New wheels for < £150?

Wrath Rob

Well, Monday's ride in the rain seems to have finally killed both my front and rear wheel bearings. After an easy ride in, the bike sounded like a bucket of spanners on the way home, so much so that I got of 4 times to try and find out the problem. I ultimately worked out it was the bearings by taking the front wheel off, spinning it up and then tilting the wheel from side to side. After recovering from accidentally applying wheel to face I noticed that it still made the rattling noise. I swapped the wheel out with the front from my SS bike but the rear is making the same noise.

So, I need some new 700C wheels. For less than £150 what can anyone recommend that's suitable for commuting, i.e. strong and well sealed?

leoccp

Wrath Rob wrote:

After recovering from accidentally applying wheel to face I noticed that it still made the rattling noise.

:twisted:

I got some handbuilts from Parker for 120 ish recently. Rigida DPX on shimano tiagra. Seem nice and strong and well made. Only con so far is that they're a little heavy not that this matters much for commuting.

alfablue

MAvic CXP22 handbuilts on Tiagra hubs from Parker international?

Or for a bit more, Open Pro's

vorsprung

Hand made wheels with 36 back, 32 front, 105 or XT hubs ( you don't say what OLN you have) and rims such as open pros or chrina ridga.

See the various "wheelsets" on this page

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s0p0

downwardslide

vorsprung wrote:

Hand made wheels with 36 back, 32 front, 105 or XT hubs ( you don't say what OLN you have) and rims such as open pros or chrina ridga.

See the various "wheelsets" on this page

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s0p0

I was in there yesterday, thats what I call a proper bike shop. None of your fancy, brightly lit showrooms and glass display cabinets, just boxes of stuff piled high, draws full of components, hundreds of freshly built wheels hanging from the ceiling, but most importantly, they know what they're talking about and they have what you want.

Wrath Rob

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm running Shimano 9 speed componentry. I saw these on sale and thought they may be good for the job http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38222

Roastie

How about Shimano WH-R500. Sure, they aren't handbuilt, but in my experience they are fairly bombproof (tho' I guess I'm not very heavy).

alfablue

Wrath Rob wrote:

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm running Shimano 9 speed componentry. I saw these on sale and thought they may be good for the job http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38222

They are a good price, but if your primary concern is strong for commuting, then the spoke count is a bit low. I would go for handbuilts on 32 spoke or 32 front and 36 rear as suggested above.

Handbuilt wheels are also easier to maintain and spares (spokes) readily available - this is not the case with Mavic spokes. All things to consider when it is for a "working" bike rather than a leisure ride.

Jamey

What? How has nobody recommended simply servicing the bearings?

It's possible they're beyond repair but you can't know until you at least open them up and look at the races in the hub shell. Or get a shop to do it if you're not confident.

Should only cost £20 or so, perhaps less if you do it yourself, depending on what you need to buy.

Wrath Rob

Jamey wrote:

What? How has nobody recommended simply servicing the bearings?

A fair point but I think that the rims have been taking a bit of a beating from the brakes on the commute and therefore it may make better sense in the long run to replace the entire wheels now rather than replace bearings now and then new rims etc in a few months time.

However, as the front wheel is off the bike at the moment I'll have a look. Off to find if Sheldon Brown has a page about servicing wheel bearings....

jonginge

alfablue wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm running Shimano 9 speed componentry. I saw these on sale and thought they may be good for the job http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38222

They are a good price, but if your primary concern is strong for commuting, then the spoke count is a bit low. I would go for handbuilts on 32 spoke or 32 front and 36 rear as suggested above.

Handbuilt wheels are also easier to maintain and spares (spokes) readily available - this is not the case with Mavic spokes. All things to consider when it is for a "working" bike rather than a leisure ride.

I'm running those 2008 aksiums on the commute. Pretty bombproof. Got left-hooked and the front dented the car rather than being put out of true

Take your point on the spokes, though. These days I see commuting wheels as consumables: a couple of years use and replace. Year and a half of trouble-free running on these aksiums so far.

Jamey

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=105

Longish read but not a long job, especially for a front wheel.

Wrath Rob

Jamey, that was the 2nd place I looked and yes, its a pretty daunting post.

Jon, I think I'm coming to the same conclusion. With all of the rubbish on London's roads as soon as it gets wet your brakes start shredding both the pads and the rims, your chain gets clogged with gunk and all your bearings get attacked. When you add it up it starts to get expensive. New pads every 6 months, new chain and cassette every year, new wheels every 18 months to 2 years

Jamey

If it's daunting then just get a good bike shop to do it. Shouldn't cost much for a hub service, certainly a lot less than new wheels.

Make sure they use new bearings or, better still, buy some Grade 10 ones from simplybearings (can supply links if you want) and ask the shop to use those as they'll likely be better than whatever the shop would've used and will only cost a tenner or so for a full set of front and rear wheel bearings.

gtvlusso

Pro Lite Luciano from www.ribblecycles.co.uk

£120 I think.....

Light and bladed spokes....

Ultimately, just replace your bearings! Cup and cone is easy to maintain.

glenwatt

I can add my vote for SPA Cycles

Ordered a set of Disc Deore Hubs laced to Black 36 hole Rigida Snyper rims.

So far very strong and after a couple of hundred miles running true.

Came in less than the £150 budget quoted.

Plus excellent mailorder service.

Wrath Rob

Thanks all, I'll let you know what arrives in the post

vorsprung

Wrath Rob wrote:

. When you add it up it starts to get expensive. New pads every 6 months, new chain and cassette every year, new wheels every 18 months to 2 years

You can reduce cassette wear by having two chains and rotating them

I don't tend to get new wheels. I get the rims replaced. And service the bearings in the hubs. It's easy to replace freehub bodies.

I am teaching myself wheelbuilding this week. So then I should be able to overcome all the wheel related problems for the price of a few spare parts.

It's still rediculously cheap compared to a car