Aftermarket wheels buying virgin.

Clockworkmark31

Hello everyone,

As the title suggests I am in the market to buy some aftermarket wheels for my ride.

Always used stock before so this is something completely new to me.

My ride http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12960584

I am wanting to lighten the wheelset and my birthday is coming up .

Her indoors said she will get me wheels but the limit is £200 just for the rims.

Tires, cassette etc I will get.

Never bought before but have been looking around on superstars and these wheels seem like a steal.

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=826

I do mainly XC, pretty much 20-30 miles on a weekend with all sorts of varying terrain.

Will they be good enough or should I be looking at something different.

My current wheelset built up together is just over 3kg :x

Thanks in advance

Clockworkmark31

Also seen these http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=863 , I can put some towards myself.

Wanting to buy once.

Forgot to mention I am limited to 26", QR front and rear and a 9spd hub.

cooldad

What do your current wheels weigh?

Clockworkmark31

With tires, tubes, cassette Just over 3kg.

Front is just over 1kg built up and rear over 2.5kg built up

cooldad

And without all that, or how do you know what you're comparing. Take off ?500g each tyre and a couple of hundred grammes for the tubes and a few hundred for the cassette? and you're down to what, around 1.5kg or so - either you already have light wheels or you aren't weighing them properly.

Clockworkmark31

Think I had a dumb moment and you pointed me in the right direction.

Just weighed the front wheel fully built up with QR and Rotor installed plus tube and X-King.

Only a 26" wheel and weighed between 2.1kg to 2.2kg



Without tube tire and QR I lost 1kg



Couldn't be bothered removing the rotor which is 180mm shimano ICETech weight is approx 150g.

So front wheel stripped of tire, tube, QR and rotor is approx 1kg.

Clockworkmark31

Now I am wondering what the best way to lighten the wheels are. I have £200 to spend on them.

Think I might gain 1kg saving for around £200, New QR's, tubeless and new XT cassette.

Am I even going to notice any difference or am i best spending my money elsewhere?

Clockworkmark31

I was quite abit out on the weights going from memory.

Did have it all wrote down, but misplaced the sheet of paper.

Both wheels built up with QR tires tubes and cassette just over 5 kg.

Looks like if I subtract tubes, tires and QR just based on the front, I would be down to around 3kg, and being generous for the cassette 300g that takes me to 2.7kg for fully built rims.

The pair I am looking at would save me 1kg http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=496

Would I notice such a difference?

cooldad

A kilo on the wheels would be very noticeable.

jimothy78

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Looks like if I subtract tubes, tires and QR just based on the front, I would be down to around 3kg, and being generous for the cassette 300g that takes me to 2.7kg for fully built rims.

Put the calculator down and step away from it slowly!

You're doing yourself no favours with all this estimation and guesswork. There is no way you're going to save 1kg on a pair of wheels for £200 (if at all).

If you really want to know what you could save, strip the wheels down completely (including the brake rotors) and weigh them individually. It looks like your front would come in around 1kg, and the rear is rarely more than a couple of hundred grams more (afterall, the only real difference is the freehub body, usually). So I'd be surprised if you're looking at any more than a 500g saving (which is still significant, don't get me wrong).

While they're off the wheels, also take the time to weigh your tyres and tubes. You can make massive weight savings on tyres a lot more cheaply than on new wheels. You can also typically shed 50g from most basic inner tubes for a couple of quid each.

Come back when you've got the raw data.

poah

tyres are about ~700g
tubes are about ~ 200g

you can get lighter weight tubes ~135g from wiggle for a couple of quid. tubeless would save maybe 30-40g more.

you could save on tyres too depending on the version you bought.

the stans rims are sold out from superstar and I would question how strong the Switch SP XCR Wheelset is. it does seem far too good to be true TBH.

you will notice a big difference dropping that much weight from the wheels but the switch wheels above are pure XC.

Clockworkmark31

Haha point taken, don't think it helped that I had a few peronis last night.

Ok wheels stripped down.

