Wheel - Part II

I'm done rebuilding my Bontrager Rhythm Elite wheel off my HiFi 29". Finishing (truing and tensioning) the wheel was pretty easy. I screwed up the lacing a couple times - I forgot to mention that in the last post. I probably didn't need new spokes, but the nipples were toast. The finished wheel is pretty close, if not identical to the original. Seting both this wheel and its brother tubeless was a priority because: It's lighter (2 tubes = 1 lb.). It provides more traction because of lower pressure. You don't get flats as often (or never).

The tubeless setup was super easy to put together. I did it with just the Stan's yellow tape - no rim strip. It's holding air after 2 weeks. I wanted to make sure the spoke holes were protected enough, but I didn't want to build the shoulder of the rim up so much that the tire bead would not seat. Instead of adding a double or triple layer of tape, which would start to encroach on that space, I cut little squares of tape and ploped them right over the holes. After that, I went over all that with a continuous layer of tape. Before taping, I knocked of the burrs on the rim with some sandpaper. To summarize:

28 spokes, 2-cross lacing
Hub: Bontrager Rhythm Elite (DT Swiss 240?)
Rim: (new) Bontrager Rhythm Comp/Elite 29"
Spokes: (new) DT Swiss 2.0/1.8 X 286mm - Black
Nipples: (new) DT Swiss 2.0 X 12 mm - Silver
Tape: Stan's yellow tape 25 mm Flow
Sealant: Stan's, 2 scoops
Valve stem: Stan's Standard

I'm running around 25 psi in the tires, currently. It's surprising how much traction that gives you. Lovely!