What’s In The Stand: Potts Silver Salmon

The Silver Salmon moniker was applied to 40 titanium road frames Steve Potts made in 2000 to raise money for local water conservation.  There were also 40 steel mountain bike frames made tastefully named Steelhead.  This Silver Salmon is owned by a local guy who continues to ride, a lot, into his 70s – tandem, road bike, mountain bike, he rides it all.  Live.  Life.

The bike came in for a tune, fresh bar tape, and new wheels.  It’s easy to kind of rely on the easy choice of HED Belgium rims, King hubs…, but I had a different thought for this build.  One company that isn’t heard about often enough with regards to their rims is DT Swiss.  Hubs, yes, but sometimes their rims are forgotten about.  Every time I’ve used DT Swiss rims, I am always impressed by the high level of quality of the rims.  They build up very true and round with just the right level of feeling “right” in my hands.  

There is definitely a trend in rims to go wide.  A few years ago, 23mm was wide.  Road rims are now bumping up into the 25mm wide range.  These RR440 rims are on the narrow side at about 22mm wide (outside).  However, they are available in an asymmetric design which greatly helps equalize spoke tension when using 11 speed compatible hubs that increase dish.  The offset design, coupled with the eyelets, and generous brake track build into a great wheel.  With a 25mm Conti tire installed, overall width of the tire was at least 26mm.  White Industries T11 hubs were the natural go to to keep a lot of the build more local.

You can really see the decrease in the dish in this shot with the right side spokes being more triangulated.

(What’s playing:  Dwight Yoakam Little Sister)