Rim brake 26" wheelset recommendations

jemcowen

I'm after a rim brake wheelset to replace an aging set of wheels on my hardtail commuter, which I occasionally also take offroad. I'm baffled by the choice online, with my only criteria being longevity & value for money. These seem to fit the bill http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55231 but I'd be grateful for any other recommendations please.
Many thanks in advance...

mrmonkfinger

value for money, just under £90:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... le-26.html

Deore hubs are fairly decent and cheap to service.

snoopsmydogg

cant follow the above links so apologies if already mentioned but if you look on ebay rutland cycles are doing mavic xm317 rims on non disc deore hubs for around £80

cycleclinic

XM317 rims are a very good choice. Deore hubs will do the job but the rutland cycles wheel will probably use plain gauge spokes which are unneseccary. They add weight and don't save much.

If I wad doing them I would build Deore hubs on XM317 rims with Sapim Race DB spokes. It would cost £174. XT hubs would a bit more and give longer bearing life but that's it. Deore is really enough for road use though.

This is the ebay link I managed to find as a comparison.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mavic-XM317-B ... 2ec68419c9

Build by craftman at Raleigh apparantly. They don't say what brand of spoke they use though. You should ask if you go for these. The rear wheel is £90 which makes a total of £170.

jairaj

For what its worth I've been using Deore hubs off road for a couple years and they are fine. Nothing wrong with Deore stuff.

warpcow

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/mountain-bike-wheels/custom-wheels-non-disc/pair-handbuilt-wheels-26-non-disc.html

These are pretty unbeatable for value. You can barely even get the invidual parts for the same price.

snoopsmydogg

warpcow wrote:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/mountain-bike-wheels/custom-wheels-non-disc/pair-handbuilt-wheels-26-non-disc.html

These are pretty unbeatable for value. You can barely even get the invidual parts for the same price.

may be being thick but what is the difference between those and the ones rutland cycles are selling on ebay for around £10 less (after merlin discount applied)?

warpcow

No idea. Just doing a quick search, I couldn't find a pair from Rutland ebay.

cycleclinic

Merlin are willing to make about £15 on a pair of wheels then. Not too sure who they are getting to build these wheels but who ever it is is either building them in about 20 minutes to get the through put or is not paid.

I build wheels most days and I cannot build a wheel that quickly and neither do I want to.

mrmonkfinger

thecycleclinic wrote:

Merlin are willing to make about £15 on a pair of wheels then. Not too sure who they are getting to build these wheels but who ever it is is either building them in about 20 minutes to get the through put or is not paid.

I build wheels most days and I cannot build a wheel that quickly and neither do I want to.

machine builds?

Plyphon

I have a Hope Pro 2 with a XM719 rim brake rim for sale if you are interested.

jemcowen

Many thanks all. This gives me something to go on...