Which road disk wheels?!

dave1986

Hi there,

I'm looking for some help making a decision between 2 different wheel options for my cyclocross/ audax bike that I'm building.

I'm mostly going to be using the bike for all day rides and also for Lands End-John o Groats next year. I'll most be using a 28mm road tyre (hopefully tubeless with sealent to help prevent punctures) I'm looking at 2 different options:
either:


Option 1 : (Weight 1793 grams, Price £830) Hand built : Chris King ISO Universal Disc Front/H Plus Son Archetype/Sapim D-Light Spokes




Option 2 : (Weight 1620 grams, Price £720) Easton EA90 XD 700C Disc Wheels.


I like the look of both wheels options, but would like some help to decide which option to go for.... I know that the Chris King hubs are considered to be the best, but dont really know the pros and cons of each option!? Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks,
Dave

IrishMac

Option 1 would have the advantage of having easily enough replaced spokes I think.
I'm not 100% sure, you're best to wait until Ugo pops by

cycleclinic

CK hubs maybe nice but I do think they are over priced. Royce Disc brake hubs would be cheaper. I think the best disc brake hubs are either Shimano XTR or DT Swiss 240 or the cheaper 350's. Use the archetype rims but there are other options too HED belgian + is even wider and the Ryde Pulse disc is narrower but very light. Also depending on your weight do not discount 28 spoke builds as they can be very reliable too. If you go with any of the above hubs you will save alot of coin and not have a inferior wheelset.

dave1986

Thanks for the replys guys...

Does anyone know whether the archtype rims can be run tubeless as easily as the Eastons? And also can both run tubeless at high tyre pressures (100psi) if required (I know that kind of defeats the point of tubeless).

Cheers,
Dave

maddog 2

yes the Archetypes can run tubeless. That's what I do on both my Archetype wheels.

I'd go handbuilts with Archetypes on hubs of choice. I run Tune on the good wheels and Hopes on the commuter wheels. I run 28mm Hutchinson Sectors on the commuter which work well. Wet/damp grip isn't very good - not a Hutchinson strong point on any of their tyres IME - but everything else is fine.

itsnotarace

Option 3 - http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/ ... ght-cxdisc 1555 grams for £249 if you shop around

Option 4 - http://farsports.cn/product/detail.php/id-150.html 1570 grams

Option 5 - http://www.carbonality.com/nss-38c-rd-d ... elset.html 1490 grams

ugo.santalucia

IrishMac wrote:

Option 1 would have the advantage of having easily enough replaced spokes I think.
I'm not 100% sure, you're best to wait until Ugo pops by

Ugo is on holiday in Italy... 8)

Can't comment on the Easton... if you want a set of Archetype, avoid CK hubs, they are massively expensive, require equally massively expensive tools to service which no shop has... you can get exactly the same performance out of a set of taiwanese Novatec 7111/712 (which are really awesome hubs) or Hope PRO 2 if you want something made in the western world (England actually).
28 spokes 3 cross is OK for most applications, or 32 if you want peace of mind.
Take advantage of the clearance to fit bigger tyres... I am doing a bit of climbing here and with my 32 mm tyres I am on average 5 Kmh faster downhill than I was with the 23... lots of fun...

drlodge

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am doing a bit of climbing here and with my 32 mm tyres I am on average 5 Kmh faster downhill than I was with the 23... lots of fun...

Its got nothing to do with the width of tyres Ugo, more to do with the width of your waistline with all that pasta

ugo.santalucia

Have not eaten any pasta yet... but yes, I have been leaner... :?
The thing is bigger tyres corner a lot better, so basically you end up braking a lot less

differentstrokes87

Following advice from Ugo, among others I've ordered a a set of wheels from The Cycle Clinic. Archetype rims on Novatec 711/712 hubs. Heard a lot of people speaking highly of both the rims and hubs and will come in at less the half the price of either wheelset above.

veronese68

Good, that sounds ideal. I'm sure you'll be pleased with them. I'm running Novatec hubs with Open Pro rims, kind of wish I'd spent a bit more and gone for Archtypes at times.
Interesting what Ugo said about 32mm tyres. I did a 200k on Sunday and was rolling down hills at a fair old lick on heavily treaded 32mm tyres, often faster than those on thinner tyres. The confidence they give combined with a disc brake makes a hell of a difference.

cycleclinic

I on 26/27mm tyres at present for racing at I would not run narrower now but I have a set of veloflex corsa 22mm to wear out first before I can say goodbye to narrow tyres for good.

cycleclinic

Easton are not a good buy at present anyway as the Zyro are not ordering any more spares due to Easton being bought out by Race Face and a possible change in who distributes Easton. As a consequence I have had to give the bad news this morning to one customer that his wheels are currently unrepairable as the bearings needed are proprietary and currently unobtainable.

apreading

Good choice - the Archetypes are great and the Novatec hubs are used by many and well regarded. For long distance riding you want good spoke count and easily replaced spokes. I got my Archetypes laced onto American Classic hubs, which I love and are really quiet. The DT 350 would have been cheaper but a bit heavier but were my second choice and many rave about them.

I put my theory to the test in Italy a month ago - broke a spoke on one day of the tour and because I had disc brakes was able to ride the last 10 miles of the day, despite a wobbly wheel and the first local bike mechanic was able to supply and fit a new spoke that night. With rim brakes, I would have had to stop there and then for the day, with less spokes similar - it would have been too much stress on the wheel and with funny spokes/hub I might have struggled to get a repair so easily and ended up buying a new wheel (as someone had to do when their bladed spokes broke on L2P last year).