Gravel wheelset experiences

Sort of… I don’t think you’ll find a wheelbuilder who will smash the spoke head. It’s no big deal, but they won’t want to worry about liability of the head breaking or the hub failing. You can find replacement spoke kits in the right size, but at greater expense. You can trim the current spokes a bit if the shop has the tool (they won’t) at some expense. You’d need a buddy to do it… at least the initial build. Have a shop then do the final truing.

I built a set of a wheels with the ebay DT aero hubs, sapim spokes, and lightbicycle rims myself. and it was a non-issue after I did my homework.

So in sum…

  1. Hub - needs T-Head spokes, which are only sold as replacement spokes. You can modify SP spokes at home easily and risk free, but you likely can’t find a shop to build this wheel for you. You’d need a buddy to do it. Any SP spoke should work, as I got Sapims to work. If you have WIDE spokes, you can put Wide or std spokes in the holes.
  2. Spokes - If you have WIDE spokes, these are 2.6mm and won’t fit in a 2.3mm hub.
  3. Nipples - I just threaded up a Wide spoke onto a standard DT Swiss internal nipple, so that’s not a concern.
  4. Swapping out the rim - If you want to use the existing core of the wheel, you’d want to match ERD of the rim, then do some math.
    -The DT Swiss support page has the stock wheel parts (spoke lengths and such) ex: CR 1600 SPLINE db 23 12/142 mm Shimano | DT Swiss
  • then figure out hub rough dimensions from the Spoke Calc. (The rims on the stock wheelsets are usually sold under on the rim page with a different model number. )
    -The figure out which rims you can do by adjusting the nipples or going internal nipple. You can get a sightly deeper setup by going from the standard 15mm to a 12mm (596 (R500 for the CR1600) to 590mm) or going internal nipple). Error on the side of the spokes being 1-2.5mm too short for the rims ERD. You can also washer the nipples for another 1mm

often good sales through here https://www.ridinggravel.com/forum/

But totally get it been very happy thus far. I wasnt wanting hookless either, limits tire choice

No, but I was thinking with stock spokes, or replacement T-headed spokes, would a wheel builder be able to figure out the rim ERD, find the correct rim and build it up? Or am I putting myself in a position where I got to do all the legwork? If that is the case, perhaps it would be easier and smarter to go with the cheaper GR 1600 option, and then with time get a high end carbon wheelset for racing. The expense is not the biggest issue here, but I just dont want to put myself in a situation where I have to worry or be uncertain whether the wheelset is good enough, future proof, etc.

Or perhaps I should just keep it as is? I wish all this information was available from their official site to help buyers make the right decision.

Yes. They measure rims all the time. Here, we know the ERD (which is what matters) from DT. Go to your favorite CN carbon rim site and find something that’ll work. For this application (Disc brake, non-aero road), there’s no good reason to go brand name. Well known generic will work fine and be a lot stronger than the AL rim it replaced. Once you get the given spoke lengths noted, the hub specs note, you can play with the ERDs and nipples on the DT Swiss Spoke Calc to see what will work as far as rims.

https://www.carbonfan.com/carbonfan-t800-700c-carbon-dc-road-rim-tubeless-ready-series-depth-35mm-45mm

Your knowledge is mind blowing, thank you.
I suppose I do not have much to worry about and have taken the right decision in buying for a future upgrade when aluminium wont cut it. If it is okay with you, and if you are still around - I would very much appreciate having the option to pick your brain and ask for assistance and feedback whenever I get to the point of taking the next step. Sincerely, thank you.

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You’re talking to the other idiot who did the same thing and was bored during the COVID lockdown. :slight_smile:
The Swiss CR will be great. Don’t do a thing until you dent a rim. Maybe preorder the CN rims because the turnaround is 2months.

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I am hoping that it will be quite a while before I consider new rims and all, hopefully the CR will last a long while and be a great ride.

Forking this thread slightly to a comparison of different Gravel Wheelsets, but didn’t want to start another Gravel Wheelset experience thread.

Anyone have realworld experience with any of these wheels in no particular order:

What are you going to do with them/ what do you have now?
In general, there’s no good reason to spend a lot of cash on a gravel wheelset. There are plenty of great AL wheelsets for $400 that will do the same thing as the $2500 one. The only difference is about 300gr of weight. If weight or rock impact durability matters, this is a good time to try CN carbon wheels because you’re probably going to bang them up anyway and the quality on most of them is there.
Put the $$ into the road wheelset, use the stock wheels for getting rowdy.

Of those wheels, you’ve got a Enve MTB rim made to take hits and a Bontrager aero rim. For the most part, with a 38c tire, those wheels are all the same. The Roval uses a DT Swiss free hub, so it’ll be almost silent with a 18t ratchet set in there.
Get the MTB rim if you’re hitting rocks, the aero one if you’re going to put 28c tires on it. If you have DT Swiss hubs, get a wheelset with that uses the same hub as your other wheels, so they can share freehubs/cassettes easily.

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I’ve got HED Ardennes + wheel set now. Gravel riding in the Bay Area - mostly fire roads, with occasional single track. Nothing very technical, as my technical ability isn’t great.

Motivation is that I’m working on getting my wife a flat bar gravel bike, so I’m thinking of giving her my current wheels, and get myself new bling wheels. The biggest change, besides the weight - but I have more than 300g to lose on my body, would be the additional internal width.