Boyd Altamont Ceramic build for Roland

One of my favorite rims - Boyd Altamont Ceramic. Phenomenal rims with ceramic brake surface which last forever. Light (430g) wide (19mm internal) and very good looking rims. I'm always very happy when I'm getting an order to build a wheelset using those.

This time the build was a bit unusual. Roland asked me to rebuild his DT Swiss wheels and replace the rims with Boyd Altamont Ceramic. Sounds straight forward but I always carefully think about all components if they will create a solid wheel. 

DT Swiss 240 straight pull hubs have great ratchet system but pretty bad geometry. The 33mm (!) from the center to left flange is very, very narrow. It allows to achieve relatively high spoke tension on NDR side but by sacrificing lateral stiffness of the wheel. For me there is nothing more irritating than rubbing rims on the brake pads during the climbs.

Another problem with DT Swiss wheels like Dicut for example, are spoke "pings" during the climbs. This unfortunately is a result of bad hub geometry and sometimes bad build in a way that the spoke tensions on NDR are not equal. Roland had this issue as well so I had to make sure that issue won't happen again on Boyd rims.

My idea for those wheels was the following:

1. Give stronger spokes - Sapim CX-Sprint

2. Build a wheel with freshly calibrated tension meter to make sure that the tension is as precise as possible

3. Solder the spokes 

Sapim CX-Sprint are only 0.5g heavier than CX-Rays so not a big deal. In return they provide much more stiffness than CX-Rays.

The calibration of the tension meter is my standard routine. I have my own tool to do that which soon will be on sale. I do that very frequently but this time I did it just before the build. In result I've got a true 120kgf on DR side and about 65kgf on NDR side.

To improve the wheel further I soldered the spokes using DT Swiss wire. Since Roland likes the black wheelsets I painted the soldering with the black acrylic paint which is also a good anti-corrosion protection at the same time. 

Tying and soldering spokes improves greatly the whole wheel. The forces are equally spread across all spokes and there is no way that the spokes will "ping" again during the climbs.

The total weight of the set is 1465g without rim tape. Strong, good looking wheels, perfect for all seasons. Wheels are coming with the spare spokes, Boyd rim tape and Swiss stop ceramic brake pads.

You can order a brand new set or do it like Roland - send me your wheels or hubs so the total cost goes significantly down.

@Roland - thanks again for ordering those. Happy and safe riding!

Tomasz

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