Front Wheel:

Front QR=72g
Front Tyre=744g
Front Tube=157g
Front Rotor=132g
Front Rotor Bolts=15g
Front Wheel=980g

Front wheel built total=2100g

Rear Wheel:

Rear QR=77g
Rear Tyre=740g
Rear Tube=205g
Rear Rotor=113g
Rear Rotor Bolts=13g
Rear Wheel Inc Freehub and Cassette (no tool to remove Cassette)=1613g

Rear Wheel built total=2761g

Pair Built=4861g
Pair Stripped Inc Cassette and freehub=2593g

Clockworkmark31

POAH wrote:

tyres are about ~700g
tubes are about ~ 200g

you can get lighter weight tubes ~135g from wiggle for a couple of quid. tubeless would save maybe 30-40g more.

you could save on tyres too depending on the version you bought.

the stans rims are sold out from superstar and I would question how strong the Switch SP XCR Wheelset is. it does seem far too good to be true TBH.

you will notice a big difference dropping that much weight from the wheels but the switch wheels above are pure XC.

The switch SP XCR wheelset does look too good to be true.

But the Tech3 EVO XC 135 Wheelset seems to tick the boxes, any thoughts?

I have already found other ways to drop weight (stem, bar, seatpost, QR, post holder etc), and will be placing the order within a week from superstar.

Hence why I want to buy the wheels from them too.

poah

the alternative is to go for a decent rear wheel only at the moment and get a front later on.

the switch is probably ok for most things though

jimothy78

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Haha point taken, don't think it helped that I had a few peronis last night.

Ok wheels stripped down:
Front Wheel=980g
Rear Wheel Inc Freehub and Cassette (no tool to remove Cassette)=1613g

Thanks.
Right, so if I'm right in thinking you're still running the stock cassette (deore HG50, 9 speed, 11-34T, approx 430g), then that makes the rear wheel weigh 1183g, giving you a grand total of
2163g
for comparison (add 150g if the quoted weights for the wheels you're loking at state that they include skewers).

Clockworkmark31

Thanks,

Yes using the standard deore HG50 cassette.

Think I have specced some wheels up now I know to break it down to component level.

How does this build sound?

Superstar Tech3 EVO XC 135 Wheelset (front weight 830g rear 960g)
Shimano XT M770 cassette 256g
Superfly Carbon-Ti Ultralight QRs front and rear total 43g

Then use my current tyres, rotors and rotor bolts.

Then go tubeless using stans sealant, not too sure how much to add or subtract from tubes.

But this build minus tubes built up should see me around 3850g built.

So 1kg saving if I have done this right?

jimothy78

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Superstar Tech3 EVO XC 135 Wheelset (front weight 830g rear 960g)

Light, but can't comment on strength. Had some Mavic XC 717 rims on SLX hubs that came in around the same weight and they were really good.

Shimano XT M770 cassette 256g

Only in 11-32T flavour - 34T max adds about 40g, IIRC.

Superfly Carbon-Ti Ultralight QRs front and rear total 43g

If you must, but £28 is lot of money for skewers.

Then use my current tyres, rotors and rotor bolts.

You'd actually save more weight (up to 200g per end) by swapping tyres for something like the Schwalbe Racing Ralph or Rocket Ron. Plus, weight saved at the extreme edges of the wheels is vastly more effective than saving weight at the centre, due to the effort you have to put in to accelerate this weight. Keep your existing skewers and spend the money on a Racing Ralph Perfomance Dual compound at only 535g : http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/details.aspx/ ... -MTB-26/13

Clockworkmark31

Thankyou.

Think my mind is made up now.

Superstar Tech3 EVO XC 135 £112 got to be worth a try.
The skewers I thought was cheap so they will stay.
With regards to cassette 11-32 and 11-34 I am replacing the stock derailleur to the XT flavor, Do I have to stick with 11-34 or can I use either? (might seem a stupid question but these upgrades are my first time).

Tyres I will change out too, found on my trails the X-Kings get clogged with mud and offer next to no grip when wet.

I have a budget of £300 and from the missus £200.

So with £500 upgrading the wheels to the above spec seems good value, plus I will be upgrading other bits.

How much weight would I loose going tubeless?

Thanks for your time so far.

jimothy78

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Think my mind is made up now.

Superstar Tech3 EVO XC 135 £112 got to be worth a try.

Yep, dirt cheap, fair play.

The skewers I thought was cheap so they will stay.

Your bike, your money, your rules.

With regards to cassette 11-32 and 11-34 I am replacing the stock derailleur to the XT flavor, Do I have to stick with 11-34 or can I use either?

