JSNYC

Currently have a 36 spoke disc wheels w/DT 535 rims and DT540 hubs. Looking to lighten things up a bit. Captain & stoker weight in the 290ish area, bike is a Cannondale T2, call it ~30ish pounds without wheels currently (I'm working on getting lighter parts).

Drivetrain is 10spd Shimano but I will be upgrading that to something modern (11 or 12spd, am working thru that logistic now--which of course influences hub choice).

Riding terrain is generally pancake flat (SWFL). Any suggestions on wheel choice appreciated. Thanks!

TobyGadd

If you're riding on a "pancake flat terrain", lighter wheels aren't really going to do much for you. Maybe a little faster acceleration at best. If you want a faster ride, I'd focus on rolling resistance (better tires and tubes), aerodynamics (riding position, handlebars, clothing), and drivetrain friction (wax instead of bottled lube, maybe a timing belt instead of a chain). That said, I totally understand the itch to upgrade wheels and other components, even if it's not entirely logical! Everyone loves cool gear. Mel at Tandems East makes some really nice carbon wheels for different team weights that'll definitely scratch that itch.

If you want to sell your old cranks, please PM me. Thanks!

Cheers,
Toby

JSNYC

Thanks and will do re: Gossamer's. I'm working on the logistics of possibly converting it to SRAM 11 spd etap with a 34x34 as the granny gear (if needed). The biggest hill 'round here is literally a bridge, so I don't need a triple.

Artmo 

Take a look at Spinergy wheels, available from House of Tandems. We have been very pleased with ours on our CoMo.

JSNYC

^^ Thanks! Nice website. Just shot 'em a note about GX and FCC 32's.

Alcanbrad

+1 on the Spinergy’s from HoT. Light weight and rock solid.

merlinextraligh

Lightbicycle.com.

65mm deep carbon rims. Still will be reasonably light, and fast on the flats

JSNYC

Thx. Am familiar with them, Farsports, etc.

Wasn't sure if those types of wheels would be strong enough for tandem use, via xtra weight & xtra torque as consideration.

I've sheared a pair of hub flanges once, and that really sucked....

merlinextraligh

We have a set of Lightbicycle wheels on our Dragonfly. With a team weight of 340lbs, we’ve been riding them for 3 years with zero problems.

one nice thing about Lightbicycle is that you can completely customize your wheel. We went with 28 spokes, and the heavy duty rim option, which adds about 100 grams to the weight of the wheel set, but also adds strength.

If you go with a deep section rim like the 65 mm, the standard rims are already going to be pretty stiff, so depending on your team weight, and riding style ( some people,are harder on wheels than others) you might not need the extra heavy duty rims. I spec’d them for a little peace of mind, at a relatively low weight penalty.

Conversely, if you want a bullet proof wheel, 65 mm deep sectioned rims, heavy duty rim option, and 32 spoke would make n extremely strong wheel

JSNYC

^^ Thanks for that. Super helpful to know. We're about the same--both riders and bike with current wheels.

I'm a huge fan of that type of wheel company ordering. I have a few sets from Farsports and they've been terrific. Have heard similar good things about Lighbicycle as well. Was going to get something from them, but for my specific build spec, the wider internal rim widths would not fit my older frames and Farsports was the only one that did. No such width issues exist with the T2 tandem, the fork crown is ginormous as is the rear triangle.

Monoborracho

Spokes don't weigh much.
Many rims may be true, but are they really round?
IMHO, the hubs will make more difference than anything else. Phil Woods are the best. White Industries are probably next, and DT Swiss come along after that. A good set of hubs on a hand built wheel will out run many/most when coasting downhill. That's my measure of wheel efficiency.
Not related or affiliated, but I have been running Joe Young Wheels on my road bike, touring bike, and Seven Tandem for over 20 years. Never an issue, never a failure. I'm sure there are others.

mikemelbrooks

Bear in mind our Cannondale came with a 145mm rear spacing, so of the shelf rear wheels will need some work.

PromptCritical 

Please keep us updated on the SRAM conversion. I'm thinking of it myself.

