Looking For New Wheel Set (26") Advice Please

frank bullitt

Hi guys.

I'm looking to buy a new set of wheels and would like to spend up to £300 give or take. I mainly use the bike for cross country, off-road and trail riding.

I'm not too concerned about weight and want good strong reliable wheels. I have looked at Hope Pro2 Evo, Pacenti Tesla Ultralight and Tech 4 DS25.

Is anyone using these at the moment?

Does anyone know what the build quality is like?

Any other recommendations or wheel sets that I may have missed or overlooked.

TIA, i'm off to search a little more and find some more reviews

cubedean

You will always get mixed reviews about SS wheel builds, I have had 2 (xc-430) & my current pacenti cl25/switch evo build & they have been great.

You have just missed out on 25% off they were doing on the tech 4 wheel sets.

I would also look at dt Swiss builds, I have only heard good things about their hubs.

frank bullitt

I had noticed the mixed reviews on the SS wheels, it would be handy if more people could chime in. When you say look at DT Swiss, is there any in particular model you would recommend? How would they compare to the Hope Pro2 Evo?

lostboysaint

Just rebuilt my Hope Pro 2 onto a set of H Plus Son Todestrieb rims with Sapim Race spokes for around your budget and I'm a proper Clydesdale (6'4" and 98kg) so can recommend that set up. The extra rim width really shapes the tyre better and allows slightly lower pressures as well. Goes tubeless easily.

frank bullitt

Did you rebuild these yourself? I guess a custom build is better as you can select the exact parts you want and the colour scheme too

lostboysaint

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19679633#p19679633]frank bullitt[/url] wrote:

Did you rebuild these yourself? I guess a custom build is better as you can select the exact parts you want and the colour scheme too

Nope, LBS did it for me. I handed them the old hubs, they sourced the rims and spokes and built them.

frank bullitt

I didn't think about my LBS, saying that I am rather remote so don't know if I have faith in them to carry this out. Maybe a custom online build is the way forward.

frank bullitt

Thank you to the 2 members that have been gracious enough to take the time to reply out of the 160+ views.

rockmonkeysc

I have had three sets of Superstar wheels. For downhill they were fine but the freehubs in the Switch Evo and Tesla hubs are made of cheese. Personally I would rather pay the extra for Hope hubs.
Superstars builds are generally not bad. Not the best but good enough.

frank bullitt

Okay, thanks. I'm starting to lean towards building rather than buying an off the shelf set.

Hope XC or Pacenti TL28 rims

Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs

Thoughts?

supersonic

How much do you weigh, how hard do you ride?

Clockworkmark31

I had SS XC430s before and weigh 96kg and had no problem with them. Built good, didn't need spokes retensioning. Straight out of the box perfect and managed all that I threw their way for the short time I had them (bike stole).

But would recommend SS.

frank bullitt

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19680568#p19680568]supersonic[/url] wrote:

How much do you weigh, how hard do you ride?

75kg or 11st 8, I have put a on a little weight which I am in the process of loosing.

I don't ride too hard, I certainly don't abuse the bike

supersonic

I think you will be happy with either the Pacenti or Hope - both have decent internal width, relatively light.

Likewise for hubs - Superstar or Hope. The latter have improved recently as they had soft freehubs and poor engagement - and likewise for superstars latest offerings, tougher and better bearings.

Spokes, standard double butters 14/15/14G (2.0/1.8/2.0mm) will be fine. Most good wheelsets tend to have these as standard, but watch out for single gauge spokes - don't wont them.

The Rookie

For your stated usage you could build your own (it's very satisfying), I built a set with Stans rims, butted spokes and Novatech hubs (well I lucked into an A2Z front cheap actually), circa 1450g for circa £200 all new.

Mad_Malx

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19680307#p19680307]frank bullitt[/url] wrote:

Thank you to the 2 members that have been gracious enough to take the time to reply out of the 160+ views.

Odd comment. People look at threads for a variety of reasons: might want to know themselves, might think q has been well answered already, idle curiosity, etc. Do you contribute to every thread you view?

The Rookie

Maybe he wanted 160 suggestions!

Given the username I'll suggest some Halibrands would be in order!

poah

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19680307#p19680307]frank bullitt[/url] wrote:

Thank you to the 2 members that have been gracious enough to take the time to reply out of the 160+ views.

cheeky cunt TBH - not everyone has an opinion, not everyone can be arsed searching the internet for you, maybe their suggestions had already been put forward. I was going to suggest some but you can GTF now

frank bullitt

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19680782#p19680782]supersonic[/url] wrote:

I think you will be happy with either the Pacenti or Hope - both have decent internal width, relatively light.

