Two bikes... three wheels

bartimaeus

The rear wheel on my GT is no longer round... it is still true, but I think it needs to be binned and replaced. Bike is a GT Avalanche 1.0 2010 with WTB SX24 rims on who-knows-what hubs. I also have a Giant Anthem X4 2010 which has Mavic XM 117s on more who-knows-what hubs. Both sets are 6 bolt.

So I have a dilemma, do I just buy a cheap rear wheel for the GT or do I splash out and get some better wheels for the Anthem and swap the Mavics onto the GT?

Where's a reasonable place to buy 'a wheel' - you can get deals on what appear to be decent 'pairs of wheels', but single wheels seem more expensive and the choice is confusing. I guess I was hoping to spend around £60 on a single wheel as I'm guessing that the wheelset I have is pretty budget.

If I go for an 'upgrade' I was thinking something like a pair of SS Switch Evos with Crests... I'd guess that this would save me some weight and be a stronger than my current set. For £200 they look top value. I ride XC and maybe AM-lite... so a few rocks and some small drops (with some wise words from Jedi's I can manage a 1m drop, and I'm working on tables). As I'm no longer young I'm fairly cautious and at 75kg my wheels don't take much of a battering apart from those 'moments' when I screw up. Any other options I should consider?

So one cheap wheel, or a two wheel upgrade? Thoughts, please!

supersonic

If spending £200, the SS wheels are the way to go. No brainer for me.

For £60, these are amazing wheels:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... lizer.html

Handbuilt, DB spokes, 1900g a pair, will shed a lot of weight on the GT. You'll need new rotors, OnOne were doing them for 4 quid each.

bartimaeus

Is it worth getting the SS QR Through Axles in favour of the standard QR skewers? I assume I can use a 9mm on the front and a 10mm on the back - but would I notice the difference (apart from the poor colour co-ordination... unless they get some more stock in). If I stick with standard QR skewers are there any particularly 'good' ones?

felix.london

I put one of those 9mm through-axles on my SS wheel 'cos I ordered the wrong adapter. Just adds weight as far as I can see. My Shimano skewers on the other bike keep coming loose so have just ordered some A2Z ones from Merlin

..in fact I do have one the SS QR skewers on the back wheel of the 'hopper. Pretty annoying, skinny little lever it's got but it's light enough and works well.

The Rookie

cyd190468 wrote:

Buy a decent spoke wrench and a truing stand, you'll never "bin" a wheel again. Even if the rim is flat spotted it is sometimes possible unlace it and re-bend the flat spot. Think of the sense of achievement!

Corrected for you....

As for truing stand, for truing (as opposed to building) wheels I put it in the frame (no tyre) and bluetack a ruler across the seat stays and true it like that, much cheaper!

bartimaeus

I'm going for the Superstars wheels... "because it's my birthday, and I wants it."

The Rookie

Must admit to not having seen a rim puller, none the less my daughters 'flat spotted' rim isn't worth enough to buy a tool, or get someone with a tool to fix it, so it's beyond economic repair (fixed it would only be worth £15 tops), having said that with a tyre on she doesn't even notice the circa 2.5mm flat spot (managed to get it back from about 7mm by paying with spoke tension over time/riding - tight either side, loosish at the base of the flat spot)