What Aluminium Wheelset - DT Swiss, Hunt, Roval or other.....?

BlueNGT

Posted this in the wrong section yesterday:

After 10 months out of the saddle following a Hamstring tear I went out for the first time last night. I've made a few changes since the injury and a major one is my all year round bike, I sold my Giant TCR which was always slightly too big and bought a 2nd hand Specialized Tarmac 56cm which from last nights ride is brilliant and flies along. Issue with it is wheels, it came with Mavic Aksiums...whilst setting the bike up on Monday I noticed surface corrosion on the spokes and a bit on the hubs. They cleaned up ok but want to change the wheels soon.

In my laid up time some weight has been gained from a combination of not being able to get on the bike or do any exercise and feeling sorry for myself. So to be safe I would like a set of wheels that will accommodate around 100kg whilst I drop some weight and get back to fitness again. However as this is my second bike I don't want to change them now only to change again later. Mavic are off the radar now after seeing the corrosion, reading its not a one off online, and their wheels are narrow by today's standards.

Options I have found to date are as follows:

Hunt Race Season or 4 season (4 season has brass nipples so no corrosion there) - £279 to £399
DT Swiss R32 Spline - £285 from Bike Discount when back in stock
I have tracked down some Roval SL35 for mid £300's (a bit less than RRP).

I would prefer a 30 to 35 rim depth, 18 inner and 22 outer rim width minimum and not crazy money....not much to ask I know 8)

Any experience of the above or ideas welcome.

Thanks

mrb123

http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections ... 1-wheelset

drlodge

MrB123 wrote:

http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-rim-brake-wheelsets/products/borg31-wheelset

BORG31s are exactly what I was thinking.

mrb123

drlodge wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-rim-brake-wheelsets/products/borg31-wheelset

BORG31s are exactly what I was thinking.

Seem to tick all the boxes with the Miche hubs. No weight limit either.

drlodge

With Ugo no longer building wheels and Harry Rowland just building the same old "safe & reliable" wheels, I now look at the cycle clinic, DCR wheels and Wheelsmith.

singleton

I had a similar choice recently and in the end I went with the Hunt race season aero wide - which I think are the same rims as the Borg 31's.

But, I have not got them yet so can't provide much in the way of review or comment on them.

imposter2.0

drlodge wrote:

With Ugo no longer building wheels and Harry Rowland just building the same old "safe & reliable" wheels, I now look at the cycle clinic, DCR wheels and Wheelsmith.

Precisely - who on earth wants 'safe and reliable' wheels. Oh, hang on....

BlueNGT

Singleton wrote:

I had a similar choice recently and in the end I went with the Hunt race season aero wide - which I think are the same rims as the Borg 31's.

But, I have not got them yet so can't provide much in the way of review or comment on them.

Interesting - what swung it for you with the Hunt wheels above the Borg (I haven't heard of the Borg until today)?

singleton

BlueNGT wrote:

Interesting - what swung it for you with the Hunt wheels above the Borg (I haven't heard of the Borg until today)?

Well, I may get some comments about the basis of my choice, which were only small anyway, but here goes:

The hunt wheels were listing a lighter weight. This may be achieved through lighter hubs / spokes which may in turn be less industrial. I'm only around 72kg, these are for my good summer bike and so I decided that the reputedly strong rims with 20/24 spokes would be fine and so I decided to go for the lighter option.
Hunt offered to supply and fit Schwalbe Pro one tyres which were my favourite option and since I'm new to tubeless it was easy for them to fit these for me. The Cycle Clinic may do the same for you.

BlueNGT

Singleton wrote:

BlueNGT wrote:

Interesting - what swung it for you with the Hunt wheels above the Borg (I haven't heard of the Borg until today)?

Well, I may get some comments about the basis of my choice, which were only small anyway, but here goes:

The hunt wheels were listing a lighter weight. This may be achieved through lighter hubs / spokes which may in turn be less industrial. I'm only around 72kg, these are for my good summer bike and so I decided that the reputedly strong rims with 20/24 spokes would be fine and so I decided to go for the lighter option.
Hunt offered to supply and fit Schwalbe Pro one tyres which were my favourite option and since I'm new to tubeless it was easy for them to fit these for me. The Cycle Clinic may do the same for you.

Nothing wrong with that process in my eyes...each to their own I say!!

I have asked DT Swiss a couple of questions, waiting to hear back. I am not really after really light weight, the Bike itself is light but my other Bike I have Zipp 303 Tubular on that.

The DT Swiss at circa £300 delivered are pretty appealing.

