What 20mm/QR convertible tubeless allmountain wheels?

Northwind

Righto, I've foolishly ended up with 2 bikes, one really nice set of wheels, and one less nice set of wheels, and I'd like to improve that a bit... Still pretty blue-sky here, it needs to wait til I get my bonus. Budget is, oh, let's say £400 but I really don't want to spend that, £250 would be good.

What I've got on one is a set of Roval Traversees. Very light, sturdy enough and convertible for 20mm and QR so they work on both bikes, with a little faffing. These suit the Soul perfectly and the Hemlock pretty well.

I've also got a set of Bontrager Rhythyms, possibly Comps though I'm not sure, which I'm not so happy with, they're a bit weightier but don't seem all that much stronger, and the tubeless system isn't a patch on the Specialised/stolen from Stans approach. Also not convertible QR to 20mm. These don't fit the Soul, or suit it too well.

So, I guess what I want is something a bit like my Traversees, I don't mind if they're heavier as long as they're also stronger, they're theoretically for the Hemlock which is my smashing into things at speed bike. And specifically, I'd like to avoid stupid hard to find parts, and absolutely no horrible loud rear hubs, no Pro 2s!

Lastly and most importantly they must be either black/dark coloured, or white

So... What? Convertible front hub narrows the options a bit, Hope Pro 2 obviously works perfectly, or Superstar Switch but I'm not sure I trust that. Rear, I'm not choosy, XT would be OK but I'd prefer to be lighter.

Rims, I love the Stans tubeless system, but Stans are expensive, possibly too expensive. 819s? How strong are these things really, this isn't a downhill bike but it's going to do uplift days etc... But 823 seems like overkill.

Alternatively, any full builds? XT M776 maybe?

Help please!

bomberesque

Dunno what they're retailing for atm but Hope hoops with stan's flows were going for <250 a few months back iirc. Advantage also that you get the conversion kit included rather than having to pay another 15 or whatever quid for it.

I have the 5.1 Hope hoops and like them (although obviously fails the toobless criteria for you), except the Hope freehub drives me INSANE, it's the MTB equivalent of a bean tin exhaust IMO but each to their own, it certainly seem to work pretty well.

the article don

By all accounts XM819s are totally bombproof. There's lots of reviews on mtbr.com. A few guys are even using them for light downhill. My LBS ( freeflow bikes) know their stuff and that's what they recommended to me instead of the DT 5.1s ( or whatever they're called now) that I was going to get. As for tubeless, they apparently work very well even with non tubeless tyres.

I've just ordered some on Hope Pro 2s. I collect them tomorrow so haven't used them yet so can't comment properly. £306 with brass nipples and DT Comp black spokes.

cat_with_no_tail

Have a quick read of this thread I started a couple of days back when I was looking for mine.

I also wanted 20mm front, and bombproof and also had a budget of around £400.

I was lucky in the end, and managed to bag a set of DT EX1750s for within my budget. But there were some good suggestions there :

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12687671

It might also be worth emailing the wheelbuilders at CRC and Merlin and telling them what you're after.

They seem to really know their stuff, and might be able to offer some suggestions not covered on here.

bomberesque

oh, for 400 I think you can get a set of Easton Havocs. convertible and tubeless and I think pretty light. I have a set of XCOnes on my SS and they're pretty light (1600g) very stiff and mercifully quiet in the freehub


/edit; oh, 335 Euros from Merlin Bargain! 1900 g a pair (assuming claimed is accurate, but it was for mine) 1900g is about the same as the hope hoops on 5.1s I have .... hmmm now my memory's playing tricks on me, I'm pretty sure they're tubeless, but maybe I'm wrong about that (XC1s aren't)

Northwind

Cheers for the advice... I didn't know Merlin do Stans rims now, good news that, the Flow's barely more expensive than the 719 in white.

Would DT Revolutions be suitable for a build like this? Some places say they're strong, others (CRC) say "Lightweight XC only". They're heavier than my Supercomps and I've never had any real issues with those but I've never used Revolutions.

I'm kind of leaning towards Flows with DT Comps and a Pro 2 front hub, XT rear, from Merlin. I'd go with Supercomps but they don't offer them, I'm going to drop them an email anyway to ask.

Other options are Hope Hoops on Flows of course, Bikeoutlet has these at £240 a pair which is stunning value I reckon, though they're only built with Comps and they have the horrible hubs. Discounting SPAMS because the cheaper ones have the silly rotors, DO NOT WANT.

Bomber, those look cool but not tubeless ready, they need strips apparently.

supersonic

I'd stick with standard comps 14/15g. Revs can be difficult to build with and the end result is more flexy.

I'd only use them for light QR wheels really for XC.

Northwind

Yeah, that's kind of how they look to me but, well, wtf do I know? Out of curiosity then why not supercomps? I did manage to break one in my traversees but only by being a clumsy idiot on the fort bill 4x track.

supersonic

Actually the supercomp is not a bad choice, it being tripple butted (and a 1.7mm centre), but I'd go for the extra security of a 14g end section for an AM wheel.

Northwind

Hmm, I thought the Supercomp was the same size at the ends? It's 14/16/15 isn't it? Vs 14/15 for the Comp. Maybe I'm mixing it up, I'm going half daft with all the numbers

supersonic

Comps are 2.0/1.8/2.0

Supercomps are 1.8/1.7/2.0

I should have said 14/15/14 really lol.