Superstar DHX Wheelset - any good?

sofaboy73

been thinking about getting a second wheelset to stick my down hill tyres on so don't have to faff around switching tyres if doing an uplift day / off to wharncliffe in the mud etc. Not a regular need, so not looking to spend much money (more for lazyness resons)

come across these on the superstar website

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=537

seem remarkably cheap, anyone used them, do they hold together ok?

cooldad

You'll have to faff anyway, adjusting brakes and indexing the mech. Easier to cjange tyres IMHO.

sofaboy73

cooldad wrote:

You'll have to faff anyway, adjusting brakes and indexing the mech. Easier to cjange tyres IMHO.

good point. however thinking it might be quicker doing that than try to wrestle a pair of dual ply minions onto stans rims. I almost lost a finger last time!

peter413

I've found you can usually get away with the mech and you can get shims so you don't have to keep adjusting your brakes, Syntace are the ones I use not because I'm swapping wheels but because Marzorcchi post mounts aren't far enough over for Hope hubs.

No experience with those rims but the Switch hubs do the job. Not the best I've used but not the worst. I personally prefer Hope hubs but they come at a premium, the engagement feels more solid despite being the same number and the stock bearings last far longer since the original Switch ones are total crap usually, they're easy to change though. Axle's are easy to change in the Switch and spares are readily available. The sealing isn't the best either so if you don't keep on top of the pawls in the freehub, it can seize up quite easily, in my experience anyway. That's another thing I prefer about the Hope's, the pawl system used in the Hope's is far superior to the one in the Switch IMO, I have a Sun Ringle using the same system as the Switch but with 30 POE and I still maintain the Hope is better than that. Don't get me wrong, it works fine usually, just the spring/circlip/whatever you want to call it that is used can get distorted quite easily and the pawls don't have enough spring to engage properly 100% of the time when that happens plus there is always more tension on one or two of the pawls than the other one or two. The Hope system on the other hand uses a different spring for all four pawls instead of the same spring for all three.

That might make it sounds like I really hate the Switch's which I don't, just if it was my money I would pay the extra for the Hope's but you're never going to get a new wheelset with Hope's for that price so the Switch's will do the job just fine. I do have their more expensive DH wheelset using switch hubs and the DH-595 rims and if I'm honest, I'm really underwhelmed by it. Compared to the Hope hubs there is obviously the points I've already made against the Switch's plus the build was pretty bad on all the wheels I've had off Superstar, plenty of people have good builds though so it's just a risk you have to take. The rims themselves I've found are rather lacking as well, not light at all but I've found them to be weaker laterally compared to my Nukeproof/MTX29 rim, FLow EX rim and a 721, they are all lighter, the Flow EX by quite a fair bit, but all stay true better (they have all been built/re tensioned by the same builder except the Flow which is still the standard build from the Hope Factory). The Superstar's do seem to be quite ding resistant though, you would hope so if they're weaker than any of the above rims and weigh more though. They are still strong though, I'm not easy on wheels at all and once I got the build sorted out they held up fine under me with the occasional true up so for the price if they are anything like the more expensive wheels which Superstar will have you believe, they should be good enough, just heavy. My riding is mostly at Innerleithen and Glentress on the DH trails and natural trails plus the normal trail centre stuff at Glentress so quite rocky and rough in places in case you were wondering.

supersonic

Well I suppose the whole wheelset is cheaper than a single Hope rear Pro 2 ;-). So for a spare set, well worth it.

punkatron1

I've got these. Look pretty good, stood up to abuse and really cheap. Fit, forget, replace when knackered.

rockmonkeysc

I have two sets of wheels for DH. Calipers take about a minute each to re align. Cassette is the same on both wheels and just works.
The Superstar DHX wheels are actually really good. They are identical to the DH595 rims but not as nicely finished and only available in one colour. Solid rims, reasonable hubs and good builds. The Southern downhill team were using the DH595's for a year of racing without problems and I know a few other people who have them and really rate them. I had a set on my DH hardtail for a while and they were great, a little heavy but solid.
I know from experience that they are stronger than my Nukeproof Generator rims but maybe not as solid as Mavic EX721's, which are by far the best DH rim I have had.
Not sure about Flow EX's, seem too many destroyed at races and getting less popular with DH racers.

sofaboy73

@peter413 - I agree with what your saying about the hope hubs, i use them on my main wheelset and can't fault them in terms of reliability & durability, however as super sonic says:

supersonic wrote:

Well I suppose the whole wheelset is cheaper than a single Hope rear Pro 2 ;-.

and as these are only going to be a second set that will probably only get used 15-20 in a year, i'm not looking to spend much.

punkatron1 wrote:

I've got these. Look pretty good, stood up to abuse and really cheap. Fit, forget, replace when knackered.

This is what i was kind of hoping, at that price, they're almost a disposable item and if they last 18 months / 2 years you've had your moneys worth I guess.

Thanks for the input hguys, just wanted to check that they didn't self destruct after the first few runs as they are suspiciouslyy cheap

peter413

That was kind of what I was trying to say, obviously I didn't say it very well. Hope's are better and are usually compared to Switch's but that wheelset is far cheaper so is good enough. Just make sure you keep an eye on the spoke tensions, plenty of people have good builds but then there are plenty, myself included (I've had four wheels off them for complicated reasons and they've all been bad builds), who have had bad builds.

downhillbike

had a set of the dhx on my intense m9 and they were great lasted well with no problems and cant beat the price

bennett_346

sofaboy73 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

You'll have to faff anyway, adjusting brakes and indexing the mech. Easier to cjange tyres IMHO.

good point. however thinking it might be quicker doing that than try to wrestle a pair of dual ply minions onto stans rims. I almost lost a finger last time!

Yep not something i want to repeat often.