Anyone had wheels from The Cycle Clinic?

primalcarl

I've come across The Cycle Clinic on Ebay whilst looking at handbuilt wheels. Has anyone used them before? I'm looking at a build with Kinlin or DT rims

Cheers!

reme-luke

Yep can highly recommend Malcolm I'll be ordering some more wheels from him next month.

charlie_potatoes

I have. All good. He is well known on here

sloppyschleckonds

Indonisian Scam!

mattythemod

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Indonisian Scam!

Well they do say living in Suffolk is like being in the Far East !!!

On a serious note Malcolm and the cycle clinic have a strong forum pressence here and on Retrobike and hes seems a straightforward and recomended guy to deal with .

mroli

If you use the search function and look for this poster: thecycleclinic you'll find all of his posts....

primalcarl

Thanks all. In a bit of a dilemma, to go for a Hope Pro3 Mono RS Open Pro build or a Kinlin XR200 Novatec build from the Cycle Clinic, around the same price but big difference in weight and durability

Bookwyse

I am just building an XR200/XR270 set using Novatec hubs and I think the main consideration has to be weight and type of riding you are doing.

I am building these for my 13 year old lad so he shouldn't have any issues but the Kinlins are a lightweight rim and therefore should be used accordingly.

primalcarl

I weigh 72kg and living in Devon there's a lot of hills, so that means a lot of braking too

ugo.santalucia

So why not a 23 mm wide rim that handles better downhill?
Ask Malcolm, he builds those too

cycleclinic

Open Pro on Hope hub vs the Kinlin XR-200 on novatec hubs is like comparing apples and oranges. They are both round in the same way apples and oranges are both fruit but that is were the similarity ends.

OP on Hope hubs is a all weather do it all wheelset. Kinlin XR200 on novatec hubs is a dry weather wheelset that works well for light riders.

Ugo's suggestion of the A23 (450g) is not a bad one a 24F/28R build weight from about 1500g up to 1700g+ depending on the hubs and spokes used. The DT Swiss RR440 is another 450g rim.

There are a number of other rim options Kinlin do a wide range, Kinlin rims are great for keeping the cost of a wheelset down.

There is quite alot of choice in rims and hubs but you have to have a resoanbly clear idea about what your requirements are. If you are not sure the more sensible choices are the safer ones and will meet a greater range of needs.

primalcarl

Thanks for the info. I appreciate they're very different wheels, but I like the idea of a pair of hubs that will last (Hope Pro3 Mono) so when the time comes to replace the rims the same hubs can be used for a lighter future build.

Malcolm, I notice on Ebay you have a DT/Novatec wheelset that costs a bit more and weighs just over 1400g. Would the rims hold up better than the Kinlin? Also, do you supply and build Hope hubs? I've heard they're a bit fussy about supplying their competition?

rowlers

primalcarl wrote:

Thanks for the info. I appreciate they're very different wheels, but I like the idea of a pair of hubs that will last (Hope Pro3 Mono) so when the time comes to replace the rims the same hubs can be used for a lighter future build.

Malcolm, I notice on Ebay you have a DT/Novatec wheelset that costs a bit more and weighs just over 1400g. Would the rims hold up better than the Kinlin? Also, do you supply and build Hope hubs? I've heard they're a bit fussy about supplying their competition?

Yeh, Malcolm doesn't supply Hope hubs as they "demand" he stock hope hoops too, among other things.. I'm sure he'll build though if you supply

Flexisurfer

I rode over to his workshop last summer to have my Campagnolo Neutrons trued, I can vouch, he is an honest up front bike geek.

cycleclinic

The light weight novatec hubs are not all weather hubs, they are dry weather hubs. The Kinlin XR-200 and DT Swiss RR415 rim are about as tough as each other. The RR415 rims have a harder wearing brake track then athe Kinlin XR-200. The RR415 is the same rim as the RR465 but with out the double eyelets which makes it a bit more "fragile" but so long as the rider is not much more than 80kg and so long as the builder does not exceed 1100N spoke tension then the rim is reliable. Exceed these limits and cracking has been known. Potholes do not seem to harm the rim any more than they harm any other rim.

Hope's selling practices are daft shame as their products (in particular their MTB brakes are first class, I am a long term user of their brakes).

For a relaible hubset that will cope with winter rubbish/floods them there is the Miche Primato.
My own winter wheelset is Miche Primato's on RR415 rims. Light and reliable - if you are light enough.
Dura Ace 9000 hubs or Campagnolo Record (they can come with a shimano freehub) will last an age too.
Good hubs that out last the rims is never a bad idea especially if an Open Pro rim is used I have seem local folk wear through them in 6000 miles.

rolf_f

So how do the Kinlin XR 200 with Novatec hubs compare with the Superstar Alex R380 and Icon hubs wheelsets that Superstar are selling.

