Building wheels with BERD SPOKES. NEW Berd TALON HUB released!

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I'm stoked to be able to offer custom wheels of all types with super lightweight spokes from @berdspokes: get in touch for a pair of your own!
This video has been my biggest task to date and with a whole HOST of stuff going on in the background it's taken nearly six months to see the light of day! As such, please expect the odd glitch and weirdness as I continue to learn the dark art that is editing!
Join me for a dive into the how's and why's of building with this exciting bit of tech and stay tuned til the end for a glimpse of their brand new in house hub, The TALON! Exciting times in the world of wheels for SURE!
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www.ryanbuildswheels.co.uk
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[@davewallace9048]

One of the best explanations and comparisons I’ve seen on, KZbin excellent all the way through!! The only problem is if one of the spokes break or like two of them break, the whole wheel can basically come apart

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Thanks Dave! Appreciated :-). Have you seen or experience the above? One of my customers did snag a spoke and had it break but it certainly wasn't catastrophic; no worse than a normal steel spoked wheel in this case. Would love to hear others experience.

[@cotswoldseeker5609]

What a likeable guy you are Ryan 😀 Another informative and fun vid..keep 'em coming! Please 😉

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Daw! What a lovely thing to hear :-).

[@mindbalance_cc]

Was wondering if there has even been made or considered - a washer set up that would smooth the edges on the hub flanges for these ropes to bed into. Just an idea that seems to pop up as while I’m sure the smoothing of the flange material is fine - on expensive gear it puts me off. But if there was a smooth washer affair that sat over the stock holes and mitigated the concerns of sharp edges for the Bird spokes - I’m leap at the chance to experience such a wheel ⚙️

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Not that I know of I'm afraid but that's not to say that something commercially available wouldn't work!

[@craigrichardson-smith2534]

Love these videos. Keep them coming dude!

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

I sure will! Anything specific you want to see?!

[@Mapdec]

Well done Ryan.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Thanks a lot!

[@julia_i_vita]

Another fantastic video! Those new hooked hubs look so cool!

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Thanks Julia! I'm looking forward to trying them or similar from Onyx Racing Products in the future; that'll speed things up for sure!

[@barnyrockford]

Cosmic String! That is sooooo goood! Now I want some

[@mindbalance_cc]

So cool. I’ve got to get a wheel built like this one day! Love this channel and I hope to see more vids 🤩⚙️

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

You should for sure! More vids to come in the future so keep an eye out; thanks for your support!

[@NickCrook]

String spokes, eh? Crocheted rims next?? Great to see and I especially like the spoke tension measurer. Keep it up!

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Thanks! 👍! Appreciate it :-). I guess carbon rims are woven in their own way...!

[@ericpmoss]

Remember those Mavic R-SYS wheels with untensioned carbon rod spokes for ultimate life (because they were so harsh they would stay in the closet)? If BERD made spokes with specific ends to fit into *some* of those straight pull hubs, I bet it could give otherwise nice wheels a new, nicer life.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

It'd have to be the right material but I'm sure some sort of 3d printed parts could be the one here...not sure how in demand such a thing would be and for a company like @berdspokes to do it would likely have legal implications...a small scale private individual though? Maybe!

[@jonhcosta]

Amazing job 👌👏 is the same type model of Avancini wheels (xcr competidor). congrats from Brazil.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

That's right! He rode Berd spokes to victory recently!

[@thedudefromla]

Great video. Thanks

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Glad you liked it!

[@mtbsam68]

@RyanBuildsWheels, what lacing pattern(s) do you tend to suggest when building with these spokes? I'm about to build a new 28 hole set of carbon hoops on i9 Solix M hubs for a trail riding application, but I'm not sure what pattern to run. I'm a light rider and I tend to be pretty smooth, particularly on this short travel bike. In the past I have done 2x 32h for something like a trail/enduro type setup, I'm wondering if I should adjust for the lower spoke count (and go 3x), or stick with 2x. Is there a strong recommendation one way or another about mismatched patterns for D and ND sides? Any advise on ride quality or ease of building would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Take a look at the calculation video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGbKh2WpYsmppJo) on how to calculate spoke length; the reason I suggest this is because I reccomend The Spoke Length Project by @RogerMusson which also tells you stuff like rim entry angle and spoke head clearance. In short though the easiest advice to give is that for any given non radial build you are trying to get as large a tangent angle from radical when the hub exits the spoke. This means that the general rule of thumb is to get more crosses in there to better deal with / transmit toque. I'll deal with this in a future in depth video but remember: **MORE CROSSES DOES NOT -neccesarily - EQUAL A STRONGER WHEEL!** That's a common pitfall; your job is to increase spoke fatigue...and really we need to discuss what we mean by wheel 'strength' to start with. Check out Rogers calculator; try getting as many crosses as you into a given build without either rim entry angle getting too high (will snap spokes at the nipple end, common on larger flange builds like motors, gear hubs etc...), or with spokes rubbing at the head. TLDR: if you can build this wheel 3x if you can.

[@mtbsam68]

@RyanBuildsWheels, thank you for the detailed response. I know it doesn't mean stronger, but I still get caught up with that mental trap occasionally. I'll take a dive into your suggestion and I look forward to your video on the subject.

