Some really really nice hand built wheels

snipsnap

Hi all,

After some thoughts on a very nice pair of 'best' wheels for my genesis croix de fer.

Gonna retire my current heavy wheels to winter/cross duties (mavix cxp33 rims and shimano hubs) and am going to bling up the genesis a bit for summer road use.

I weigh 73kg and do approx 6000 miles per year. Looking for something predominantly for club riding and quick(ish) road runs.

Currently thinking of h plus son archetype rims, but not sure on the hubs or anything else. Budget, no more than £300. Aesthetics quote important as I'm a fickle so and so. Metal looks good with the croix de fer IMO.

Any advice would be great.

Ta

ugo.santalucia

Within your budget it's got to be either Novatec 711/712 hubs OR Shimano XT 785 ... possibly the new Ultegra disc hubs, but not sure when they will be available and at what price.
I have had the Novatec for over two years now and they superb hubs for the money (90 quid or so on Ebay)

This is the idea

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/med ... ail/16/571

smidsy

Really Really nice and £300 - hmmm.

£300 will buy you a perfectly reasonable set but for a really really nice set you need more money.

majormantra

Street price on XT M785 hubs is just £55 a pair. I'm building some right now and they are really very nice for the money. You'd probably have enough left over from your budget for a pair of Stan's rims to go with them, although Archetypes are always a good choice too, just a bit heavier.

snipsnap

smidsy wrote:

Really Really nice and £300 - hmmm.

£300 will buy you a perfectly reasonable set but for a really really nice set you need more money.

How much more would make em really nice

And same question for really really nice?

;-)

Want em to roll well, and look the dogs !

snipsnap

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Within your budget it's got to be either Novatec 711/712 hubs OR Shimano XT 785 ... possibly the new Ultegra disc hubs, but not sure when they will be available and at what price.
I have had the Novatec for over two years now and they superb hubs for the money (90 quid or so on Ebay)

This is the idea

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/med ... ail/16/571

Ugo, cheers for the response, I was hoping you would advise!

I was initially thinking of black archetype rims but those wheels do look pretty sweet.

Would the hubs come in a chrome/stainless finish as I'd prefer that over black if honest. Or does this mean big bucks?

ugo.santalucia

snipsnap wrote:

How much more would make em really nice

And same question for really really nice?

;-)

Want em to roll well, and look the dogs !

As far as disc wheels go, it's hard to do better than Archetype on Novatec 711/12 or Shimano XT... and those will cost you 250-300 pounds... while if you want to build them yourself, they will cost you 200-250

You can spend a lot more, but you won't get any return for your money IMEO (where E stands for experienced)

The Novatec hubs come in black or if you buy them from Taiwan you can have them in white or Red... I have also seen other colours but not silver

Mine are white... 8)

snipsnap

Big admirer of your Fugio......but going to stick with my Croix de fer and treat it to some upgrades.....wheels being one of them. Plan is to have a wheelset for muck (current set) and another for best, fit a brooks saddle etc. It's all the bike I'll ever need......

Wheels sound great, tho not sure I'm brave enough for the white hubs......;-)

ugo.santalucia

snipsnap wrote:

Wheels sound great, tho not sure I'm brave enough for the white hubs......;-)

Anodised red are nice!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-Novatec-R ... 3f23f785e7

snipsnap

They are.

I've seen a lot of love for hope hubs too and could get these in a silver....

Would they be ok with discs?

Thanks again for the advice. As you've probably concluded already with the questions I'm asking, a build is def on the cards. Not looking at a self build........

snipsnap

And I'm also loving the look of these......

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/con ... isc-brakes

ugo.santalucia

Hope Pro 2 are nice, but are they worth 200 pounds for a pair? Your call

If you like silver hubs, go for the Shimano XT 785, the latest model, they are really really good, much improved to the previous heavy model. They only come with centrelock, but if you have to buy new discs too that's not an issue, I suppose

Rose in Germany have them in silver

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shim ... tAodnxgAMQ

smidsy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Hope Pro 2 are nice, but are they worth 200 pounds for a pair? Your call

For me yes and this would go some way to really really nice

bendertherobot

Just on the Novatec combo. Mine are white, they stay quite clean. Wipe down easy. The bit behind the disc is quite difficult to clean, but stick a toothbrush in there.

Ugo warned me that the cassette can bite into the free hub. It does, a bit. I've been cleaning mine today. What surprised me is that, easily 5000 miles later, if not double, they've bitten in very little indeed.

bendertherobot

Oh, and mine are as true as the day I bought them

snipsnap

Thanks for the advice. Hope are expensive and perhaps not justifiable.

I'll contact you directly Ugo to discuss in more detail.

Thanks

Multistrada

How much better would h plus rims / novatec hub build feel over standard wheels ? On my 2013 croix the rims are not much heavier then h plus sons apparently ?

bendertherobot

Considerably better. For a start you won't be fixing spokes all time time.