No, you can change if you want, but it will make the hardest climbs 6% harder work, so only worth the weight saving if you don't really need your current bottom gear, because 40g weight saving isn't going to make it 6% easier

Tyres I will change out too, found on my trails the X-Kings get clogged with mud and offer next to no grip when wet.

Well maybe not the ones I mentioned earlier, then - I was going for comparable grip, but lower weight. Neither would offer much better grip.

How much weight would I loose going tubeless?

Not really sure. Although on the face of it, it sounds like you'd save the weight of an inner tube, bear in mind that tubeless-ready tyres tend to be heavier than non-tubless ones, plus there's the weight of the sealant as well. But someone else can prabably be more precise than me, as I've never tried it.

Clockworkmark31

Yep mind made up.

Tech3 EVO XC 135
Superfly Carbon-Ti Ultralight QRs
Shimano XT M770 11-34t
Go tubeless

Tyres up for debate, X-kings are fast but when you get sloppy mud all traction goes. I do commute to work on the bike so a good between will do.

Should be looking for around 1kg loss.

With the other changes I should be looking at the same so will be happy.

Now the question, white hub white rim or gunmetal hub and gunmetal rim?

Kowalski675

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Now the question, white hub white rim or gunmetal hub and gunmetal rim?

You realise that neither of those colour combos come in at the £112 price (extra tenner for the white, extra twenty for the gunmetal)? There's none of the £112 ones left, they sold out a while ago.

poah

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

So with £500 upgrading the wheels to the above spec seems good value, plus I will be upgrading other bits.

if you have a budget of £500 forget getting those tech evo 3's

jimothy78

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Now the question, white hub white rim or gunmetal hub and gunmetal rim?

White looks ok when new, but ages badly, plus i reckon it's not going to be as easy to sell them on if you change your mind down the road, as it's not to everybody's taste.
Gunmetal sounds nice, though

The secret rider

Those rims look like a good deal spXCR wheel set that is

Almost as light as crossmax SLR !!

24 spoke too so looks good.

How will they hold up to all mountain riding and trail centre hacks I guess that's my question

Clockworkmark31

Don't put me in confusion again lol.

£500 is a total budget for upgrades (birthday around the corner).

So thought £200 for wheels is fair enough, with the rest going on upgrading other stock parts.

Somehow I seem to be turning into a weight weenie.

I think the gunmetal sounds better

The SP-XCR were my first choice, but I am not sure how the 24spoke design will hold up.

I use the bike for commuting to work and being a weekend blaster. Don't do jumps or bounce of things. More smooth aggressive fast, smooth lines then late braking and hold on.

Mainly on the weekend I see all terrains from towpaths to fast rocky roads to forest mud a foot deep pretty much all terrains in one long ride.

Ok so one last comparison. To me both sets look good. But this is my first time buying after market wheels.

If it was your money would it be;

SP-XCR or Tech3 EVO XC 135.

I ride 26" so in stock.

Got new tires sorted anyway Continental Mountain King 2 (2.2)race. They seem like they can handle mud and wet unlike the X-kings and each tire comes in 200g lighter.

Clockworkmark31

Maybe I should chuck in I am a heavy rider 96kg minus equipment.

poah

buy better wheels to start with.

The secret rider

Clockworkmark31 wrote:

Maybe I should chuck in I am a heavy rider 96kg minus equipment.

Hiya mate im not small myself so With respect mate, how muscle are you vs fat ? At 96kgs I'd be less concerned with wheel weight and consider strength if I was more fatty than muscle as it

I'm trying to lose some kg's of fat myself to compliment my bike lightening

A nice light bike is great but you don't want to save grams at the risk of loosing the strength you need.

When I've been looking I've found it is the expensive wheels that tend to be strong and light

Chunkers1980

Tbf, you have no idea how much muscle or tall he is

The secret rider

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Tbf, you have no idea how much muscle or tall he is

Granted I'm not a light guy myself and that's why I speak with honesty but as you say no idea of his "make up".

Because I am not light myself i have found that I would have to spend more money to get a light wheels that's strong enough for what I need

Saying that I've never used the wheels above and god knows if they work out ok for the OP ill be getting some

mcnultycop

The secret rider wrote:

Hiya mate im not small myself so With respect mate, how muscle are you vs fat ? At 96kgs I'd be less concerned with wheel weight and consider strength if I was more fatty than muscle as it

How does body fat % make a difference?