I Wanted To Poke Stan's Eye Out

I picked up the new 29" wheel from Freewheel last night. I was so excited that I brought it home and immediately began preparing it for installation. I went with standard Velox for a rim strip, because I am planning on using a tube for now (yeah, doesn't make a lot of sense). Velox didn't appear to be the best choice for this type of rim, but it seems to work.

A little note on the wheel build. I built up the Chris King hub with a standard three cross spoke pattern. The spokes are 14/16 double-butted with standard brass nipples. The rim is a Stan's ZTR 355 in white.

Now, back to why I wanted to poke Stan's eye out. The tire I am putting up front is a Maxxis Crossmark. The first bead went on with some difficulty, but I was finally able to seat it in the rim. I then inserted the tube, and proceeded to seat the other bead. With the Velox, the bead can't sit as deep in the inner channel, thus leaving alot of tension on the bead. I have never worked so hard to get that last bit of bead seated in the rim. I was sweating, cursing, and throwing shit across the room. Jenny came into the room during the struggle, and I almost bit her head off (sorry Jen). I dug deep and was finally able to hear that last "snap" as the bead dropped into the rim. Dripping with sweat and severly wounded (from stabbing myself in the hand an number of times with the tire lever) I raise the tire above my head in victory!

I mounted the wheel on the bike and rode it around the neighborhood. Everything works great, and should be ready for Thursdays first ride. If I can only get over the emotional strain...