The Roval seem nice but in typical Specialized fashion they are pricey. They use a couple of DT Swiss components but a 35 deep rim whereas DT only use a 32.

Robust/strong, low maintenance and decent price are important with it being an all round bike.

janwal

Blue, I think Borg are just Cycle clinic's own build.It is run by Malcom Borg!!He is always very helpful and knowledgeable so give him a try either online or just give him a ring.

apreading

janwal wrote:

Blue, I think Borg are just Cycle clinic's own build.It is run by Malcom Borg!!He is always very helpful and knowledgeable so give him a try either online or just give him a ring.

Yes - Malcolm has just chosen a very popular build to bundle it up as a package and give it a name to make things simpler for people.

mrb123

Hard to see any reason to go for the Hunts over Malcolm's offerings apart from the nice decals.

MikeBrew

I've been looking at a set of wheels, that I believe are based around re branded Kinlin XR31t's (like the Hunts and Borgs), but in silver- to mimic the era of my CAAD 6 Saeco. Only thing is, I'm not sure whether said frame and forks would have the necessary clearance for modern day wide rims and tyres ?
The idea would be that I swop them between my 2015 CAAD 10 and the Saeco, but if they're not going to fit the Saeco, I may as well just get them them in in black, to suit the newer bike. Granted, silver wouldn't match the CAAD10 very well, but I can't afford two sets, and them looking good on the Saeco would take precedence - if they'd fit.

matt_n-2

MikeBrew wrote:

I've been looking at a set of wheels, that I believe are based around re branded Kinlin XR31t's (like the Hunts and Borgs), but in silver- to mimic the era of my CAAD 6 Saeco. Only thing is, I'm not sure whether said frame and forks would have the necessary clearance for modern day wide rims and tyres ?
The idea would be that I swop them between my 2015 CAAD 10 and the Saeco, but if they're not going to fit the Saeco, I may as well just get them them in in black, to suit the newer bike. Granted, silver wouldn't match the CAAD10 very well, but I can't afford two sets, and them looking good on the Saeco would take precedence - if they'd fit.

H Plus Son Archetype in the polished finish, fitted on Miche Racing Box hubs and silver spokes would give that classic look but modern wide rim. I've got them on my Colnago Master.

MikeBrew

Well, I have been drawn to the H+Son in that polished silver finish. Silver spokes would look the part too. I'd like to be sure about any frame clearance issues, before investing, though. The other thing is that the re-badge'd Kinlins that I have in mind are available for a cracking price, albeit with black spokes...

BlueNGT

Well things don't always turn out as they should....I found and bought some Brand New Roval SL 35 for £300......or so I thought!!!! The brand new wheels turned up to be dispatched and they had been used. Told them I might still be interested at a suitably reduced price but alas a £25 reduction was no what I thought of as suitable!!!

Back on the look out now but after spotting the availability of 0% finance on wheels at Chainreaction and then other retailer sites I thought about other stuff.

The Roval are still on the radar but came across these at Planet X http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPX35CLI/planet-x-35... Reynolds Carbon rims 19mm internal width, 23mm outer width, 2 year warranty. What do people think?

Also looked at the Chinese stuff on eBay but still unsure about those. The thought of de-laminating rim is not something to relish.

I am sure the Borg are great but they just aren't doing it for me.

lostboysaint

drlodge wrote:

With Ugo no longer building wheels and Harry Rowland just building the same old "safe & reliable" wheels, I now look at the cycle clinic, DCR wheels and Wheelsmith.

I'd add Spokesman to that list. Two pairs (one road - Velocity A23 on Miche - and one MTB - H Plus Son Todestrieb on Novatech) from him and both have been excellent. I'd also add that my LBS, Solent Cycles, builds wheels rather well and has just done me an excellent pair of MTB wheels for my full sus bike (Velocity Blunt 35 on Hope).

BlueNGT

lostboysaint wrote:

drlodge wrote:

With Ugo no longer building wheels and Harry Rowland just building the same old "safe & reliable" wheels, I now look at the cycle clinic, DCR wheels and Wheelsmith.

I'd add Spokesman to that list. Two pairs (one road - Velocity A23 on Miche - and one MTB - H Plus Son Todestrieb on Novatech) from him and both have been excellent. I'd also add that my LBS, Solent Cycles, builds wheels rather well and has just done me an excellent pair of MTB wheels for my full sus bike (Velocity Blunt 35 on Hope).

Spokesman are cheaper but by the time you add black spokes and nipples you are heading towards £500. The internal width is also quite narrow on the 38mm deep rim at 15.9mm compared to others.