Wheel recommendation?

PinkPedal

I broke a spoke on my commuter/winter bike's front wheel on the weekend. Popped it into an LBS and the prognosis isn't good - all the spoke ends are corroded so it can't be trued. New wheel time!

Any recommendations for a decent winter-proof front wheel for less than £100?

Thanks, PP

greg66_tri_v2.0

Campy or Shimano?

Bit over budget, but these should do

iPete

Planet X Model B or C
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPP ... b-wheelset

My front wheel has done around 11,000 miles, maybe more. The rear wheel did about 9,000 before I smashed it against a pot hole, apart from that it was still fine.

PinkPedal

Shimano 9-speed on this bike...

Thanks G66 and IPete, like the look of both of these, getting a pair for £130ish sounds good

nich

Another vote for Model B/C. They seem good value and they cope with London roads well

walkingbootweather

It depends upon your commute and how tough you are on your kit. I know it is a bit more expensive but for long service and daily use something like Spa Cycles handbuilt wheels at £175 for a pair are likely to be worth the investment.

rolf_f

walkingbootweather wrote:

It depends upon your commute and how tough you are on your kit. I know it is a bit more expensive but for long service and daily use something like Spa Cycles handbuilt wheels at £175 for a pair are likely to be worth the investment.

Plus one on that and it doesn't break the bank as the budget was £100 for one wheel. Mind, pity not to get a matching pair!

will3

shimano R501 from Merlin £70 a pair.

PinkPedal

Thanks, more to think about! My commute is pretty short but I'm not sure how tough I am on kit as this bike was bought second hand and has seen a lot of use before I got it. Ideally I'd upgrade the wheels on my 'best' bike and use it's current wheels on the commuter but I just don't have the cash at the moment. The p-x's are v appealing, then I could save up for a nice pair of handbuilts for next year. Decisions!

jzed

nich wrote:

Another vote for Model B/C. They seem good value and they cope with London roads well

Possibly - depends on your weight. Im 16 st and went through two sets in 6 months. Notsoblue went through a set in less than a year too. If you do go for Planet X, go for the C's with more spokes.

Wrath Rob

Mavic Aksium's. £130 will get you a pair. Mine have been great for the last 2 years. The rear needs truing (figure once a year) but the front has been straight since day 1.

PinkPedal

I weigh about 9.5stone so hopefully weight wouldn't be too much of an issue (note to self - stick to diet!). The px b's look to be out of stock so it'd be the c's I'd go for. Will check out aksiums too.

Cheers again for all the recs...

walkingbootweather

The way I look at it you cn buy cheap wheels, you can buy light wheels or you can buy strong wheels - I don't know where you can buy wheels that are all three.

Pink - you are a lot lighter than me, so provided you're not carrying too much, riding faitly smooth roads and not bumping down kerbs you will get away with some of the lighter wheels suggested here. For my commute cheaper wheels would be a false economy as I'd be replacing them or having them fixed much more often.

Some people do swap wheels between bikes, or have an additional set to use for different types of riding. What you are looking for in a commuting wheel is likely to be different to the ideal wheel for racing etc. Same can be said of tyres.

Underscore

PinkPedal wrote:

I broke a spoke on my commuter/winter bike's front wheel on the weekend. Popped it into an LBS and the prognosis isn't good - all the spoke ends are corroded so it can't be trued. New wheel time!

Any recommendations for a decent winter-proof front wheel for less than £100?

Thanks, PP

Just as an alternative, if the hub and rim are in reasonable nick, £100 would buy you a new set of spokes and the tools you need to rebuild the wheel. That way you would have a new wheel and have acquired the skills to maintain/build your own wheels in the future...

_

desweller

PinkPedal wrote:

Shimano 9-speed on this bike...

Doesn't matter; it's a front wheel.

If you want something sturdy then a Deore front hub with Mavic A319 rim can be had for less than £100 and will be utterly, utterly bomb-proof.

iPete

I've just realised you are after a front wheel only!

When my Planet X model C gives up the ghost (11k to date; I suspect that brake wear will lead to its demise) I'm going to put a Halo Mercury front wheel on to match my rear wheel because I'm a tart and they strike a balance between speed/weight/strength/looks.

As long as the bearings are sealed I don't see how a wheel can be more winter ready(?!), your choice of tyre will matter more.

walkingbootweather

Aren't road bike and mountain bike hubs different lengths (130mm v 135mm from memory)? You need the right ones for your bike, unless you want to cold set (bend) your frame.

Mountain bike hubs are considered to be better sealed and more robust than comparable road hubs but may weigh a bit more.

UndercoverElephant

walkingbootweather wrote:

The way I look at it you cn buy cheap wheels, you can buy light wheels or you can buy strong wheels - I don't know where you can buy wheels that are all three.

You have to build them yourself. Ribble do Tiagra hubs for £25 the pair, a pair of Rigida rims would cost about £31 from Parker International and 64 Sapim Race spokes can be got from Spa Cycles for £30.

Total cost £86, build them yourself and you have bomb-proof wheels that are surprisingly light.

walkingbootweather

UndercoverElephant wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

The way I look at it you cn buy cheap wheels, you can buy light wheels or you can buy strong wheels - I don't know where you can buy wheels that are all three.

You have to build them yourself. Ribble do Tiagra hubs for £25 the pair, a pair of Rigida rims would cost about £31 from Parker International and 64 Sapim Race spokes can be got from Spa Cycles for £30.

Total cost £86, build them yourself and you have bomb-proof wheels that are surprisingly light.

Absolutely. If you are prepared to have a go at building them yourself these would be excellent commuting wheels for not much money.

desweller

walkingbootweather wrote:

Aren't road bike and mountain bike hubs different lengths (130mm v 135mm from memory)? You need the right ones for your bike, unless you want to cold set (bend) your frame.

