New wheelset or fix the old ones?
alomac
Posts: 189
I have a '09 model Trek 6300 hardtail. It's a mid-range bike with a largely Deore drivetrain, but which I have also upgraded a little with a Reba fork and SLX brakes (the older, radial-cylinder M665 version).
The current wheels which are Bontrager Ranger (ETRO 559x18) rims on M475 hubs. It's hard to find a review of these wheels as the Ranger rim is a Trek corp. OEM item only, but a WMB review of a bike so fitted called the wheelset 'decent'.
After the equivalent of a year's use (the bike has spent a lot of its life in storage), the freehub is sticky and sounds dry and the front cups have been pitted (mud got into the bearings and ground them up). I have the parts on hand to fix this (the cups can be bashed out and replaced), but I'm thinking about simply buying a new wheelset. I haven't begun looking at my options seriously yet, but as a reference, the likes of CRC and Merlin can build a wheelset with Mavic EN521 rims on XT hubs for around 180UKP.
The pros and cons of buying a new wheelset that I can see are:
PROs
Peace of mind. If I keep the current wheelset, there's the possibility of this happening again unless I maintain the wheels a lot more frequently. Internet opinions of the M475 vary. Some people seem to get long, trouble-free lives out of them, others think they're useless off-road. An XT hub would be a lot more reliable.
Wider tyres. My current rim tops out at 2.25" tyres. I have no issues with my current tyres, 2.25" Nobby Nics, but would the ability to go wider be useful? For reference I'm just over 200lbs and am still too green to ride with proper finesse - I switched to SPDs because I would sometimes shake or jolt myself of my flats. That said I don't ride anything that's really hairy or do anything like drops (yet
)
Bling factor. The wheels may also be lighter, stiffer etc., though I doubt I'd really notice tbh.
CONs
Well, it's 180UKP I would not otherwise spend.
While I plan on keeping this bike for the foreseeable future, certainly for a few years, I'm not sure if it's worth investing in a new set of 9mm QR wheels, given that the standard seems to be on the way out. I'm too crap a rider for 9mm's flex to affect my riding, but it is there: leaning into a turn, my front wheel will often flex enough for the rotor to audibly rub the pads and my chainstays have rub marks on the inside that could only have come from the tyre. Maybe I should just fix the current wheelset, coddle it with new balls, grease and cups every few months, and just concentrate on a getting a new bike in a few years.
Sorry for the long post, I'm happy to hear any ideas.
Cheers,
Adam.
The current wheels which are Bontrager Ranger (ETRO 559x18) rims on M475 hubs. It's hard to find a review of these wheels as the Ranger rim is a Trek corp. OEM item only, but a WMB review of a bike so fitted called the wheelset 'decent'.
After the equivalent of a year's use (the bike has spent a lot of its life in storage), the freehub is sticky and sounds dry and the front cups have been pitted (mud got into the bearings and ground them up). I have the parts on hand to fix this (the cups can be bashed out and replaced), but I'm thinking about simply buying a new wheelset. I haven't begun looking at my options seriously yet, but as a reference, the likes of CRC and Merlin can build a wheelset with Mavic EN521 rims on XT hubs for around 180UKP.
The pros and cons of buying a new wheelset that I can see are:
PROs
Peace of mind. If I keep the current wheelset, there's the possibility of this happening again unless I maintain the wheels a lot more frequently. Internet opinions of the M475 vary. Some people seem to get long, trouble-free lives out of them, others think they're useless off-road. An XT hub would be a lot more reliable.
Wider tyres. My current rim tops out at 2.25" tyres. I have no issues with my current tyres, 2.25" Nobby Nics, but would the ability to go wider be useful? For reference I'm just over 200lbs and am still too green to ride with proper finesse - I switched to SPDs because I would sometimes shake or jolt myself of my flats. That said I don't ride anything that's really hairy or do anything like drops (yet
)Bling factor. The wheels may also be lighter, stiffer etc., though I doubt I'd really notice tbh.
CONs
Well, it's 180UKP I would not otherwise spend.
While I plan on keeping this bike for the foreseeable future, certainly for a few years, I'm not sure if it's worth investing in a new set of 9mm QR wheels, given that the standard seems to be on the way out. I'm too crap a rider for 9mm's flex to affect my riding, but it is there: leaning into a turn, my front wheel will often flex enough for the rotor to audibly rub the pads and my chainstays have rub marks on the inside that could only have come from the tyre. Maybe I should just fix the current wheelset, coddle it with new balls, grease and cups every few months, and just concentrate on a getting a new bike in a few years.
Sorry for the long post, I'm happy to hear any ideas.
Cheers,
Adam.
0
Comments
-
Tech2 wheelsets from superstar components are reduced by 30% at the moment until they sell out, grab yourself a bargain. I've got the AM set and they're great.0
-
Struggling to work out what's actually wrong. Service the hub with all the bits from the spare, make sure the cones are done correctly. Then service every 6 months.0
-
Simple test of how good wheels are is to weigh them, if it's a sub 2Kg wheelest I'd look at getting them fixed (not expensive after all), otherwise probably not worth it.
If the rims were made of processed cheese I think you'd have found them out by now! - Bonty branded stuff tends (on the whole) to be pretty good.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
They're decent enough rims but no lightweights.
475 hubs have some "basic" seals, IIRC.
What you have is a very basic - but otherwise ok - wheelset. Options are either to service it (cheap-ish) or sell & replace, I guess.0 -
475 are decent enough hubs - people have problems with them because they expect a bottom end Shimano hub to last as long without service as a pair of £200 Hopes. Grease and new bearings every so often and they last for a long time.0
