# I'm obsessing... 24/28 Bitex hubs laced to...?



## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

I have a set of the Bitex 24/28 hubs that were floating around on here and other places sitting in my garage awaiting rims (from what I can tell the same as the 290g set from bikehubstore).

My standard road wheels are a set of Easton EA70s (1620g, semi-areo around 26mm deep). I've had them since they were Velomax and called Circuits and have really liked them. I ride them as my everyday wheels. 

I'd like to build myself a set of lighter "event" wheels using the 24/28 hubs I have. I was pretty much sold on the XR270s, but then got to thinking the 380s would be cool (if not overkill in that hole pattern), as would dropping 100g off the 270 build and going with a set of 200s.

I'm 170-175 with plenty of extra weight on me that I intend to get rid of over the winter. So, I'll be optimistic and say 160 in shape.

Would I really notice a difference going from 1455g (270s with Laser/Rev spokes) to 1355g (200s with Lazer/Rev spokes)? And would the lighter rim give me issues building or in performance/durability?

I am intrigued by the deeper 380s as well. But wonder if they are still a bit too new for me and expensive, if I am being honest. If I am going to drop $120 per rim, why not get some lighter carbon hoops for an extra $100 (Yes I know they can be had for less, but still significantly more than the other Kinlins).

I intend to use the wheels primarily for my local spring crit series and fast group rides/races. I definitely want clinchers and something with different performance characteristics from the Eastons.


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## TomH (Oct 6, 2008)

Id consider going the other way and using something like a A23. That'd definitely get you something different.

My xr300's laced to bitex hubs with regular sapim race spokes are only 1500g. Seems like 270's built with revs would be closer to 1400g even, and 200's even less.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

I think I'd rather avoid a wider rim, as these will be switched in and out and I'd hate to be adjusting my brakes with each switch. Although the wide rim concept is definitely one I am paying attention to. 

My calculations could be off on the weights, but pretty sure I figured about 5.5g per spoke & nipple, 290 for the hubset and 440g for the 270s. Adjusting the rim weights as needed for each model.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

If you want more of a daily driver sort of setup, go with the XR270s. They will be a bit more efficient when trying to maintain average speed. The XR200s on the other hand will be a bit better for acceleration (or climbing) but will take slightly more work if your trying to maintain speed on the flats due to the lacking aerodynamics.
So it really does depend on when type of terrain your usually riding.


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## motobecane69 (Apr 8, 2011)

if your only using them race days, I would think you would be fine with the 200's with a 28 spoke rear at your weight. Have you considered going tubular? I'm in the process of building some alloy tubulars to use as daily riders so i can keep my carbon tubbies nice. I'm gonna use the kinlin tb-25 Bikehubstore just started selling them for $40 a rim. They weight in at 390grams which is the same as the xr200's but because of the tubular design they are MUCH stronger. not to mention the lighter weight of the tubular tires themselves really would let you get to a lightweigh set.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

I have very little to no interest in tubs for the road. Road racing is not my primary objective, and I'd rather save my gluing time for wheels I actually give about. I use nice clinchers (Veloflex) and have used Vittoria tubs on the road and frankly, I couldn't tell the difference.

Zen - There is only 1 crit course here that is pan flat (an ex airport) and I have the Eastons (although heavier) that I could use for that course. The 200s are looking more and more appealing to get me something different from my current Eastons.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

krisdrum said:


> Zen - There is only 1 crit course here that is pan flat (an ex airport) and I have the Eastons (although heavier) that I could use for that course. The 200s are looking more and more appealing to get me something different from my current Eastons.


If your logging vertical most of the time, the XR200s may be a good way to go. You could also go with a Stans Alpha 340 rim. This would be slightly lighter than the 200 and it would be tubeless compatible which would shave even more weight.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Zen Cyclery said:


> If your logging vertical most of the time, the XR200s may be a good way to go. You could also go with a Stans Alpha 340 rim. This would be slightly lighter than the 200 and it would be tubeless compatible which would shave even more weight.


Not doing alot of vertical. More rolling hills. I am thinking more about constant accelerations in crit-eque situations.

The Stans stuff has always intrigued me, but not at $120 a rim. I just can't justify that kind of dough.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

krisdrum said:


> Not doing alot of vertical. More rolling hills. I am thinking more about constant accelerations in crit-eque situations.
> 
> The Stans stuff has always intrigued me, but not at $120 a rim. I just can't justify that kind of dough.


In that case, I think you should go with the A23. It will be a bit easier than the 200 particularly when trying to maintain average speeds due to its more efficient aerodynamics and its slightly higher rolling weight.


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## motobecane69 (Apr 8, 2011)

why not go xr200 up front and xr 270 in the rear? BTW, the published weight of xr 270's is 440g. If i'm not mistaken, they tend to come in much less than that, like around 425g


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

motobecane69 said:


> why not go xr200 up front and xr 270 in the rear? BTW, the published weight of xr 270's is 440g. If i'm not mistaken, they tend to come in much less than that, like around 425g



Well I have seen them as low as 425, however they usually seem to come in slightly over weight around 445 grams.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Sorry to drag this back up, but I'd like to get these ordered and build these over the holidays. So - XR200s or A23s? Debate. 

