Wheels again

Pfcb0y

Hi,

I've got £500 burning a hole in the bank vaults (saved from a good deal on a new bike)

So running Fulcrum Racing 5 disc at present what do you recommend or shall I wait till next year as bike not yet a month old...

Thanks

bendertherobot

Does that assume you need new disc wheels?

If so, caution, the R5 disc aren't that bad, not by a long shot, so, consider handbuilts if you want to lose a little weight and have the back up of easy repair, have a look at Hunt Wheels if you don't mind waiting, or other stuff out there.

What did you want to achieve? You may not go faster on even a 150g lighter pair (which is pretty much the £500 market, though the Hunts are super light).

Pfcb0y

Don't 'need' them thought £500 for a new set would make a difference, hence the post for advice...

Like the idea of hand-built had set previously that lasted for ever.

apreading

My money would go on (and did) Archetype Rims, D-light spokes and American Classic hubs - from justridingalong. Quietest hubs in the business and really light. Tough and light and lovely to look at rims. These were beautiful over several thousand miles, until a taxi ran into me and mangled them. Will be buying some more.

Having said that, I got two sets of the Pro-lite Revos from Wiggle for £160 a set - super bargain and really nice wheels. Not up to the hand builts but these can be my winter wheels and get abused, keeping those for best.

Alex99

Pfcb0y wrote:

Don't 'need' them thought £500 for a new set would make a difference, hence the post for advice...

Like the idea of hand-built had set previously that lasted for ever.

I know you're just asking about what to get for the money... but as asked above, I'm interested to know what do you want to get out of it? If it's just that you don't like to look of your current wheels, fair enough. But no one can really advise you on that, you can go and choose something similar but slightly more expensive than your current wheels.

mrb123

For me, it's hard to see past the Pacenti sl25 rims for a disc build. Strong, light, wide. Plenty of decent hub options around that could come in under your budget, eg Novatec, DT Swiss, Halo, Hope.

As above though, you'll probably not see any great performance benefit as your Fulcrums are not a bad wheel.

You could always push the boat out and go for some carbon handbuilts. They do make a certain amount of sense for a road disc build where there's no need to worry about poor braking performance, rim wear or heat related rim issues.
http://dcrwheels.co.uk/products/dcr-com ... rbon-rims/

bendertherobot

(And the Pacenti are easy ish to get tubeless on). That's a reason to upgrade by the way, a better one that outright weight.

Pfcb0y

bendertherobot wrote:

(And the Pacenti are easy ish to get tubeless on). That's a reason to upgrade by the way, a better one that outright weight.

Guess the main reason was tubeless. Maybe some weight saving but not unduly worried by that.

cycleclinic

For £500 you could get a fairly light set of handbuilt wheels with tubeless tyres fitted. Rims to look at are the Kinlin XR22RTS OCR, Kinlin XR31 RTS OCR and the DT Swiss RR460.

The Pacenti SL25 is a good rim but the kinlin rims are cheaper and have offset drilling. The offset drilling makes for a more robust longer lived wheelset. also the tension drop that you get with tight fitting tyres, like tubeless tyres, is quite big and the offset drilling means there is still good tension on the low side after fitting the tyre.

The Dt Swiss rim is nice a cheap like the XR22 RTS OCR. It is not offset though. In reality all you get with the Pacenti rim is some nice stickers. I used to build with it alot but now I have hard time recommending it given its cheaper competition even though i would make more money buy pushing them. The Pacenti rim really is no better it just more expensive.

There a growing number of wheelbuilders who use the DT Swiss rim not many yet using the Kinlin's mainly because they don't know where to buy them from.

If you want light, ryde have a new Pulse comp disc coming out. The rim is late already but is due sometime. It should weigh 390g and is wide. The Ryde pulse sprint has a black brake track now so given this is available as an offset rim you could use these. They are 385g each. They are Pacenti SL25 money but at least you get a light rim.

