Should I upgrade my wheels?

turnercraig

I currently run DT Swiss x455 rims, Shimano Deore hubs and Dt double butted spokes on my Giant Trance X.

I'm not sure how much they weigh? I know the rims are 455g (easy to remember!)

I'm looking to rebuild my Genesis hardtail (as my second bike) and don't know if I should upgrade these wheels and put the better wheels on my Giant and these wheels on my genesis or not.

Is it worth getting say XT hubs or Hope pro 11s with mavic 717 rims? Would I see a significant improvement over my current wheelset? Or would I need to spend a lot more to notice the difference?

I might just get some cheap wheels to stick on the hardtail if it would be too expensive as I've no real complaint against my current wheelset, the hubs are easily serviced and they have stayed fairly true with over a years abuse.

bomberesque

the only difference will be in hub weight I expect. 455 is already fairly light for a rim and DB spokes are also the right choice.

I'd get some bangers for your HT and leave the ones you have on the trance unless you're willing to spend 250+ then I'd think about hope hoops on Stans

turnercraig

bomberesque wrote:

the only difference will be in hub weight I expect. 455 is already fairly light for a rim and DB spokes are also the right choice.

I'd get some bangers for your HT and leave the ones you have on the trance unless you're willing to spend 250+ then I'd think about hope hoops on Stans

Ye thought that might be the case/best.

So to see a worthwile improvement in performance and weight I would need to spend over £250?

bomberesque

I think so. The rims and spokes are already pretty good, the only problem with Deore afaik is that they're heavy ... but then Hope aren't too light. Deore kit is generally bulletproof aswell and, unless you're having problems with rims coming out of true, then chances are the only improvement you'll be buying will be in reduced weight and for that you'll spend 250 quid to get something 17-1900 gr when your current set (I guess) is about 2-2.2kg. Whether you think that a (potential) half kilo saving is worthwhile is for you. I'd pay it, but I'm a bike tart.

an interesting exercise is to strip the wheels down (discs, tyres, tubes and cassette off) and weigh them, then you know what you have and what weight saving you can expect. Could be they're very lardy indeed, but I doubt they're over 2.2 kg for the pair. A light set of XC wheels at around 300+ quid will be 16-1700 gr, depending on the market at the time.

turnercraig

bomberesque wrote:

I think so. The rims and spokes are already pretty good, the only problem with Deore afaik is that they're heavy ... but then Hope aren't too light. Deore kit is generally bulletproof aswell and, unless you're having problems with rims coming out of true, then chances are the only improvement you'll be buying will be in reduced weight and for that you'll spend 250 quid to get something 17-1900 gr when your current set (I guess) is about 2-2.2kg. Whether you think that a (potential) half kilo saving is worthwhile is for you. I'd pay it, but I'm a bike tart.

an interesting exercise is to strip the wheels down (discs, tyres, tubes and cassette off) and weigh them, then you know what you have and what weight saving you can expect. Could be they're very lardy indeed, but I doubt they're over 2.2 kg for the pair. A light set of XC wheels at around 300+ quid will be 16-1700 gr, depending on the market at the time.

Ye the hubs have been very reliable and I don't have trouble with the rims going out of true.

I think I do need to strip them down and weigh them properly, they do seem fairly light when the tyres ar off.

Don't really fancy spending £300+ neither even for about 0.5 kilo saving in weight.

Probably best just to stick with these, unless I go mad and just place an order :roll:

supersonic

Deore hubs (and they do vary as are a lot of sub models over the years!) weigh about 450g for the rear, and 240g for the front (6 bolt set up).

XT 6 bolts are a bit lighter, bou no longer made: the centrelock is a claimed 369g rear, and 170g front, the newer M775 even lighter (apparently 330g for the rear)

The Pro 2 are 285g rear, 185g front.

turnercraig

supersonic wrote:

Deore hubs (and they do vary as are a lot of sub models over the years!) weigh about 450g for the rear, and 240g for the front (6 bolt set up).

XT 6 bolts are a bit lighter, bou no longer made: the centrelock is a claimed 369g rear, and 170g front, the newer M775 even lighter (apparently 330g for the rear)

The Pro 2 are 285g rear, 185g front.

I just did some investigating and this is definantly the rear hub so 390g
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38213

I'm not at home so I can't check but I'm 95% certain this is the front hub so 200g
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38223

So combined it would be: 590g

Hope hubs: 470

Saving: 120g

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=3439
So if I had these rims (which seem to be a very popular choice with good reviews it would save me an extra 35g per rim and 70g for two.

With a total saving of 190g.

hmmm doesn't seem much to me!

supersonic

Ah, you have Deore centrlocks which do save some weight!

The 717 will save weight - but will it be as strong? Have to balance that.

I think you have a nice wheelset!

turnercraig

Ye thanks for advice.

I have no complaints with it so i think it's best to stick with it and get some cheap (but good, obviously ) wheels for the hardtail.

To spend a fortune to get a slightly lighter wheelset that may not be as strong would be ludicrous! imo

The Spiderman

I went from Deore hubs with 317 rims to 6 bolt XT hubs with 717s.They were only 170g lighter though I picked up a deal on a good pair secondhand and when I sold my old wheels it only really cost me £30 to upgrade.
As suggested I think you would need to look at something like the Hope Hoops with Stans rims to make it worthwhile.