So, a client handed me these super sweet White Industries hubs that match my Osprey pretty much perfectly. He had come to the conclusion that he was just never going to use them again because they are for rim brake wheels. They had been sitting in a drawer since 2017ish.
I promptly overhauled them with fresh bearings and grease only to sadly realize that because they were road hubs, they are drilled for 20/24, and finding 26" rims in 20/24 would not only be difficult, but building a set of 26" wheels with 20/24 spokes would be both ridiculously dumb and rad.
Velocity always comes through, though. They had 26" A23 hoops drilled in both 20 and 24. At this point I decided if I was going to build these wheels I may as well make them as impractical as possible… so I went full-on roadie and laced the rear 2 cross and the front radial with DT Swiss Aerocomp double butted and bladed spokes for those aero gains.
These wheels are a full pound lighter than the wheels that I had, plus they spin forever.
Overall, I'm really really stoked with how they turned out. 🍻💜
by Goldspoke_Joe
8 Comments
Straight pull front lacing with chonky tires is just so deliciously unnecessary. Bravo.
Very nice hubs! I had no idea Velocity made 26″ rims with so low of spoke count. Good to know.
You can’t go wrong with White hubs. I’m guessing for the purpose of the bike, that spoke count and lacing won’t be a problem. Whole bike looks sweet!
Do the DTH reallget flats as easily as I’ve read? Need to decide DTH vs Billy Bonkers
looks stunning
You are in inspiration. I also have an Osprey which I love, but I’ve been contemplating a drivetrain+wheel conversion for a while.
White Industries hubs are so garbage by todays standards. The stupid grub screws to adjust bearing preload don’t work worth a shit and always allow play. Once you have serviced and adjusted the hub 10 times the hardware is worn out and the indentations from the grub screw cannot be repaired only replaced. I have genuinely thought these hubs have been shit for about 20 years. Around year 2000 the only advantage these had over the competition was the “made in america” part. These days I think they an embarrassment to American manufacturing. Relying on an inferior design for so long for nostalgia is what will be the death of them.
Swag don’t gotta make sense. Those wheels are gonna look gorgeous