Birdy AXS: Suncord Wheelset Installation

The new Suncord 4 Spoke Carbon Wheelset was introduced in the previous blog post, now I will install the new wheelset onto the Birdy AXS 12 speed!

I will be transferring the Panaracer Minits Lite tires from the Ascent Cirrus Elite carbon wheelset over to the new Suncord wheelset. However, new disc brake rotors will be installed as the Suncord wheelset accepts Centerlock rotors instead of 6 bolt rotors.

Suncord rim vs the Ascent Cirrus Elite carbon wheelset, before removing the tire and rotor.

Big difference in appearance! The 4 spoke design makes the traditional spoke design look outdated.

Both use hooked rims, but the Suncord wheelset does not require rim tape as it does not have spoke holes on the rim bed.

Gloss vs matte carbon finish. Suncord rim height is 38 mm vs 45 mm on the Cirrus Elite.

Centrelock hub vs 6 bolt hub.

Tire and inner tube transferred over to the Suncord wheelset! Using the same lightweight TPU inner tube, which has a long 60 mm valve.

Putting on a used XTR MT900 rotor of diameter 160 mm.

Both front and rear rotors are 160 mm diameter. SRAM Force AXS 12 speed cassette installed on the XDR rear hub as well.

 

Suncord front wheel with rotor, tire and inner tube installed weighs 768 grams. Previous setup was 878 grams (+110 grams)

Suncord rear wheel with cassette, rotor, tire and inner tube installed weighs 1214 grams. Previous setup was 1285 grams (+71 grams).

After installing the new Suncord wheelset, I found that the chain is almost touching the rear triangle at Gear 1. There was a bigger gap with the Ascent Cirrus Elite wheelset.

Since there is nearly zero clearance, during movement the chain will scrape against the rear triangle and wear off the paint. Since all components (chain, chain ring, cassette) are the same, the cause has to be due to the Suncord wheelset.

It seems that the cassette is slightly more inboard on the Suncord wheelset, since there is still a noticeable gap between the 10T sprocket to the inside of the dropout.

Adding some spacers in the right places should solve the chain rubbing issue, this is not the first time I have made these kind of adjustments before. In fact I did a lot of adjustments when I was modifying the United Trifold folding bike.

Found some thin spacers for the freehub body. Intention is to place it behind the cassette to push it outwards slightly.

Left spacer is 1 mm thick, right spacer is 1.85 mm thick (the kind you put behind a 11 speed cassette when used on 8/9/10 speed freehub body).

XDR freehub body on the Suncord wheelset.

1 mm spacer placed on the splines, before installing the XDR cassette.

With the cassette installed, the silver 1 mm spacer can be seen sandwiched between the hub and the cassette.

However, adding 1 mm spacer on the cassette did not create enough clearance between the chain and the rear triangle. Since it is not advisable to add more spacers on the freehub body, I decided to add a spacer on the crankset instead.

These are smaller spacers that are designed to be placed on the Shimano crankset spindle of 24 mm diameter. Each spacer is 1 mm thick.

Used one piece of 1 mm spacer on the spindle of the Dura-Ace R9100 crankset. This will push out the chain line by 1 mm.

With both the front and rear chain lines pushed out by 1 mm, there is now additional 1 mm of chain clearance. May not be enough to completely eliminate chain rub, but at least it will minimize the occurrence and impact. 

Suncord 4 spoke wheelset has been installed successfully! Needed additional 1 mm spacers on both the crankset spindle and freehub body to push out the chain line slightly, but otherwise no issue.