Likewise for hubs - Superstar or Hope. The latter have improved recently as they had soft freehubs and poor engagement - and likewise for superstars latest offerings, tougher and better bearings.

Spokes, standard double butters 14/15/14G (2.0/1.8/2.0mm) will be fine. Most good wheelsets tend to have these as standard, but watch out for single gauge spokes - don't wont them.

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19681127#p19681127]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

For your stated usage you could build your own (it's very satisfying), I built a set with Stans rims, butted spokes and Novatech hubs (well I lucked into an A2Z front cheap actually), circa 1450g for circa £200 all new.

Cheers for the helpful replies guys, definitely more food for thought and some more searching needed on my behalf.

Not too sure I would have the confidence to build my own, I'll take a look at a few online videos before accepting the challenge. I like tinkering with my car so the bike shouldn't be too different

frank bullitt

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19681232#p19681232]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

Given the username I'll suggest some Halibrands would be in order!

I'd be up for the challenge of making them fit but would prefer a set of Torq Thrust D's

The Rookie

Building your own wheels is much easier than you may think - I spent lots of time on it and if I started to feel frustrated I'd take a break and do something else - you need to stay 'loose', I uses the 'wheelpro' book (available online for about a tenner, you then get any updates free for life) after borrowing a friends version.

I didn't bother with a jig I just used an old frame (rear) and forks (front - well I actualy just used some lowers off a knackered set).

Building your own you get to choose each component to suite you, my wheelbuild (not that much detail) is on the last page or so of my Kraken thread (link in sig).

I know the originals were Mag Torq thrust, but as your looking for a new set Frank I thought I'd suggest Halibrand's! You can get some of those whacky (and rather heavy - heavier per wheel than a decent wheelset is for the two) cast wheels! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-26-6-Leaf-Magnesium-Alloy-Wheels-Lightweight-Bicycle-Bike-Cycle-Wheel-Set-/121656349251?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c53489243

frank bullitt

Brilliant info thanks, where did you purchase your parts from? I have decided on a combination of Black rims, Red nipples, Black Spokes and Red Hubs.

Also was that eBay link for the Mustang or bike?

The Rookie

Cast bike wheels, apparently lightweight despite weighing in at 1.7Kg EACH.

Rims, alloy nipples and hubs off ebay - some patience and judicious shopping netted some bargains, spokes from 'tartybikes' as they were the best price I could find for 2.0/1.8/2,0 spokes, being my first build I didn't go for 1.6mm, with hindsight I should have.

swod1

if you don't have a good local bike shop or want to build them yourself then take a look on merlin cycles website they do custom wheel builds.

I've had a few wheels from them and would recommend them.

some hope pro 2 evo hubs on stans rims would be a good choice, what have you decided on?

frank bullitt

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19682577#p19682577]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

Cast bike wheels, apparently lightweight despite weighing in at 1.7Kg EACH

Is that all?!

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19682577#p19682577]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

Rims, alloy nipples and hubs off ebay - some patience and judicious shopping netted some bargains, spokes from 'tartybikes' as they were the best price I could find for 2.0/1.8/2,0 spokes

I'll keep searching, thanks again

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19682577#p19682577]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

being my first build I didn't go for 1.6mm, with hindsight I should have

Any reason why? I was looking at the 2.0 spokes as I was thinking the thicker the spoke the stronger the wheel.

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19682910#p19682910]swod1[/url] wrote:

if you don't have a good local bike shop or want to build them yourself then take a look on merlin cycles website they do custom wheel builds

Thanks

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19682910#p19682910]swod1[/url] wrote:

some hope pro 2 evo hubs on stans rims would be a good choice, what have you decided on?

Nothing is set in stone just yet apart from the colour scheme! I *think* I am leaning towards Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs, still doing lots of searching and reading of independent reviews.

The Rookie

Butted spokes make a stiffer wheel than plain gauge (so less likely to buckle the rim) as they use the material property in a 'better' way and the process of butting improves the material, I decided not to go 1.6 as a ham fisted build can over stress them more easily, having done a build I don't think it would have been an issue. That said the weight saving from 1.8 to 1.6 is obviously smaller than 2.0 to 1.8!

frank bullitt

Thanks for the info, I'll throw up some pictures once I have ordered them and they are fitted. Cheers again for all the help guys