Again, I have a 1650g, 28mm deep set of Eastons I like and use as daily drivers. 

These wheels will be RACE only for events that require quick accelerations (crits). I'd love for them to feel very snappy and lively. I'd like to keep my budget under $80 per rim max, preferably under $50.


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## motobecane69 (Apr 8, 2011)

krisdrum said:


> Sorry to drag this back up, but I'd like to get these ordered and build these over the holidays. So - XR200s or A23s? Debate.
> 
> Again, I have a 1650g, 28mm deep set of Eastons I like and use as daily drivers.
> 
> These wheels will be RACE only for events that require quick accelerations (crits). I'd love for them to feel very snappy and lively. I'd like to keep my budget under $80 per rim max, preferably under $50.


i say xr200's are the no brainers based on everything you say. they are roughly 50 grams lighter per rim and they can be had from bikehubstore for 36bucks a rim plus shipping so right in your price range. your not particularly heavy and you've stated this will be race only anyways. maybe go with Race on the DS and Laser on the NDS and the front but if you want a little extra strength, go Race all around (though, I've heard that the combo of the heavier spoke drive side with the thinner, lighter spoke NDS is actually STRONGER because you get a better tensioned wheel.) I'll let a wheel guru answer that, I'm just a hobbyist.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

krisdrum said:


> Sorry to drag this back up, but I'd like to get these ordered and build these over the holidays. So - XR200s or A23s? Debate.
> 
> Again, I have a 1650g, 28mm deep set of Eastons I like and use as daily drivers.
> 
> These wheels will be RACE only for events that require quick accelerations (crits). I'd love for them to feel very snappy and lively. I'd like to keep my budget under $80 per rim max, preferably under $50.


I think that the XR200 will provide a bit snappier feel due to their lower rotating weight. However, since crits are really all about corners you may want to go with the wider footprint of the A23. This will improve stability particularly when entering and exiting corners.


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

A23s. It's all about getting around that corner as efficiently as possible.


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

I weigh the same as you do now and have a set of wheels built with Kinlin 200s, 24/28, using a bikehubstore front and a Dura Ace 7850 rear hub. Spokes are Sapim Laser in front, 2x, and NDS rear, with W'S DB14 on the DS, laced 3x both sides. I use them for climbing and multi day touring events. While they give a smooth ride, I don't feel they are stiff enough to be doing a lot of out of jumps out of turns in a crit.

I would look at doing a set 24/24, using Brandon's "wide" front hub, with Kinlin 270 rims. I have a set of wheels with Kinlin 270s, 20/24, and they are stiffer than the 200s with 4 more spokes. The 270 rims weigh a little more then the 200s, but you get some of the weight back by having 4 less spokes/nipples on each wheel. I'm going to build myself a set similar to this early next year using a CK front/ DA 7850.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Ok, I won't fully commit, but I think you may have convinced me to go A23, even though they are almost double the price of the XR200s. Now the question... besides FairWheel (not that I have anything against them), where the heck can I get a 24 hole A23 at a good price? I'm trying to stick as close as possible to the $50 per rim as I can. Seems the higher spoke counts are out there and available reasonably close to that goal, but nothing on the 24 hole that I've found yet.


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## Bluechip (Feb 19, 2004)

The only place I've seen the 20 or 24 hole is at Velocity's own website- $79.99.


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## Bluechip (Feb 19, 2004)

I found some 24h and 28h Velocity a23's at Joyride Cycles for $59.99 each with free delivery. I don't know anything about this company but I ordered them anyway.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Bluechip said:


> I found some 24h and 28h Velocity a23's at Joyride Cycles for $59.99 each with free delivery. I don't know anything about this company but I ordered them anyway.


Thanks. That is a bit easier to swallow. Let me know how your experience with them goes.


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

Too late, but speedgoat has good prices on these rims.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks. Good to know. Those are some nice prices. Too bad they are out of stock on the 24s.


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## Bluechip (Feb 19, 2004)

My Velocity A23's should be here tomorrow. Joyride has been very good with emails keeping me updated but shipping has been very slow. It took 14 days from time of order and payment to shipping. That seems like a long time to me for a supposedly in stock item. 

I ordered the hubs and spokes from Bikehubstore.com on the 23rd and they arrived on the 26th with Thanksgiving in between. That's what I call excellent service.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Bluechip said:


> My Velocity A23's should be here tomorrow. Joyride has been very good with emails keeping me updated but shipping has been very slow. It took 14 days from time of order and payment to shipping. That seems like a long time to me for a supposedly in stock item.
> 
> I ordered the hubs and spokes from Bikehubstore.com on the 23rd and they arrived on the 26th with Thanksgiving in between. That's what I call excellent service.