Both seem to come in about 1360g in total (590 and 770 for the Superstars) so are they basically achieving the same weight through the same methods (ie thin rims and not very sealed hubs)?

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

So how do the Kinlin XR 200 with Novatec hubs compare with the Superstar Alex R380 and Icon hubs wheelsets that Superstar are selling.

Both seem to come in about 1360g in total (590 and 770 for the Superstars) so are they basically achieving the same weight through the same methods (ie thin rims and not very sealed hubs)?

There are loads of wheels like those... essentially copies of the same thing using Bitex , Novatec or similar lightweight hubsets. It is a cost effective way to build a light set of wheels of a reasonable quality.
What matters in the choice is customer support and availability of spare parts.
Personally I find light hubs with crap bearings quite irritating and with the exception of the highest end of the market, I yet have find some light hubs (300 grams for the pair or so) which are worth bothering a build

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Personally I find light hubs with crap bearings quite irritating and with the exception of the highest end of the market, I yet have find some light hubs (300 grams for the pair or so) which are worth bothering a build

Apols for interrogating you over this as I know your antipathy towards them but - is the irritation just down to the bearings (which are easily replaced I think?) and what actually is the form of that irritation? Ie is it that people order them, ride them in the wet, and then come back to you complaining that they are knackered?

I'm interested in this approach because I know I would use them in the dry - if I bought a set they'd be shod with Veloflex tan wall tyres that go a bit irredeemably grubby looking as soon as you get them wet so it wouldn't just be the bearings and rim wall depth keeping me from using them in the wet!

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Personally I find light hubs with crap bearings quite irritating and with the exception of the highest end of the market, I yet have find some light hubs (300 grams for the pair or so) which are worth bothering a build

Apols for interrogating you over this as I know your antipathy towards them but - is the irritation just down to the bearings (which are easily replaced I think?) and what actually is the form of that irritation? Ie is it that people order them, ride them in the wet, and then come back to you complaining that they are knackered?

I'm interested in this approach because I know I would use them in the dry - if I bought a set they'd be shod with Veloflex tan wall tyres that go a bit irredeemably grubby looking as soon as you get them wet so it wouldn't just be the bearings and rim wall depth keeping me from using them in the wet!

Wet is a killer, but there is another issue: many of these light front hubs are built radial for obvious reasons (20 H for instance). In time the flange deforms to the point that you start experiencing a bit of play... at that point the hub is shot. It can happen to rear hubs too, to a lesser extent. That is a far worse problem than bearing lifespan.
Utimately I do build very conservatively, as I prefer to build one less set but be sure that those I build are solid... others have no problem in building such hubs. Many even buy them straight from the far east and have them badged with their business logo... I thought about it last year, then given up the idea... too much hassle

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Wet is a killer, but there is another issue: many of these light front hubs are built radial for obvious reasons (20 H for instance). In time the flange deforms to the point that you start experiencing a bit of play... at that point the hub is shot. It can happen to rear hubs too, to a lesser extent. That is a far worse problem than bearing lifespan.

That makes sense! So, does me being very light make a significant difference here (in regard to hub deformation) and does a non radial lacing still make sense or do you just end up with such a weight penalty that you'd be better off using heavier hubs with 20h anyway?

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Wet is a killer, but there is another issue: many of these light front hubs are built radial for obvious reasons (20 H for instance). In time the flange deforms to the point that you start experiencing a bit of play... at that point the hub is shot. It can happen to rear hubs too, to a lesser extent. That is a far worse problem than bearing lifespan.

That makes sense! So, does me being very light make a significant difference here (in regard to hub deformation) and does a non radial lacing still make sense or do you just end up with such a weight penalty that you'd be better off using heavier hubs with 20h anyway?

I don't think weight makes any difference, it's the spoke tension that will slowly deform a light shell. With 20H you don't have much choice, radial is the only sensible pattern. I have built them 2 cross and there is no drawback, but it's not what people normally do.
In essence saving 60 grams on a front hub turns out to be a waste of time and money in many cases. That said, I have not seen Novatec 291 front hubs deformed, but several Bitex-a-like ones

adamfo

thecycleclinic wrote:

Hope's selling practices are daft shame as their products....

Eh :?:

rolf_f

OK, and hopefully the final one - are the Superstar Icon hubs a Bitex variant? I see nothing really on Google of them so I assume they are just a re-labelling of some sort.

adamfo wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

Hope's selling practices are daft shame as their products...

Eh :?:

thecycleclinic wrote:

Hope's selling practices are daft shame as their products are first class

as the rest of the sentence says (albeit with a bit of missing bracketry)

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

OK, and hopefully the final one - are the Superstar Icon hubs a Bitex variant? I see nothing really on Google of them so I assume they are just a re-labelling of some sort.

No they are Novatec. The front is a 291