The archetype was a fine rim for disc brakes when there was no competition now there is though. The only reason the pick the archetype for a disc brake build is if the rider is 120kg+ not many riders are that weight though.

Also splashing out on hubs does not mean you get better hubs, it just means lighter hubs. Many of the mid range disc brakes from the likes of Novatec and Miche do the job very well. DT Swiss 350's are very good but it is not like they do the job of a hub any better, bearing life maybe a bit longer but have you tried removing the ratchet ring on one of these to get at the rear DS bearing. The last time I tried the tool jumped in the vice and hurt my shoulder. The ratchet ring did not budge.


Hope hubs of course are another option.

Vslowpace

You've just got a new bike. Ride it for a while, enjoy it, wear things out and then spend some money.

Pfcb0y

thecycleclinic wrote:

For £500 you could get a fairly light set of handbuilt wheels with tubeless tyres fitted. Rims to look at are the Kinlin XR22RTS OCR, Kinlin XR31 RTS OCR and the DT Swiss RR460.

The Pacenti SL25 is a good rim but the kinlin rims are cheaper and have offset drilling. The offset drilling makes for a more robust longer lived wheelset. also the tension drop that you get with tight fitting tyres, like tubeless tyres, is quite big and the offset drilling means there is still good tension on the low side after fitting the tyre.

The Dt Swiss rim is nice a cheap like the XR22 RTS OCR. It is not offset though. In reality all you get with the Pacenti rim is some nice stickers. I used to build with it alot but now I have hard time recommending it given its cheaper competition even though i would make more money buy pushing them. The Pacenti rim really is no better it just more expensive.

There a growing number of wheelbuilders who use the DT Swiss rim not many yet using the Kinlin's mainly because they don't know where to buy them from.

If you want light, ryde have a new Pulse comp disc coming out. The rim is late already but is due sometime. It should weigh 390g and is wide. The Ryde pulse sprint has a black brake track now so given this is available as an offset rim you could use these. They are 385g each. They are Pacenti SL25 money but at least you get a light rim.

The archetype was a fine rim for disc brakes when there was no competition now there is though. The only reason the pick the archetype for a disc brake build is if the rider is 120kg+ not many riders are that weight though.

Also splashing out on hubs does not mean you get better hubs, it just means lighter hubs. Many of the mid range disc brakes from the likes of Novatec and Miche do the job very well. DT Swiss 350's are very good but it is not like they do the job of a hub any better, bearing life maybe a bit longer but have you tried removing the ratchet ring on one of these to get at the rear DS bearing. The last time I tried the tool jumped in the vice and hurt my shoulder. The ratchet ring did not budge.


Hope hubs of course are another option.

Phew what a comprehensive reply I'm going to have research this info in detail, many thanks.

Pfcb0y

Update my budget can now go to £800.

See a lot of adverts for Hope any thoughts?

Also like the look of FastForward if I go the built option of course.

cycleclinic

You are upping the budget hoping it will buy you a better set it wont necessarily. It will buy you a more expensive set.

To maximise spoke life offset drilling and triple butted spokes are a must due to the loads disc brakes place on the spokes. the lower the spoke count the more important offset drilling and triple butted spokes become. Tubeless tyres on many disc brake rims are quite tight and compress the rim reducing spoke tension. Therefore offset drilling increases spoke tension in the low side increasing spoke life. Hunt wheels and I both build disc brake wheels with offset rims there for the above reason. Hope don't and neither do fast forward as far as I am aware. disc brake rims don't wear out so you could have these wheels for a very long time so depending on the mileage you cover and how long you keep things will mean the above is important or not. Reliable wheels can be built with non offset rims but they are not better.

Having said that I have a 24 spoke disc brake wheelset on non offset rims and they have been fine but only 6500km on them so plenty of time for fatigue to set in yet.

Don't be dazzled by low weight or fancy graphic/brand names it does not make them better. It may mean they are more pretty though. If you have money to burn and want pretty then get the wheels built on HED Belgium+ disc rims with DT Swiss 240 hubs. although the H Plus son hydra is pretty good looking too.

