new replacement rear wheel needed advise welcome

swod1

i've recently damaged my rear wheel on my bike, it is 26", 9mm qr standard, 135mm i think, bontrager at-850 wheel with a shimano hub and i need a replacement for it.

I only ride to work and back, ride xc and trails.

I've been looking around for a replacements and come across some wheelsets, so i could replace both wheels at the same time rather than just replace the rear.

New wheels will hopefully be a massive improvement over the factory wheels i already have.

I've seen on merlin cycles the following,

shimano mt65 wheelset
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... -pair.html

shimano mt66 wheelset
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... -pair.html

shimano xt m785 wheelset
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... -pair.html

mavic crossride disc wheelset
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... -pair.html

also looked at superstar Mavic Prebuilt Wheelset using either XM719 - Burly trail rim or EN521 - Tough enduro rim

what i'm unsure of is, i'm not a skinny lad so they need to be strong to cope with my weight etc.

disc rotor mounting do i go for shimano center lock or the standard 6bolt rotor mount ?

what are your thoughts on the above i have selected.

thanks

shaun.

*AJ*

EN521 or EN321 would suit you fine! Pretty strong rims and not exactly heavy!

321 is pinned, 521 is pinned and welded so its the stronger of the two!

As a heavier rider, the 521 would be my choice and infact I had one a few years ago from CRC built onto an XT rear hub! Was cheap and strong... (Obviously the quality of the build is important too).

swod1

*AJ* wrote:

EN521 or EN321 would suit you fine! Pretty strong rims and not exactly heavy!

321 is pinned, 521 is pinned and welded so its the stronger of the two!

As a heavier rider, the 521 would be my choice and infact I had one a few years ago from CRC built onto an XT rear hub! Was cheap and strong... (Obviously the quality of the build is important too).

I've just looked on merlin cycles they also do custom built wheels and for 99 pound i can get

Rear Hub XT 6-Bolt Disc - Quick Release, £2 extra if want center lock disc mount
Rim Mavic EN521 Black - Disc
Spokes ACI S/S DB Black

Would this be a good quality custom wheel spec ?

*AJ*

Yup! I'd do that for that money!

Either that or a set of superstar AM wheels? You can get a set of them £130! But I've heard mixed reviews on the build quality! Mind it's only about £10 a wheel to get them retensioned at a decent bike shop!

Surely you know if you need 6 bolt or centre lock though?

swod1

*AJ* wrote:

Yup! I'd do that for that money!

Surely you know if you need 6 bolt or centre lock though?

i have the choice with the new wheel, the disc on the old wheel isnt any good so i am going to replace it.

I have m446 shimano disc brakes and heard the rotors with resin only stamped on them aren't great and thats on the damaged wheel i have now.

centre lock would be better, more secure ?

*AJ*

I personally prefer the 6 bolt type.... There's more options out there for 6 bolt. I'd certainly not pay extra for centre locks. That's just my opinion though.

I've also heard of problems where play develops between the disc and the hub on the centre lock type.

The Rookie

Which would be illogical as the force is only applied one way and a tight lockring will stop it 'fllopping back', so once the brakes have been used there is no reason for it to ever move!

Better choice of 6 bolt discs though.

swod1

AJ and the beginner thanks for your input, i will stick to 6bolt hub.

i've not said, my bike is a hardtail with 100mm travel front forks so will the mavic en521 rim with xt hub still be suitable ?

also i will need a replacement rotor, are superstar disc rotors good quality as the price is very good 8.99 compared to a 6 bolt shimano one at 15.95 ?

supersonic

How much do you weigh and how hard do you ride?

swod1

supersonic wrote:

How much do you weigh and how hard do you ride?

i'm about 100kg and ride nothing too fancy, just local trails at the minute and down local canal paths from work to get my fitness up.

looking at custom wheel builds are double butted spokes, the one to choose ?

supersonic

Double butted for sure.

I'd have a gander at these:

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/WPOOMAX/on_ ... e_wheelset

Are a bit heavier than quoted, but still a tough, good value wheelset.

swod1

just looking at the pdf catalogue on mavic website, i'm drawn to the xm719 disc and xm819 ust tubless rim over the en521/321 rims

the en521/321 rims i think will be over the top for what i'm riding.

I'm thinking to pay the extra and get the xm819 ust rim as i would like to try tubless at some point.

or am i better off going for the en521 rims for the wider rim and strength over the lighter xm719/819 rims ?

At the moment, i think will have to get the rear wheel and then buy the front once i have some more money as i bought some reba forks before my wheel broke.

swod1

I spoke to merlin cycles on the phone and today ordered the mavic en521 rim with an xt hub.

I was unsure and thought best to go with a stronger wheel rim over an xc rim.

a lot of positive reviews on there site and the price was good to not buy from them.

poah

recently got an XT 6 bolt hub mavic XM119 rim DT DB spokes rim tape and nipple upgrade for 94 from CRC

swod1

POAH wrote:

recently got an XT 6 bolt hub mavic XM119 rim DT DB spokes rim tape and nipple upgrade for 94 from CRC

Thanks, I will bear them in mind when I need to order the front wheel.

I did wonder if I was better off getting the dt spokes but the aci spokes would be fine said the guy on phone at Merlin cycles.

poah

No idea - I did consider merlin but was buying other stuff from CRC so went with them. My front hope came from merlin a good 10 years ago

swod1

POAH wrote:

My front hope came from merlin a good 10 years ago

Thats good to hear its still going strong, just hope i get my wheel soon as missed some riding in this decent weather.

Knowing my luck it will arrive after the 5-8 days it says on the website.

poah

swod1 wrote:

POAH wrote:

My front hope came from merlin a good 10 years ago

Thats good to hear its still going strong, just hope i get my wheel soon as missed some riding in this decent weather.

Knowing my luck it will arrive after the 5-8 days it says on the website.

mine took a while but I'm on holiday so it's no big deal.

swod1

new back wheel arrived yesterday and its more solid then the original stock wheel.

the mavic rim en521 is pretty light even with the disc rotor and cassette installed, 560grams stated on mavic site for the weight of the rim.