Thoughts on this wheelset

Antm81

Any thoughts on the following wheelset, I believe the ibis hub is actually novatec, these any good?

What are the XT hubs like and any drawbacks of centre lock apart from restricting disc choices?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221355583676? ... 1423.l2649

poah

XT hubs are fine but a bit heavy

I'd spend a bit more and get these

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

Angus Young

POAH wrote:

XT hubs are fine but a bit heavy

I'd spend a bit more and get these

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

Too many worrying reviews to go with those. It looks like a 50/50 bet at best.

poah

Angus Young wrote:

POAH wrote:

XT hubs are fine but a bit heavy

I'd spend a bit more and get these

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

Too many worrying reviews to go with those. It looks like a 50/50 bet at best.

at the most you have to get them retrued

benpinnick

If you want a workhorse set of wheels for life then those XTs will be great. Good rims, good hubs, not the lightest but very solid... assuming the build is ok of course! Centerlock is actually a great design, yes you can only run CL rotors, but otherwise its a good system.

The Rookie

Angus Young wrote:

POAH wrote:

XT hubs are fine but a bit heavy

I'd spend a bit more and get these

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

Too many worrying reviews to go with those. It looks like a 50/50 bet at best.

It's a lot better than 50/50, they sell them in their hundreds, probably more than any other wheel seller, as such they will logically get more complaints....

lawman

Angus Young wrote:

POAH wrote:

XT hubs are fine but a bit heavy

I'd spend a bit more and get these

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

Too many worrying reviews to go with those. It looks like a 50/50 bet at best.

Other than putting a ding in the rim by riding far outside the XC remit of the crests I've had few issues with my pair of those wheels. Bearings aren't great, but then they're cheap and easy to replace. Bear in mind as well for that money you're getting a pair of fully built wheels for near as makes no difference the same cost as the rims alone at retail... That's astonishing value! In a blind test (well it would be a silent test) it would be near impossible to tell them apart from my Pro2's on my other bike, barring the Hope being louder I can't notice a significant difference between them, and the superstars are half the price don't forget.

XT hubs are "reliable" if you're willing once a month or so to mess around with the cup and cone bearings as they're prone to coming loose, I've had several XT level and lower hubs and they are quite frankly the biggest lump of shite imaginable. Heavy, require lots of maintenance, the axles can't be swapped to different standards if you need to change down the line and in my experience the freehubs aren't that durable either...

So to sum up, the OP can have a wheelset that needs constant maintenance, and if he changes frame/fork with different axles in the future he'll need new wheels or he can get a lighter, more versatile and more durable wheelset that may require new bearings after a year or so, all for the paltry sum of £20 more? I know where my money would be going (and did). I'm a big Shimano fan and I'll agree with Ben that centre lock is a great idea, but I would never, ever recommend their hubs.

The Rookie

lawman wrote:

XT hubs are "reliable" if you're willing once a month or so to mess around with the cup and cone bearings as they're prone to coming loose, I've had several XT level and lower hubs and they are quite frankly the biggest lump of shite imaginable. Heavy, require lots of maintenance, the axles can't be swapped to different standards if you need to change down the line and in my experience the freehubs aren't that durable either...

In Shimano's defence I would put across that the M475 hubs on my commuter were bought used (well used) and have done in excess of 4000 miles with only the front needing a minor tweak of the cone preload on the bearings.....

lawman

The Rookie wrote:

lawman wrote:

XT hubs are "reliable" if you're willing once a month or so to mess around with the cup and cone bearings as they're prone to coming loose, I've had several XT level and lower hubs and they are quite frankly the biggest lump of shite imaginable. Heavy, require lots of maintenance, the axles can't be swapped to different standards if you need to change down the line and in my experience the freehubs aren't that durable either...

In Shimano's defence I would put across that the M475 hubs on my commuter were bought used (well used) and have done in excess of 4000 miles with only the front needing a minor tweak of the cone preload on the bearings.....

All due respect that's on a commuter, so while that's impressive mileage, I'm assuming it won't have had significant amounts of abuse, either through riding or excessive cleaning. I had a Deore hub which, despite being correctly adjusted and maintained ate itself within two years and I wore out two freehubs in that time as well. I ended up rebuilding the wheel with an XT M765 hub and again that was constantly in need of adjustment every month or so. How people can call them reliable baffles me. In a similar time scale my Pro2's haven't missed a beat, they spin as freely now as they did when new and I honestly haven't touched them, they have been utterly bombproof. Add in the fact that fork/frame axle standards change and Shimanos inability to adapt to different standards and as far as I'm concerned they'd be of better use as door stops than as part of a wheel. The world has changed and Shimano need to wake up and realize cartridge bearings and interchangeable axles are required these days.

The Northern Monkey

Wheels on the spesh are xt, brilliant wheelset.
Wheels on the canyon are superstar, brilliant wheelset.

njee20

All due respect that's on a commuter, so while that's impressive mileage, I'm assuming it won't have had significant amounts of abuse, either through riding or excessive cleaning

My commuter/winter road bike goes through far more kit than any other bike! Used to eat cup and cone bearings though, cartridge for me!

Antm81

The switch evos with crest look good, hadn't seen those. How much abuse will they take as they're supposed to be an xc rim? Not sure about white rims but I could make it work at that price.

lawman

I've run then on both my bikes, for the last 2/3 years and until I started subjecting them to uplifts and more DH style trails they've held up perfectly. Depends on your weight/riding style really. If you're light or smooth you'll be fine, if you're heavier or a bit rough on kit then they may not be for you.

Antm81

Ended up with a set of flows on switch evo hubs for a good price, might be a little overkill

ej2320

Might be overkill.. But I went for the flows knowing they'll pretty much never brake
And in my case with Pro2 evo hubs they'll last longer than the frame

supersonic

How people can call them reliable baffles me.

The same reason why it baffles many that people say Hope Pro 2 are reliable. There are many stories of both hubs failing - and I bet Shimano sell tens of thousand times more hubs than Hope do overall.

mcnultycop

Antm81 wrote:

Ended up with a set of flows on switch evo hubs for a good price, might be a little overkill

I've got those. My build had a small issue with all the spokes losing tension at once! I'd buy them again for the pure value, but spend £10-15 getting the LBS to check them in advance this time.

Antm81

Got mine used, were in great condition, weighed them against my cross rides, came up 200g heavier on the front and 100g rear including tyres an tubes. They came with a minion dhf super tacky on the front and rubber queen on the rear, so the weight gain is from the tyres (the minion is around 1100g compared to just over 600g for the advantage on my crossrides). Overall very happy, seem to be a lighter and far stronger wheelset.