Cheers, Mike

mikemelbrooks

I recently changed from a triple chainset to a double, because the axle on our triple is longer than that of a double I bought two secondhand double chainsets from eBay and cut and welded the two axles to make them the same length as a tripple. It also meant that I went from a 48 38 28 130 BCD to a 48 33 110bcd. Our tandem came with 5mm of spacers on either side of the bottom bracket, and needs them because the Gates belt drive would rub the frame. I guess you could go narrower if you either converted to chaindrive and or spaced the crossover chainrings out further.
All this so we could run hydraulic brakes with standard brifters.

JSNYC

Been movin' a little slow on that...and riding alot instead.

Also rethinking the double, as we've been using the 53 alot. Ripped down a hill the other day and pretty much spun out in the 12, stoker getting much more comfortable at speed. Maybe a mid-compact is the better way to go.

JSNYC

what's your rear spacing on the tandem? and which model did you spec on lightbicycle?

merlinextraligh

65mm 700c Falcon Rims. We did the custom build option to add 100 grams to the rims for extra strength. 28 spokes and DT 240 hubs.

our dropout spacing is 135mm.

JSNYC

Merlin, thanks for the recommendation as I'm working with lightbikes and they are spec'ing the following build:

"Estimated weight: 1596g+/-3%
Rims: AR45 disc HD Version, UD paintless, 24H/24H, with Drain Holes, With Access Holes, No decal
Hubs: DT Swiss 240, 12*100mm/12*142mm, Straight Pull, Center Lock, Shimano Road 11s freehub, EXP36
Spokes: Sapim
The rim is 28mm outer width/45mm depth, the recommended tire width is 23C-43C. 5 Years warranty. Regarding the weight of the bike, a standard 460g +50g extra carbon fiber layup will enhance each rim"

I triple checked rear wheel spacing on the T1 and it says 145. Haven't measured yet, but....presume the C'dale manual is accurate. With a DT 240 142 hub spacing, I would think that'd work (I'd have no problem with that small gap on my rim brake road bikes, for example) but I don't know the dynamics of a tandem with discs, meaning, flexing in the aluminum rear triangle by 1.5 mm on the non-drive side where disc is mounted, would that result in the pad contact being just slightly off camber? Or are disc brakes designed to allow for a little slop like that? Am new to them...

Am also inclined to request 28 spokes like yours as well (we're about 340 lbs total weight riders + bike, excluding weight saving things I'm doing to bike), but that's next up. More focused on the spacing topic first.

Thanks for any tips.
​

merlinextraligh

The reason we went with 28 spokes was stiffness. Working with Calfee, specing 2 different bikes, they recommended not going below 24 spokes.

the thought being not that the 24 spoke wheel would fail, but it would feel somewhat noodley.

We do have. Set of tandem wheels with 24 spokes, that are fine for us, but they’re Zipp 808 rims which at 80 mm deep are very stiff.

Unless, you’re looking for wheels to TT with, I’d go with 28.

one nice thing about light bikes is they will drill any number of holes you want.

JSNYC

will do. just picked up a nice used set. next up is talking with chinook about their long cage kit.

JSNYC

thx!

OneIsAllYouNeed

Light Bicycle rims are great. The "road" wheelset on my tandem, single, and wife's single all have LB rims.
That hub selection would be a poor fit for your tandem. Your frame is meant for 145mm quick release hubs. The DT 240 is a 142mm x 12mm thru axle hub. They're different standards. If you converted the 142x12 hub to quick release, it would end up being a 135mm wide hub (10mm narrower than you need) because of the difference in quick release and thru axle standards. There's a hack that'll let you use 148mm x 12mmm thru axle hubs on a 145mm quick release frame, but the disc mount on the hub ends up being 4mm off from standard. Your safest bet is to use a real tandem hub meant for 145mm quick release spacing. I'm a huge fan of White Industries XMRT hubs -- I have two wheelsets with them for my tandem.
For the rest of the wheelset, I'm wary of the low spoke count. 28 is likely fine; 32 is plenty. It's also not clear what spokes you'd be getting. Sapim makes weight weenie spokes, heavy duty spokes, and everything in between.

JSNYC

thanks for that info. you answered my questions on rear spacing implications.