Campagnolo Athena with Discs Commuter Build

[Reman]

After some trouble getting the right spokes I was finally able to build up the wheels. To be honest the extra wait required made me a little depressed about the build so once the spokes arrived I was very keen to get them built up. It took about 2-3 hours to do each wheel.

I started with the front wheel and I did a practice lacing to make sure it would all go together, then I took it all apart and did it for real. The last (also first) wheel set I built I had used grease on the spokes and nipples, this time I thought I would try some PFTE lube. Next time I'm going back to grease, I had much more trouble with bad windup on several spokes. The other thing I did this time was increase the overall tension, I had some problems with unwinding in the previous set I made until I went around the wheel and added an extra half turn to each spoke. They haven't unwound since so I think I'm on a winner.

The BHS hubs don't have a label on them, so there was no need to lineup a label with the valve stem. I did make sure the valve label was on the NDS for both the front and rear, this is easy to screw up when you start lacing as you start with the DS spokes and it's natural to have the rim turned over so you can see the label.

For truing the wheels I used the bike, I found a peg on the stays works as a great feeler. The sound it makes when the rim scrapes it is quite loud and make it very quick to identify the section of spokes that need adjusting. Radial truing was done with a wooden board held close to the rim. Dishing was with my home made dishing guage cut from a cardboard box and two small blocks of wood taped to it and a metal meat skewer stuck through to locate the hub depth.

Ok, strap yourselves in for the fun that is wheel building.

First off all the components.


Next we install the first DS key spoke, note the label at 90 degrees. The first set of 16 spokes are fed through from the outside. This key spoke is also important if the hub had a label and we wanted to line it up with the valve hole.


All first 8 DS in.


All first 8 NDS spokes in, nothing special is required to put the nipples on as at this stage the spoke can be poked all the way through the rim.


Now we rotate the hub so that the spokes become leading spokes. If the hubs had a label this is where we could check to make sure it's aligned with the valve hole.


From here on I will need to use my high tech nipple driver.


First trailing spoke goes in, this is a 3x wheel and this spoke goes over, over then under. You need to bend the spoke a fair bit to get it under the third spoke and you also need to be careful the spoke threads don't scratch the rim. The trailing spokes are inserted from the inside, at this stage you need to guide them through the existing spokes to get them through the flange holes.


All 8 DS trailing spokes in.


All 32 spokes are in. Notice how they are all quite bendy, they will straighten up as we bring it up to proper tension.


Wheel all tensioned, trued and dished ready for the cassette, disc rotor and installation on the bike!

[familyguy]

As this is a CX frame the rear derailleur cable runs along the top of the top tube and down the seat stays. I've actually now zip tied it just below the mounting eyelet otherwise the cable movement is restricted and you can feel the shift resistance at the lever.

Minor note: I reckon your rear outer is a little too short. Longer outer would let it bend more and be smoother.

Interesting that the FD cable doesn't route along the TT as well.

Looks good.

Jim

[janus77]

This is going to be a sweet ride, will be interest to know the total amount you end up spending including shipping to get it on the road.

[Ozkaban]

This is going to be a sweet ride, will be interest to know the total amount you end up spending including shipping to get it on the road.

I've been wondering this too while drooling over the build, but have been much to afraid to ask because either a) I'll be disappointed that I can't afford it, or b) My wife will be disappointed that I can

[Reman]

Minor note: I reckon your rear outer is a little too short. Longer outer would let it bend more and be smoother.

Well spotted! It needed to be a few centimetres longer. The Campy derailleur housing is extremely stiff and doesn't like to bend. The rear cable comes down the seat stay and the last stop before the derailleur is quite close and the cable needs to take an S-bend. Any shorter and it doesn't go straight into the derailleur boot as you picked up, too long and the bend becomes to big to circle around.

Interesting that the FD cable doesn't route along the TT as well.

Dunno, good question. I've seen other CX frames with all three cables along the TT. The only thing I can guess at is that almost every FD is bottom pull and people don't want to install a pulley to reverse the pull.

[Reman]

This is going to be a sweet ride, will be interest to know the total amount you end up spending including shipping to get it on the road.

Final on-road costs was $2,350, which includes delivery and exchange rate charges.

Break down is
$600 for frame, chosen for weight and commuter mount points (and a smidgen for looks )
$385 for 3T Team contact points, could swap out the carbon bars for something cheaper
$850 for the group set, moving to Centaur or Veloce would bring this down a fair bit
$340 for the wheel set + $90 for tyres, tape and tubes. Not sure of the equivalent commercial set, weight should be a smidge under 1680g
$90 of random stuff - pedals, headset spacers, bar tape, rear brake cable and outer, replacement stem bolts.

[Crawf]

I use the same nipple driver, very pricey

Pity you don't have non-machined sidewalls, it would look much better.

[Ozkaban]

This is going to be a sweet ride, will be interest to know the total amount you end up spending including shipping to get it on the road.

Final on-road costs was $2,350, which includes delivery and exchange rate charges.

Break down is
$600 for frame, chosen for weight and commuter mount points (and a smidgen for looks )
$385 for 3T Team contact points, could swap out the carbon bars for something cheaper
$850 for the group set, moving to Centaur or Veloce would bring this down a fair bit
$340 for the wheel set + $90 for tyres, tape and tubes. Not sure of the equivalent commercial set, weight should be a smidge under 1680g
$90 of random stuff - pedals, headset spacers, bar tape, rear brake cable and outer, replacement stem bolts.

Thanks for that. Pretty good value esp considering the quality of the components.

Cheers,
Dave