I just received a used powertap wheel off the classifieds and it was built half radial. According to Cyleops, this voids the warranty as the toque is transmitted on the non-drive side. I figured I should get the wheel rebuilt.
Is this something that just about any bike shop can do, or should I only take it to a known wheel builder? How much am I looking at spending? I live in Southern California if anyone has any suggestions.
I would just ride the wheel as is, the warranty is gone anyway and you’re not going to have any problem with it. In fact I would prefer a half radial rear.
jaretj
I can personally recommend www.Prowheelbuilder.com. Their shop is here in Las Vegas and the owner, Richard Craig, hand-built a custom set of wheels for a friend who used them in IM 70.3 WC last month.
You would use the website to describe what you want done. It’s an easy website to navigate. I hope that this helps.
Are you saying that it is worth it to spend ~$100 to ship a training wheel out to Vegas and back vs. having a local shop take care of it? Is wheel building that much of a challenge?
Not worried about the warrenty, but Cycleops seems to think it is a safety issue. Not sure I agree with that.
I would prefer the half radial build on a normal hub, but with a powertap the hub is effectively reversed with all the torque coming in the non-drive side. Not exactly sure what is going on with the wheel now, but I think that the majority of the toque is being transmitted back across the “shell” of the hub to the drive side and those shells are not designed for that. But the previous owner seemed to get plenty of use out of the wheel.
Since Wheelbuilder.com is in El Monte, CA and you live in southern California, I would try there first. Shipping would therefore be eliminated.
For a specialty product, I seek a specialist to ensure the best result.
Wheel builder.com. El monte, ca
If the wheel is straight… maybe rebuild it. If power seems to be accurate, I would probably just ride it.
But, if you want to rebuild using a 3 cross as Cycleops states in the manual, any shop should be able to do a standard 3 cross. Just find a shop that is reputable for building wheels. At the end of the day, you just need even tension. I argue that it is not as much an “Art” as some people claim.
I build my own wheels and they always stay true. You get a few tricks here and there that helps limit the amount of time you spend ont he truing stand as you get better at it, that is about as much of an art as it gets. Other than that, I use a Park spoke tension gauge to measure tension. Initially when I first started building wheels, I didn’t use this gauge, but it does help get tension much more even.
I have a PT built half radial and it’s been fine since 2006 with about 25,000 miles on it.
Also if it is less than 32 spokes it will have to be built 2X as 3X will not work with a 28 or lower PT hub. The flanges are too big and the spokes couldn’t be crossed correctly.
jaretj
I just received a used powertap wheel off the classifieds and it was built half radial. According to Cyleops, this voids the warranty as the toque is transmitted on the non-drive side. I figured I should get the wheel rebuilt.
Is this something that just about any bike shop can do, or should I only take it to a known wheel builder? How much am I looking at spending? I live in Southern California if anyone has any suggestions.
Actually- 1/2 radial built wheels do not necessarily void the PT wheel. I spoke to Saris (Cycleops) and Zipp. Zipp builds their current deep dish wheels- radial on the drive side and 2 cross non-radial on the non-drive side with PT hubs. Saris was fine with Zipp doing this and Zipp stands behind the build of the wheel.
I also have a couple HED PT wheels- they build them 2 cross on each side.
Wheelbuilder, one of the best in the country. Rich does a hell of a job,
That makes sense from what I read as the torque of a powertap hub is transmitted through the non-drive side. On the wheel I have it was built radial on the non-drive side.
Thanks, I am still thinking it over. I figure that if I ride the wheel as is there most likely won’t be any problems other than possibly getting a lower wattage reading. Or worse case it goes out of true, I can get the wheel rebuilt then.
But there is another side of me that is thinking that there is a chance that something more drastic will happen. Also, if whoever built this wheel messed up the lacing for a powertap then they aren’t that good and what else could they have screwed up. For example, is the tension of the radial spokes seems really low.
If anything this issue has taught me something about buying from the classifieds and wheel lacing. For example, the original listing had it as a 24H 3X pattern which isn’t possible.