Yeah, I called them yesterday, as I attempted to order just before Thanksgiving and the order didn't go through. It seems "in stock" to them means they can get it from one of their distribution houses. It does not seem like they have any physical inventory of these rims. Hence the extended wait, is my assumption. I think I will order tomorrow or Friday, just need to double check all my finances.


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## motobecane69 (Apr 8, 2011)

you should have waited to get the rims before you ordered your spokes to be on the safe side


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## Bluechip (Feb 19, 2004)

My A23's came in this afternoon. Front 24h - 457g. Rear 28h - 440g.

I just finished lacing them up. This is my first wheel build in close to 20 years. It went much faster than I was expecting. The front radial lacing was super easy and the cross 2 on the rear went well too. No goofs on the valve hole or anything else that had to be undone. I just looked at another wheel with the same lacing as an example and all went well.

Rims- Velocity A23's
Bikehubstore Superwide front hub 24h, Sapim CXray spokes and brass nipples. Radial
Bikehubstore Superlight rear hub 28h, Sapim CXray on nds, Laser on ds, brass nipples. 2X both sides.

Front- 669g
Rear- 810g
Total- 1479

I've got too much to do the next couple of days to be able to finish up the wheels but sometime next week I will get them done. I hope the truing goes as well as the lacing.


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## motobecane69 (Apr 8, 2011)

why did you end up going with CX Rays on that rim???? seems like a waste of money to me why have bladed have lasers on the rear???


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## Bluechip (Feb 19, 2004)

On the front I just like the idea of bladed spokes plus they look "cool". For the rear it was a matter of getting the correct length spokes. The lasers were available in even length spokes and the CXRays were available in odd length spokes- or the other way around. It was my first wheelbuild in a while so I wanted as close to the correct length as possible. It cost less than $30 for the upgrade to CXRays on the rear.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Bump. I've made the leap. Thanks for all the great input. 2 sets of A23s on their way. 24/28 and 32/32 (I had a set of Shimano 600 hubs sitting around and figured why not, especially since I would then be able to switch wheels without re-adjusting brakes).

Now, for the fun stuff... ERD on the A23s? What have y'all been finding them to be? Have they been consistent?

And lacing pattern and spokes? The 32s will be standard 3x. Can I get away with a 2.0/1.5-Laser/Revolution spoke on those? What about the 24/28? 1x front, 2x rear? 2.0/1.8-Race/Competition spokes on the drive side?

Again I'm 170 or so. 32s will be everyday drivers, 24/28 will be race/crit wheels. 

Thanks.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

krisdrum--

I will admit that I haven't measured one myself but the couple sets I built worked just fine with an ERD measurement of 601. 
Concerning lacing, go 3x both sides on that rear 28 hole. For the front, I would personally choose a 1x or 2 pattern.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Zen Cyclery said:


> krisdrum--
> 
> I will admit that I haven't measured one myself but the couple sets I built worked just fine with an ERD measurement of 601.
> Concerning lacing, go 3x both sides on that rear 28 hole. For the front, I would personally choose a 1x or 2 pattern.


Thanks Zen. And do you subscribe to the thicker/heavier spokes on the drive-side for the 28 rear, laced 3x? Or can I keep the thin gauge spokes and still have good stiffness?


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

krisdrum said:


> Thanks Zen. And do you subscribe to the thicker/heavier spokes on the drive-side for the 28 rear, laced 3x? Or can I keep the thin gauge spokes and still have good stiffness?


Well, I will admit I have only built this particular rim with Cxrays, so I cannot speak directly for this situation.
However, I have noticed that thicker spokes on the drive side does make a difference on softer rims. One that comes to mind is the XR200 from Kinlin. I almost always try to go with a thicker spokes on the DS seeing as it does tend to help stiffen things up a bit. The A23 is a bit less flexy than the 200 though seeing as it is a bit heavier. 
In conclusion, I would say go with a thicker guage on the DS. All though it may not make any sort of noticeable difference, it should be stiffer on paper.


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## perrete (May 8, 2011)

Those wheels must be wonderful for everyday riding.

I have built recently a set with 32 hole rotaz hubs, dt competition spokes (3x) and mavic reflex rims. The total weight is 3.3 pounds (1.500 kg) and this is the best wheel set I have ever ride, probably I will take the carbon set to the garage.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks everyone. Rims arrived last week. ERD measured (601 is what I got also). Spokes ordered for the 24/28 set and will arrive tomorrow. Hoping to at least get them laced up before 2012.


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## Crawf (Oct 21, 2010)

Keep us updated on your build, i'm also waiting on parts for a near identical build...
A23's, 28/32, Laser/Laser&Race, BHS Wide & BHS SL211. Running tubeless Intensives.
Will be interesting to see how these compare to my Alpha 340's with cxray's, 28/32, BHS wide front and ORC rear running tubeless Atoms.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Will do. I'm doing 2 sets, a 24/28 and a 32/32.

24/28:
BHS hubset
2x front with Lasers
3x rear with Lasers NDS, Race DS

32/32:
Shimano 600s
3x Lasers all around


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