[@martinashwell]

I love your channel, I love your ethos, I love the replies you have given me to emails BUT IMO there seem to be so many KZbin videos at the moment, generally, about improving FTP, saving watts by making a bike more aero, yadah, yadah, yadah. Now call me old fashioned, but I’m happy to have a much less costly but well built set of wheels (frame, group set, finishing kit), and going for a lovely bike ride for the sake of enjoying a lovely bike ride - which in the case of these wheels would then leave me about £800 to spend on cakes, coffee and beer on said rides! Keep up the great work and keep pushing the boundaries - from a grumpy old man 😉

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

I mean what’s NOT to like about £800 worth of cake?!? 😂. Whilst I love tech like this and get lusty after it myself too at times I 100% get and understand where you’re coming from 👍🏻. In fact right now I am building up a new commuting bike to fall back in love with getting around my city on two wheels: secondhand frame, scrappy reused parts, simple 1x drop bars setup: it’s gonna be great and I’m more excited to ride that right now than I am the full custom handbuilt carbon hopper Audax wunderbike that’s hanging on the wall! Think I’d best ride it to go get some cake 🎂!!!!

[@martinashwell]

@@RyanBuildsWheels whilst I stand by the food/drink and joy of cycling comments I may have OD’d on GCN prior to posting my comment! The BERD spokes are a really interesting concept - it’ll be really interesting to know how the wheels ride, now and after prolonged use. It also gives you an opportunity to showcase your artisanal skills, which are both interesting and impressive 👏👍

[@philr696]

Does the modification to the hub ruin it for normal spokes just in case berd spokes aren't all they are cracked up to be?

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

To the best of my knowledge, no…I can’t see any reason why this would be the case as a standard spoke would still sit in those spoke holes just fine BUT I can’t confirm this and will need to reach out. Hey: @Berdspokes ! Can you comment?

[@teenoltae]

​@@RyanBuildsWheels Did Berd come back with a definitive answer pertaining to swapping back to regular spokes at a later date ?

[@mo-215]

Can anyone give insights of Berd vs. Spinergy , both are polymer type spokes. Thanks!!!

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

I haven't used Spinergy but would welcome anyone else's comments.

[@steveedwards5280]

Are the Berd hubs the same as the Onyx, or are they making their own? Have you tried a straight pull hub yet?

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

The Berd hubs use a ratchet system similar to DT Swiss so they're a different design to the Onyx internals. The method of attaching the Berd spokes is the same across both Talon and Onyx hubs. Funnily enough I'm building a pair of Straightpull DT 180's on Berd Spokes as I type! Will feed back I'm sure.

[@steveedwards5280]

​@@RyanBuildsWheels how did the DT straight pull turn out? I'm loving the idea of the BERD spokes and more than happy with more faff during the build. What does bother me is the refinishing of the hub flange that's needed. Do the straight pulls need additional fettling?

[@gren509]

I'm worried about wear at the spoke crossovers !?

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Not a problem I or anyone else selling / running Berd have enountered as of yet; and Berd have sold many thousands of them + many many wheelsets; the material has been around for quite some time; it's the application that's new, now the construction :-).

[@highcarbrider]

I dread to think how slow those spokes must be when a cx ray is 7-12w faster over a 1.8mm round spoke

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Any link or supporting evidence for that? November did some tests and published their date a while ago as regards butted vs bladed spoke aerodynamics and for the average rider the savings aren't that big: novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/aerodynamic-drag-of-lasers-vs-cx-rays The middle portion of a Berd spokes is 1.8mm; so not as thick as you may think: the end portions DO go up to 3.0mm however. I'm not going to argue that spokes this thick will be less aero, and therefore make a lot less sense for those riding road (where an aerodynamic advantage is almost always preferable to any weight savings) but 7-12w is not my understanding of the sort of difference you'll see between spoke thicknesses. For offroad, gravel, mtb or simply those that want a super light set of wheels (at a price) then I dig 'em.

[@teenoltae]

How much to build a Berd wheel?

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Here you go! www.ryanbuildswheels.co.uk/building-wheels-with-berd-polylight-spokes-and-the-new-berd-talon-hubs/

[@petewright2283]

Is it wrong I want to get a set of wheels built by Ryan.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Absolutely not ;-)

[@petewright2283]

@@RyanBuildsWheels I’m looking at parts now LOL

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Get in touch if you need any advice Pete!

[@petewright2283]

@@RyanBuildsWheels looking at some old school retro stuff. Just found my Yellow Hope Bug Uns from 1998. NOS

[@cleggycyclist]

Looks like a lot of ball ache haha

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

It get's easier ;-)

[@actonblue2012]

The sourdough of wheel building. Three days? You won't get rich building those.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Who said my aim was to get rich ;-) (though I do make sure that I value my own time and expertise well). In all fairness though; these are £8 a spoke...and my labour prices increase significantly for such a build, because they need to. The three days things looks more like: -1: Prep hubs, lace / assemble wheel, bring to initial full tension and light true -2: Add further tension after initial tension drop, hang back up. (this takes but minutes) -3: Add final round of tension, bring wheel to final tolerances of tension balance and true. (-4: RIDE RIDE RIDE!)

[@deanl1108]

Ridiculous price they are. You can buy a top mtb for the price of them wheels.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Cool story bro.

[@deanl1108]

Why don't you just buy the wheels already built makes more sense.

[@RyanBuildsWheels]

Because I'm a professional wheelBUILDER and building them means people can have any combination of high end components they want? You know, custom spec'd to someones desires and riding style. It's not that hard to understand.