Mountain bike hubs are considered to be better sealed and more robust than comparable road hubs but may weigh a bit more.

It's a front wheel so they're all 100mm.

Gussio

walkingbootweather wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

The way I look at it you cn buy cheap wheels, you can buy light wheels or you can buy strong wheels - I don't know where you can buy wheels that are all three.

You have to build them yourself. Ribble do Tiagra hubs for £25 the pair, a pair of Rigida rims would cost about £31 from Parker International and 64 Sapim Race spokes can be got from Spa Cycles for £30.

Total cost £86, build them yourself and you have bomb-proof wheels that are surprisingly light.

Absolutely. If you are prepared to have a go at building them yourself these would be excellent commuting wheels for not much money.

As an aside, do either of you use a tensiometer when building wheels? If so, which one would you recommend?

UndercoverElephant

No tensionometer here. They're only accurate to within 10%, and that's pretty poor, that would be the best ones too. I've said it before, but if you can tune a guitar, you can get a hell of a lot closer than that.

Gussio

Gave up trying to learn how to play the guitar when I was a teenager. Couldn't tune the blasted thing!

walkingbootweather

Afraid I've never yet been brave enough to build my own wheels. Having bought and used hand built wheels I have concluded that, for my purposes, they have proven to be much better than factory wheels if you can afford the modest price difference.

Having been inspired by UE I might be inclined to have a crack at building the next set myself. The worst that can happen is I'll give up after several hours of frustration and pay someone clever than me to complete the job. I'm sure the satisfaction of doing it yourself would be great though.

sketchley

UndercoverElephant wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

The way I look at it you cn buy cheap wheels, you can buy light wheels or you can buy strong wheels - I don't know where you can buy wheels that are all three.

You have to build them yourself. Ribble do Tiagra hubs for £25 the pair, a pair of Rigida rims would cost about £31 from Parker International and 64 Sapim Race spokes can be got from Spa Cycles for £30.

Total cost £86, build them yourself and you have bomb-proof wheels that are surprisingly light.

While I agree with the sentiment. My Rigida DP18 rims with Ultegra Hubs and 32 spokes each come in at approx 2.3kgs with QR Skewers and Rim Tape. The RS20's they replaced came in at 1,8kgs. 500g is a lot in bike terms. So with the above example £86 is cheap even if you add in £25 per wheel for building it's still cheap for what you are getting, they will be very strong as the Rigida rim is strong, but not that light. Getting all three proper light wheels, cheap and bullet proof is not possible. In a lot of case light and bullet proof is also very unlikely if you are a heavy rider.

Two important questions you need to ask when finding / building the right wheel, is how much do you weigh and where / how do you ride. For example while my wheels are great for me as they don't flex very much and mean all my power goes down on the road despite my weight of 112kgs. The same wheel on 65kg rider's bike would be far to overbuilt for the riders weight and power and they would lose power on the road as a result. Similarly if you ride aggressively and put down large amounts of power for short spurt, or climb out of the saddle rocking from side to side the amount of flex in the wheel vs your weight is also important and heavier therefore stronger and stiffer may mean quicker on the road.

That's my experience so far any way.

Gussio

walkingbootweather wrote:

Afraid I've never yet been brave enough to build my own wheels. Having bought and used hand built wheels I have concluded that, for my purposes, they have proven to be much better than factory wheels if you can afford the modest price difference.

Having been inspired by UE I might be inclined to have a crack at building the next set myself. The worst that can happen is I'll give up after several hours of frustration and pay someone clever than me to complete the job. I'm sure the satisfaction of doing it yourself would be great though.

Roger Musson's book has been a great inspiration. I've been thinking of having a crack at building a pair for about 12mths but not quite plucked up the courage

UndercoverElephant

Gussio wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Afraid I've never yet been brave enough to build my own wheels. Having bought and used hand built wheels I have concluded that, for my purposes, they have proven to be much better than factory wheels if you can afford the modest price difference.

Having been inspired by UE I might be inclined to have a crack at building the next set myself. The worst that can happen is I'll give up after several hours of frustration and pay someone clever than me to complete the job. I'm sure the satisfaction of doing it yourself would be great though.

Roger Musson's book has been a great inspiration. I've been thinking of having a crack at building a pair for about 12mths but not quite plucked up the courage

Roger Musson's book is great, the fact that I could build a truing stand using stuff I had in the garage (I even used an old set of stabilisers cut-down to make the drop-outs - I've progressed from needing them now ) and just give it a go made all the difference. Really couldn't have justified paying hundreds for the tools as well as buying poarts for the wheels.

Sketchley, does not compute: Tiagra hubs are 500g for the pair including skewers, Rigida Chrina rims are 510g each, 64 Sapim Race spokes 360g, 64 nipples are 20g. Add it all together, you get 1,900g. Admittedly, not as light as your previous wheels, but not exactly heavy.

You must be using hellish rim-tape.

Underscore

Yeah, I built a bomb proof 36 hole rear wheel for my commuter in early spring. Mavic Open Sport on Tiagra, Sapim Strong drive side and Race non-drive side with Velox cloth rim tape. Weighed in at 1030g (not including QR) on the kitchen scales (don't tell the wife!) Using 32 hole rims and DB spokes throughout, I would have thought that you ought to be able to get close to 1800g without losing much reliability...

_

Gussio

DB spokes?

walkingbootweather

Double butted.

Sheldon's wisdom

Underscore

Sorry. Doubled Butted. Sapim strong are SB (Single Butted) - 2.3mm at the elbow, 2.0mm for the rest, otherwise known as overkill - whereas Sapim Race are 2.0mm at each end and 1.8mm in the middle, so a fair bit lighter.

_