Wheelset

Stu Coops

Hi Guys looking for a new set of wheels for around £400 max to go on a Scott Scale 20 Hardtail, standard QR with 6 bolt disc fixing, I'd like as light as possible but strong enough for trail centres, probably a lot to ask for £400 but advice appreciated.

Looked at some deals on Easton Havens great looking but reviews are terrible regarding the hubs, XT wheels opinions vary, Mavic Crossmax a little out of budget. HELP :?

supersonic

How much do you weigh?

Stu Coops

supersonic wrote:

How much do you weigh?

New i'd forget something, I weigh 12 stone

Cheers

supersonic

You should be fine with Crest rims, or Mavic 717, the former being the lighter. Havens would be overkill - the bike would break before them!

Question now is hubs and spokes. Superstar have some good deals on their packages, but some of the German places are doing DT and A2Z hubs cheap and they are very light for the cash. Spoke wise the classic choice is DT Comps or Sapim double butted. - DT SuperComp shaves a little weight off, DT Revs even more (but are more flexy), whiel CXRays are very light and stiff, but don't seem to have as good fatigue life.

Levi_501

IMHO, I do nto think you can go wrong with Hope wheelsets.

Pro 2 SP on Mavic EX721 take some beating at the price. Make sure you order the steel free hub version.

supersonic

They weigh nearly 2kg though, hardly light and total overkill for a Scale!

Levi_501

I cannot recall them being that heavy??? perhaps they arethen.

Stu Coops

supersonic wrote:

You should be fine with Crest rims, or Mavic 717, the former being the lighter. Havens would be overkill - the bike would break before them!

Question now is hubs and spokes. Superstar have some good deals on their packages, but some of the German places are doing DT and A2Z hubs cheap and they are very light for the cash. Spoke wise the classic choice is DT Comps or Sapim double butted. - DT SuperComp shaves a little weight off, DT Revs even more (but are more flexy), whiel CXRays are very light and stiff, but don't seem to have as good fatigue life.

Thanks fo the advice but what can i actually go online and buy as a complete wheelset from your recommendations above, sort of off the peg.

Thanks

jozeppi

Winstanleys are doing hope pro2 evo on various hubs for £264 or for a little extra straight pull

lostboysaint

Don't go for the overkill 721.

I am 95kg and run Hope hubs on Mavic EN521 and have no issues with them on anything I've ridden (Quantocks, QE, Surrey Hills, Afan, Coed-y-Brenin etc.)

Supersonic is right, at your weight you ought to be looking at the Crests or the 717s, you'll not do them any damage if they're built properly.

mrmonkfinger

pro2 & 717 would get my vote here, or pro2 & crest - stans rims get recommended a lot on here.

Both are easy enough to find online.

njee20

Still heavy though - even on Crests think mine were 1680g. Felt slow too, draggy hubs.

I'd get something like these, or build yourself: A2Z hubs, Crests or Alpines (the latter are slightly lighter), and your choice of spoke: Rev/Super Comp/Comp in ascending weight and stiffness.

Northwind

721s are genuinely awful advice for this job, sorry!

Pro 2 and Crest I guess if you're buying new. But you could get a lot more for used obviously. I wouldn't recommend them for you but as an example, I got my DT240s with Olympics for not much more than you'd pay for a DT240 rear hub.

njee20

240s on Olympics would be a great option if you can get them in budget. I've got the same as my spares, excellent wheels.

Northwind

I really like 'em but I don't think I'd trust them for regular trailcentre riding, they're strong enough while everything's going well but they don't feel like they've got a lot of margin for crashes, bad landings etc. Time will tell I guess!

Oh... Another one to watch for is the Roval EL range, Traversees and Controls. Traversee would be probably stronger than needed here, but not too much weight penalty- 1600g or so for the wheelset. I just beat a rear to death on the big bike but it took a surprisingly long time. Control would probably be strong enough tbh but again, depends how much margin for error you want.

njee20

I'd trust them. If I was building up something like a Mojo (which I've wanted to do) then it's the sort of wheelset I'd use frankly! Possibly Crests as they're more common.

I've done 3 foot drops on my Podiums with no issues, done several trail centres too, not an inherently tough life for a wheelset, particularly on a superlight XC race hardtail.

mrmonkfinger

njee20 wrote:

or build yourself: A2Z hubs, Crests or Alpines (the latter are slightly lighter), and your choice of spoke: Rev/Super Comp/Comp in ascending weight and stiffness.

Forgot we were going for lighter-than-light XC flavours. Build yourself? How about some leftfield options:

Novatec D711/D712 hubs
ACI Alpinas
Sun Ringle EQ21

I'll be making a set sometime in new year (if finance allows).

Northwind

njee20 wrote:

II've done 3 foot drops on my Podiums with no issues, done several trail centres too, not an inherently tough life for a wheelset, particularly on a superlight XC race hardtail.

See, it's not the drops and such that bother me- any wheel'll do the job if you're doing things right. It's the unplanned trees, or sideways landings, basically not the everyday loads but the overloads. I guess everyone does their trailcentres differently though but for me a good wheel for that sort of use has got to be, er, me-proof.

njee20

But I think just about any wheel will fold under those conditions. The rims I've dented more than any other were my XC717s. I trashed my Crossmax, I put a massive flat spot in an Open Pro on the road, did similar to a Roval Controle SL and broke some spokes for good measure, but the 3 sets of Stan's rims I've had handbuilt (Tune on Olympics, DT 240 on Olympics and A2Z on Podium MMX) have all been good as gold.

I'd choose a decent build on light kit over a shoddy build on heavier kit every time.

Forgot we were going for lighter-than-light XC flavours

My A2Z/Podiums are 1246g, so with Alpines they'll probably be 1340 or so, 1400 with Revs, not silly light.

Anonymous

njee20 wrote:

But I think just about any wheel will fold under those conditions. The rims I've dented more than any other were my XC717s. I trashed my Crossmax, I put a massive flat spot in an Open Pro on the road, did similar to a Roval Controle SL and broke some spokes for good measure, but the 3 sets of Stan's rims I've had handbuilt (Tune on Olympics, DT 240 on Olympics and A2Z on Podium MMX) have all been good as gold.

I'd choose a decent build on light kit over a shoddy build on heavier kit every time.

Forgot we were going for lighter-than-light XC flavours

My A2Z/Podiums are 1246g, so with Alpines they'll probably be 1340 or so, 1400 with Revs, not silly light.

Those A2Z are light :shock:
Gonna Invest in some light custom wheels next year.
Hopes are heavy though.

Northwind

njee20 wrote:

But I think just about any wheel will fold under those conditions.

Well. Anything'll break if you hit it right but no doubt that some things resist damage better than others...

mrmonkfinger

raceface gt wrote:

Hopes are heavy though.

I dunno, I'd say they're more medium weight.

njee20 wrote:

My A2Z/Podiums are 1246g, so with Alpines they'll probably be 1340 or so, 1400 with Revs, not silly light.

You're well into silly light in my (slightly tubby) book

Stu Coops

I can get a set of Crossmax SLR for £550 opinions on these.

njee20

Not hugely light, spares are insanely expensive and availability patchy. For that sort of money I'd get DT240s on your choice of rim. More versatile, potentially lighter/stronger.