opinions concerning wheels please.

Serious Cat

Im very much an advocate of products that do their job extremely well and with a minimum of fuss, you will have noticed, based upon this premise that I stand right behind Hollowtech II bottom brackets and wouldn't touch bb30 with a 40 foot pole . In the UK unfortunately we don't have roads like those in Majorca and ultimately have roads akin to riding over a corrugated tin roof and the necessary leaving wheels into LBS for truing. At this time my wheels are handbuilt Mavic Open Pro`s with 5700 105 32 spoke front and 36 spoke rear and I use 25mm Continental Gatorskins inflated to 95 psi. My weight is 78kg and I know some would think 32 /36 spokes arrangement may be a bit overkill but Im not a racer and a bulletproof set of wheels for covering 100 mile rides with minimum of fuss and maintenance is highest on my priorities.

When it comes to wheels I look for:

Wheels that are handbuilt types and definitely not factory.
Wheels that don't use anything exotic and parts can be picked up from any LBS, bladed spokes are a no go.
Wheels with good durability and can take pot hole knocks and remain true.
Wheels with good resale should I decide to move onto another pair.
Wheels with quality hubs that are literally fit and forget.
Wheels don't have to be weight weenie light but I wouldn't buy wheels that were obviously boat anchors.
Wheels with a good braking surface that will have a good useable product lifespan.
Wheels that will take up to 36 spokes for strength and durability.

Id be grateful if you could mull this over in your head and your recommendations would be of interest to me.

ugo.santalucia

My friend Dave and his wife have just finished crossing of the USA coast to coast with a set of Open PRO on Ultegra 6800 hubs DT revs front DT comp rear... that's not an heavy set, 1750-1800 or so and as you can see it goes a long way even with panniers

http://www.justridingourbikes.com

Hard to beat

kangarouge

Cup & cone or races in the hubs?

ugo.santalucia

Kangarouge wrote:

Cup & cone or races in the hubs?

I prefer cartridges, mainly because both people and shops can't be bothered to service hubs. Shimano are cup and cone and require a bit of TLC... however the freehub is sealed and does not require service... so there isn't a definite answer on that.

Serious Cat

Thanks for taking the time to reply Ugo, Im keen to stick a set of truly bulletproof wheels on my bike that perform well and come with minimal maintenance and your input is appreciated. Apart from a few grams are there any other benefits with switching 5700 hubs to 6700 or 6800 types ? I switched my 5700 front deraillure to a new 6700 ultegra one and with credit to the 105 model the difference wasn't exactly obvious.

ugo.santalucia

Serious Cat wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to reply Ugo, Im keen to stick a set of truly bulletproof wheels on my bike that perform well and come with minimal maintenance and your input is appreciated. Apart from a few grams are there any other benefits with switching 5700 hubs to 6700 or 6800 types ?

5700 and 6700 are virtually the same thing, with the latter having slightly better grade bearings. 6800 are different in that they no longer have the dreaded cone spanners slots but they are adjusted via a ratchet, same thing as the Dura Ace ones, so they are a step up. I have not seen the 5800 yet... on balance the 6800 are worth the extra over the 5700 any day of the week... the 5700 are now a bit obsolete... I have pretty much stopped building them when the 6800 became available last year

Serious Cat

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious Cat wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to reply Ugo, Im keen to stick a set of truly bulletproof wheels on my bike that perform well and come with minimal maintenance and your input is appreciated. Apart from a few grams are there any other benefits with switching 5700 hubs to 6700 or 6800 types ?

5700 and 6700 are virtually the same thing, with the latter having slightly better grade bearings. 6800 are different in that they no longer have the dreaded cone spanners slots but they are adjusted via a ratchet, same thing as the Dura Ace ones, so they are a step up. I have not seen the 5800 yet... on balance the 6800 are worth the extra over the 5700 any day of the week... the 5700 are now a bit obsolete... I have pretty much stopped building them when the 6800 became available last year

Ugo are the 6800 hubs when it comes to the bearing removal and cleaning / regreasing procedures a lot more simplified compared to carrying out the same task on 6700 types ?

letap73

If you look at the bottom of Ugo's posts he has a link to his blog, a lot of information can also be gleaned from cycle clinics website, just riding alongs website, strada wheelbuildings website, harry Rowlands website + basically any wheel builder with online presence. Also a wealth of information on here with a simple use of the search.

ugo.santalucia

Serious Cat wrote:

Ugo are the 6800 hubs when it comes to the bearing removal and cleaning / regreasing procedures a lot more simplified compared to carrying out the same task on 6700 types ?

Not really, it's just simpler to adjust the cones compared to the older cone spanner type 6700

dodgy

I'm glad this exchange wasn't private. I've learned a bit more about wheels (didn't know about the ratchet thing on 6800 hubs for a start).

I've also learned a bit more about some posters on here.

Serious Cat

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious Cat wrote:

Ugo are the 6800 hubs when it comes to the bearing removal and cleaning / regreasing procedures a lot more simplified compared to carrying out the same task on 6700 types ?

Not really, it's just simpler to adjust the cones compared to the older cone spanner type 6700

Ugo does the phootering about with trying to centralise the skewer still apply to the 6800 hubs with the same degree of fiddliness with which it applies to the 5700 hubs ?

ugo.santalucia

Serious Cat wrote:

Ugo does the phootering about with trying to centralise the skewer still apply to the 6800 hubs with the same degree of fiddliness with which it applies to the 5700 hubs ?

No idea what you are referring to

keezx

I have some opinions too:
1- I wouldn't use Shimano cup+cone hubs anymore and rather go to cartridge bearing hubs like Novatec or Miche (cheap but good) or something like that.
Basically no maintenance and if the bearings wear out replace them for sealed better ones (easy in most cases)
2-For rims i would never go for Mavic narrow rims anymore but choose a wider rim (17-18mm internal) like Kinlin XC279 or H+ Son Archetype.
Much stiffer, so you can use 28/24 spokes without any problem with your weight, (32 sp. will do no harm)
On the wider rim you can drive with at least < 0,5 bar tyre pressure>: better grip in corners, better on bumpy roads,
without increased rolling resistance.
25 mm tyres on 15C rims are no good.....
Standard round 2,0-1,8 DB spokes complete your bombproof wheels.

Bar Shaker

If your current wheels are bulletproof, why are you changing them?

MisterMuncher

I've been using 6800 hubs on H+Plus Son TB14s for a good six months and they've handled everything I can throw at them. I'm quite fond of cup-and-cone hubs, though.

Thanh55

Hope pro 3 hubs in my bike since July last year, haven't touch them, no play up, still running smoothly. Couldn't go wrong with them

ugo.santalucia

Thanh55 wrote:

Hope pro 3 hubs in my bike since July last year, haven't touch them, no play up, still running smoothly. Couldn't go wrong with them

Of course... I bloody recommended and built those...

Thanh55

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Thanh55 wrote:

Hope pro 3 hubs in my bike since July last year, haven't touch them, no play up, still running smoothly. Couldn't go wrong with them

Of course... I bloody recommended and built those...

Oh yes, A23 rims, hope pro 3 hubs, 28 spokes front and rear. These will last as long as my mortgage ;-)