Lots to choose from now.

Pfcb0y

Thanks thecyclelinic absolutely brill advice.

I like the idea of noisier hubs what do I need to look for?

cycleclinic

Dt Swiss hubs are pretty noisey. Hope clatter alot too. I prefer the sound of the DT hubs over hope but in reality I think if you not pedaling to hear that noise you are slacking and should try harder. When I had Hope Mono XC MTB hubs the noise always reminded me to pedal.

apreading

I thought DT Swiss hubs were supposed to be much quieter than Hope? Personally, I love(d) my American Classic hubs - really quiet, downhill flying along with the bike in total silence is a zen moment...! Need to get the wheels fixed up after a car T-boned me though.

mrb123

With your increased budget you could think about a set of carbon rimmed handbuilts. Carbon rims make a fair bit of sense for a disc build as you don't have to worry about some of the usual disadvantages such as reduced braking performance and heat build up issues.
Plus you won't wear the rims out so you can justify spending more on the rims.
DCR do a carbon disc wheeler here
http://dcrwheels.co.uk/products/dcr-com ... rbon-rims/
Or you could ask Malcolm about options using some of his Borg rims with disc hubs.

Bobbinogs

Am I reading this right that, despite the R5 Discs being acknowledged to be a decent wheelset and fairly new, the main reasons for spending £800 on another set of wheels have been distilled to: must look good and make a noisy clicking sound? How about just picking some wheels you like the look of and buying matching spokey dokeys?

Pfcb0y

Bobbinogs wrote:

Am I reading this right that, despite the R5 Discs being acknowledged to be a decent wheelset and fairly new, the main reasons for spending £800 on another set of wheels have been distilled to: must look good and make a noisy clicking sound? How about just picking some wheels you like the look of and buying matching spokey dokeys?

Yep only if they do them in red!

cycleclinic

The thing with carbon clinchers Kinlin do a 31mm wide alloy rim which is alot cheaper. Been looking at carbon clincher again for disc brakes and there is a 35mm deep rim I will probably get a few but it is not going to be huge step up form the kinlins. A bit lighter and a smidge more aero but thats it. Add about £300 to the bill though. Not sure it is worth the money.

apreading

Bobbinogs wrote:

Am I reading this right that, despite the R5 Discs being acknowledged to be a decent wheelset and fairly new, the main reasons for spending £800 on another set of wheels have been distilled to: must look good and make a noisy clicking sound? How about just picking some wheels you like the look of and buying matching spokey dokeys?

or a playing card fixed to the seatstay with a clothes peg, so that it clicks on the spokes - even makes the noise when you are pedalling then too!

singleton

Was thinking similar to the previous post for my rim brake tubleess wheels.

£400ish gets a 31mm depth, 24mm width alloy wheel at about 1480g
£900ish gets a 38mm depth, 26mm width carbon wheel at about 1485g

Suffie to say that I was not convinced of the benefit of spending the extra £500.

dag_on_a_bike

thecycleclinic wrote:

Dt Swiss hubs are pretty noisey. Hope clatter alot too. I prefer the sound of the DT hubs over hope but in reality I think if you not pedaling to hear that noise you are slacking and should try harder. When I had Hope Mono XC MTB hubs the noise always reminded me to pedal.

I have DT Swiss R23 Spline and can't believe just how noisy they are...so much so that I tend to freewheel in country lanes to warn pedestrians (usually walking their dogs) of my approach, and keep pedalling to avoid scaring horses!

My old Dura-Ace C24s were almost silent...oh, for such a luxury.

mrb123

Just checked out those H Plus Son Hydra. They look pretty tasty - like Archetypes but lighter with no brake track.

cycleclinic

Exactly. the grey rims I like the most. Think they will look perfect with shimano CX-75 hubs and silver spokes.

Pfcb0y

MrB123 wrote:

Just checked out those H Plus Son Hydra. They look pretty tasty - like Archetypes but lighter with no brake track.

These are at the top of my list...