 48 hole hubs,etc.) purpose built bikes and accesories. Right now everyone's in a race to be the sturdiest and I imagine that like BMX there will come a day when everyone will be in a race to shed weight.