Wheel and Fork repair help

Macster1

Hi,

I have a 2009 Rockhopper Pro Disc with the following wheels: -

Rims: DT-Swiss 445D, 26", double wall disc, pin joint, eyelets, 28/32h
Front Hub: Specialized Hi Lo, forged alloy, double sealed, ground race, alloy QR, 28h
Rear Hub: Specialized, forged alloy, double sealed, ground race, alloy QR, 32h
Spokes:1.8mm (15g) stainless

The bike is 3 years old and the alloy nipples keep breaking, Friday I had 6 go at once, [I keep replacing them one at a time and they haven't been true for a while!] and the wheel/s need/s either rebuilding or replacing. So my question is, do I: -

1. Buy 2 new Mavic EX721 with Hope Pro EVO 2 hubs @ £262:00
2. Get mine rebuilt [replace alloy nipples with brass, have trued & tensioned] at approximately £44:00 per wheel + new bearings and whatever else, so looking at around £120:00. Would have DT DB spokes fitted.

What would you guys/gals think is the best option; I rather like the idea of the Hope/Mavic wheels

Also I have RockShox Reba SL 80mm, 100mm forks and the lockout has broken, been estiamted at £80 to repair. Again, is are they worth repairing or buying some replacements of equal or better quality?

Thanks in advance

Chunkers1980

None. I'd buy a set of superstars with stans rims to suit how
I ride

Macster1

Any more opinions welcome!

nicklouse

sounds like the fork just need a service.

wheels get the wheels sorted.

supersonic

Why 721s though?

Macster1

supersonic wrote:

Why 721s though?

They have been recommended

I'm 17 stone and was advised they'd be pretty much bulletproof; they have eyelets, and are double walled? Which is better

Also, £300 is about the most I'd want to go to

supersonic

For cross country riding I'd doubt you'd need something that heavy, they are downhill rims designed to take massive drops!

I would however get new wheels, as the cost of the rebuild isn't worth it. For £150, these are decent hoops:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=227

Handbuilt, good spokes and nipples, tough XC wheelset.

As for the fork, does the compression damping still work? How has it broke?

Macster1

Thanks Supersonic,

I'll take a look.

The lockout won't work, but the damping has some resisitance [it's in the shop at the moment so can't test]

Macster1

supersonic wrote:

For cross country riding I'd doubt you'd need something that heavy, they are downhill rims designed to take massive drops!

Thanks for the advice, I decided to go with the hoops in the end, (because of the price); found them for £262:00, then found somewhere that did me a better deal, and got them for £240:00! Have also ordered a new PG991 chain for £14:50, and a PG990 cassette in gold, for £33:50.

The shocks I can get done for around £110:00 all in by http://www.tftunedshox.com, which isn't much more than my LBS. Was looking at getting new shocks if too dear to repair but they are quite expensive!

So far I'm happy with the purchases

chrisw333

Macster1 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

For cross country riding I'd doubt you'd need something that heavy, they are downhill rims designed to take massive drops!

Thanks for the advice, I decided to go with the hoops in the end, (because of the price); found them for £262:00, then found somewhere that did me a better deal, and got them for £240:00! Have also ordered a new PG991 chain for £14:50, and a PG990 cassette in gold, for £33:50.

The shocks I can get done for around £110:00 all in by http://www.tftunedshox.com, which isn't much more than my LBS. Was looking at getting new shocks if too dear to repair but they are quite expensive!

So far I'm happy with the purchases

So you got heavier wheels than you need for £90.00 more than the ones SS recommended?
Sometimes I wonder why people bother asking for advice when all they really want is people to confirm that what they had in mind in the first place is a good idea.

cat_with_no_tail

2,095g for those hope wheels????

Have fun riding XC on your expensive DH wheels. Rather you than me. I'll stick with the superstar ones which are just as good and a full 350g lighter and £100 cheaper.

Macster1

Cat With No Tail wrote:

2,095g for those hope wheels????

Have fun riding XC on your expensive DH wheels. Rather you than me. I'll stick with the superstar ones which are just as good and a full 350g lighter and £100 cheaper.

Thanks

But I doubt I'll notice 350g when I'm carrying 17 stone and another 10-15lb in my rucksack :roll:

Yes they are £100 more than the SS ones, but the way I look at it is they are £100 less than most retailers sell them for, so they are still great value for money, (to me), and will obviously last, and more importantly, what I wanted in the first place

97th choice

Macster1 wrote:

But I doubt I'll notice 350g when I'm carrying 17 stone and another 10-15lb in my rucksack :roll:

Yes, you will. Having heavy wheels which need more effort to get turning and accelerate (rotational weight) has a much greater impact than having the same weight sitting on your back (static weight).

You should have listened to the advice you sought.

Macster1

Yes, you will. Having heavy wheels which need more effort to get turning and accelerate (rotational weight) has a much greater impact than having the same weight sitting on your back (static weight).

You should have listened to the advice you sought.

I did, I asked for opinions/alternatives, was grateful for the help, but decided for my original choice.

I'll let you know if I can tell any difference, but for what I do I doubt I will & they are only 175g more than what I already use

chrisw333

just nuts.

cat_with_no_tail

Of course, it's your bike and you can put whatever youl ike on there. It just seems a bit counter intuitive to add a full pound of weight in the single most noticable area.

And I can tell you you absolutely will notice it. I'm 16.5st, and going from a 1900g wheelset to a 1600g wheelset made a HELL of a difference to the way the Reed feels. And for what it's worth, the 1,600g superstar wheelset I've got fitted on mine has done plenty of proper DH and is still perfect.

Oh, and 15lb in your rucksack? Do you carry around a spare roadbike or something?

Macster1

Well, I still don't have my wheels yet, (supply issues), so am looking at the Superstar ones as recommended by Supersonic. (For the weight weenies amongst you, the weight of the Mavic XC717 = 1738g, and the Superleggera Tech2 Wheelset 21 = 1750g, so I'm adding more with the SS wheels). :roll:

Also didn't cost in new rotors so the Tech 2 wheelset will fit my budget better too

Forks being done by TFT Tuned so bike back this week.

cat_with_no_tail

The hope hoops you were talking about were the ones with EX721 rims, not XC717. The EX721 set is 2,095g as I said earlier.

Good choice with the SS set though. I've got a set on my rockhopper and finding them to be very good so far. They're insanely loud though!
Much quicker pickup than the hopes too (3deg engagement).

How come you're buying new rotors?

Macster1

Also looking at http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=501

So I can just quick swap the wheels over when needed, although thinking about it, might not be worth it as it'll only be once a year!

Why are they loud, do they click like the Hope ones?


Thanks

mrmonkfinger

If I had £200 and was going to superstar, I think I'd get the stans/switch deal:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496


but the ones linked by supersonic look great value.

supersonic

Yep, EX721 are 200g heavier than 717. EACH!

Macster1

mrmonkfinger wrote:

If I had £200 and was going to superstar, I think I'd get the stans/switch deal:
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

They look nice, but don't have eylets; I was advised that over time the rim would/could start bulging at the spoke holes because of this. How true/accurate is that?

That's why I was looking at the Mavic rims initially. There's the XM719 http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=501, or maybe with the XC717 rims as I obviously don't need the EX721's.

I'll make my mind up in the next day or so as I really want to get the new wheels!