Cheapest way to get decent wheels

tangled_metal

Is there a good, cheap source of good or better than OE wheels? I've got PlanetX cx wheels on my London road and since wheels are considered a good upgrade to go for I've been thinking about taking the plunge.

Money is being stretched so I've not got hundreds of pounds. Is there a way of getting decent ones at reasonable cost? I can't build my own and I haven't got much cash that's not being spent by.more critical things.

cooldad

You need to work out what is better.

I've got some Planet X wheels on a bike, and they are fairly light and have been totally bulletproof.

fenix

What are you hoping to gain on a commute ? I'd value bombproof over a 0.1mph speed increase any day.

tangled_metal

These are black disc ones with PlanetX on the rims and hubs. Nothing special I think. They don't sell them at all now.

They're not that bombproof. Certainly never kept true since I got them. No better than my old road bike was. If these had been rim braking I'd have to true them every fortnight like my skinny road bike needed.

I am only asking for suggestions for a wheelset or supplier to look at. It's no particular urge to see any particular improvement just a decent replacement set. Personally I'd rather move away from PlanetX stuff as far as possible. The bike is ok but it's aging now and that means more and more is being replaced. I reckon hubs might be next to go so I might as well look at what's available and you guys know more than I'll ever know. Hence the question.

tangled_metal

Fenix wrote:

What are you hoping to gain on a commute ? I'd value bombproof over a 0.1mph speed increase any day.

Not just commute. It's my only bike so it's a commuter, day ride steed and even a light tourer (well not so light with a trailer being towed). It's. Even done Lakeland trails before now.

cooldad

What do your current wheels not do that you want them to do?

fenix

Everything wears away and breaks. I've had good wear out of my PX bits. It sounds then like you want good strong wheels ?
How heavy are you ? What width tyres are you after ?

There's plenty of people who will build up wheels to your own specs - but thats not cheapest.

timothyw

cooldad wrote:

What do your current wheels not do that you want them to do?

Stay true by the sounds of it.

The cheapest thing for you to do is probably to find a cooperative local wheelbuilder, and get them to re-tension the wheel - a properly tensioned wheel will not come out of true.

Depending on the condition of the wheels, you might have to replace the spokes - if the nipples have seized then you won't be able to retension the wheel.

To be clear, if the wheels have already been ridden a significant amount with under-tensioned spokes then it will have already prematurely aged the spokes, so it may be that you are better replacing the spokes than just re-tensioning depending on how much it costs you.

If the wheels have already had a hard life, then you might just want to save up some money and get some decent new handbuilts - something like DT R460 rims on Deore XT hubs with DT Comp/Sapim race spokes is fairly cheap (little over £200) and should last many thousands of miles without undue issue (although those hubs will need to be serviced to extend their lifespan).

cooldad

Yeah I missed a post.

tangled_metal

Currently using 32mm clinchers but also often either 37 or 35mm marathon pluses for times when I want to reduce further the chance of a puncture. Think the rims are 19 wide but not really measured them internally.

2 years old and used probably an average of 5 days a week apart from spells away for surgery and other unavoidable reasons. Plus easy tours and family day rides, towing various types of trailer. I know the front is a bit dodgy since the hub had issues only solved by really tightening the QR up. So that's at least one hub. Not sure own brand PX hubs are worth saving and putting into a re-built wheel after servicing.

BTW I'm 89kg which isn't heavy for someone a few cms shy of 2m.

Current wheels have 32 spokes.

My ancient road bike has 23mm tyres on skinny rims. They used to loosen and go out of true fortnightly. I could true the wheel enough by eye if I did it fortnightly but any longer and I tended to censored it up. That lead leads to a ride out to my parents place and a father with more experience and knowledge about bikes plus a good eye/knack for truing wheels.

The commute goes over the usually bad road surfaces but near work it's in another league. I have got sick of reporting the holes. Anything that can help with preventing wheel issues due to that would be good. Mind you I've learnt disc braking is more forgiving with out of true wheels.