Wheel Building for Road Bikes: Finding the Perfect Match for You and Your Bike

Perfect lightweight construction is different for everyone

Complete wheels are designed by the manufacturer to suit the largest possible target group – and with a considerable margin of safety. That's why customising a road wheel is especially worthwhile if you're looking for a lightweight wheelset for riding in the mountains. This way, you can push the limits of what is physically possible while keeping a close eye on your weight and preferences.

Rim type: wired, tubular or tubeless

You’re not going to put an old tyre on brand new rims, are you? A new wheelset is a good opportunity to switch to contemporary tyres. For a long time, the tubular tyre was considered the measure of all things for ambitious road cyclists: lightweight, fast and comparatively puncture-proof in its heyday. Today this is changing, as there are now good alternatives to tubular tyres, which require special rims and must be completely disassembled in the event of a defect. Adhering it onto the rim also requires technical aptitude and time. In everyday training and life, the tubular tyre no longer really plays a role. However, it can still be found in competition and among professionals. Wired or folding tyres in combination with latex tubes are very popular with ambitious cyclists since they are very light and roll smoothly. The current star in the tyre world, however, is the tubeless system with a liquid sealant, which has been standard on mountain bikes for several years: it rolls easily, seals small holes while riding and still allows you to install a classic tube in the event of a defect.

Rim width is determined by tyre choice

For the road dynamics of the tyre, the inner rim width, also called the jaw width, is the relevant dimension. The right combination of jaw width and tyre width allows the inflated tyre to form its ideal cross-section. If the rim is too narrow, the tyre sits vertically oval on the rim and is very sensitive to insufficient air pressure; the road behaviour then quickly becomes spongy. Conversely, if the inner width of the rim is too wide compared to the tyre, it flattens the inflated tyre considerably, and this worsens the tyre's cornering ability – it literally makes it square. Therefore, rim selection begins with determining the tyre’s width. Tyre manufacturers provide specifications for the appropriate rim width for each tyre model and its width. These are your guidelines for deciding on a suitable rim width. The tyre clearance of the rear triangle and fork defines the maximum tyre width you can choose. Many manufacturers list these in their documentation for the frame. If you are building a new wheelset for your old bike, you can also take measurements on the frame directly. The tyre should be at least 3 mm away from the frame in each direction. This applies to both chain and seat stays. With short rear frames and time trial or triathlon bikes, you should look at the complete passage in the frame along the seat tube. The same applies to the fork. 

Lasting performance: selecting hubs and rims

The interplay between frames and hubs has evolved greatly in recent years. In this respect, it is worth having some foresight when choosing a hub, especially if your bike has already got a few years under its belt: if you currently need a quick release, there are a number of manufacturers such as DT Swiss who offer corresponding adapters for contemporary thru-axle hubs. This way, your wheelset remains usable when you eventually switch to a new frame with modern axle mounts. By the way, the same applies to brake rotor mounts: corresponding hubs are only insignificantly heavier, and they can of course also be combined with a rim with a brake flank, and the unused brake rotor mount on rim brakes is negligible in terms of aerodynamics. A 142 x 12 mm thru-axle at the rear and 100 x 12 mm thru-axle at the fork are currently cutting-edge for road bikes and can serve as a guide. For the front hub, there are manufacturer-independent axle adapters from SON. For the rear wheel hub, you have to rely on model-specific adapters from the manufacturer. It also pays to have foresight when it comes to rims: if you want to ride with wired tyres, choose a tubeless-compatible rim, even if you still want to ride with inner tubes.

Tuning tip: new tubes

Although this guide is primarily about wheels, we would be remiss not to mention it: weight and puncture resistance are important factors, and a lot has been accomplished in the realm of inner tubes. The Schwalbe Aerothane and tubes from tubolito offer the chance to depress the weight of the rotating mass while also improving puncture resistance. 

Spoke Choice 2: Design

High-quality spokes for road bikes have an aerodynamically flat cross-section, also known as “bladed spokes". These follow two design principles: those with “blades” so long that the spoke holes of the hubs must have a corresponding slot for assembly, and those that fit through the ordinary spoke holes of the hubs. In this respect, the latter allow you more flexibility when it comes to choosing a hub. If you want to maximise lightweight construction, then you should use heavily end-reinforced spokes. However, these are often not available as bladed spokes.

The straight pull spoke is another variant. Its proponents hope that it will provide greater protection against broken spokes. The downside: you need hubs specially designed for them.

Wheels outside of the norm

Are your starts legendary, are you fit and able to keep up the pace, but is your stature a bit on the heftier side? Then you probably fall outside of the norm of many system wheel suppliers. A lot of really fast wheels often have very sporty weight limits, sometimes under 100 kg for the system weight. In this case, it is worth building an individual wheelset for your requirements: hubs with large flange diameters and large flange spacing in combination with aerodynamic high-profile rims and an additional pair of four spokes give your wheel unimaginable stiffness. Here it is particularly worthwhile to pay attention to good models: the CX-Ray spokes from Sapim are legendary. They are lightweight, aerodynamic and stable. However, there is no need to worry about aluminium nipples if they are installed carefully and looked after properly. If you want maximum safety reserves, then take heed of our explanations on gravel wheel building, which naturally focus on increased stability.

Combining old frames with modern wheels

Of course, you can also take the opportunity to treat your beloved road bike to a state-of-the-art wheelset. For example, you can install modern rims that allow you to ride tubeless. When updating tyre widths on road bikes, however, be careful: from the mid-1970s to the 2000s, road cyclists preferred tyres between 18 and 23 mm, and only in rare cases 25 millimetres or wider. Therefore, the tyre clearance on many of these road frames is very narrow. In this respect, you should measure very precisely before you decide on a wider rim and a wider tyre for the new wheelset. Apart from that, new wheels on a classic bike are an invitation for stylistic crossover. The fixie scene shows that this can work out very well: classic steel frames and modern aero rims have been combined very successfully for quite some time, bold colour accents included.