High (ish) spec custom wheels on a budget?

joebristol

So I can’t justify the money right at this second, but having seemingly successfully built some wheels myself for my hardtail it’s got me thinking about my fs.

It’s 160/160mm travel, with Yaris / deluxe rt3 suspension, Maxxis 3c tyres etc etc. 650b. Boost rear, non-boost fork. So axles are 148x12 and 15 x 100.

The only upgrades I can conceivably do which I’ll notice but don’t cost the world are upgrading the damper in the forks to a charger or yari-up and getting new wheels.

It’s currently got DT Swiss e1900’s on it, which are good solid wheels, but I could save a bit of weight and make the bike a bit livelier.

In an ideal world I’d buy some DT Swiss ex1501 but I won’t have the budget for that.

So wondering about using a similar rim – e.g. ex481 (30mm internal diameter) some double butted j bend spokes and a hub that’s as light as a DT Swiss 240 but a bit cheaper.

So what rim / hub options are people running / would you suggest? I don’t know much about many rims other than DT Swiss.

cycleclinic

The kinlin tl29 is 29mm internal, 35mm external width fairly light, cheaper, more robust, better tubeless compatabilit. Simply a better rim in every way.

As for hubs there is not much that is as light as the DT Swiss 240's. Bitex have some road hubs which come close.

The Rookie

I do hope the rim isn’t a 30mm internal diameter!

You’re not going to be building a 1500g wheelset with 1kg of EX481 rims, 240 hubs would l be about 360g the pair, you won’t get much lighter, maybe 50g max, butted spokes will add about 230g a wheel, so that’s about 1800g.

joebristol

Thanks for the replies - I don’t intend to try and get down to 1500g for the pair - that’s near enough the same weight as my road disc wheelset!

Current wheels must be around 1900g - so if I can get just sub 1800g with a 5mm wider rim then that would be good.

Thinking Hope Pro 4 hubs might be a good option - with shopping around I think I could get just sub £200 for a pair (rear boost, front non boost).

Alpine double butted spokes at £0.45 each built into a 32 spoke wheel. Just over £30 posted. Assume 200 grams per wheel.

Only thing about hope is I’m not a huge fan of bling - so would get black ones but the loud clicking might be too much. The DT wheels I have now have a clicking noise that is just the right side of too noisy. The XT rear hub on my other bike is a bit on the quiet side.

joebristol

Will have a look at those Kinlin rims - not a make I’ve ever really noticed - although I have seen someone suggest that’s who makes the rim on my Hunt road wheels.

tallpaul_s

You can build a 1500g wheelsets for a 'reasonable' price, with light bicycle AM728 rims, Newmen hubs and standard butted spokes you're looking at £900 and 1500g, and that's if you get stung for the full duty and VAT on the rims.

However, pick any 2: light, strong, cheap

£630 gets you a 1650g wheelset too.

joebristol

I’m not looking to spend anywhere near £900!

I think £400 should cover the rims / spokes / hubs I’m looking at. If I can achieve 1700grams, whilst getting a wider / stiffer wheel with quicker freewheel pickup then I’d be happy (building the wheels myself).

The Rookie

If you want an upgrade you’ll notice and your current wheels are 1870g ( https://www.dtswiss.com/en/products/whe ... spline-25/ ) then you need to be looking to shed at least 200g to 1670 or less or it’s really not worth the effort. (My old 26” wheels were 1432g although very XC orientated).

You won’t get a meaningful weight saving with the 481 rims, ever.

tallpaul_s

No I know, just pointing out that you can build light wheels for not ridiculous prices.

You might struggle to get to 1700g for £400, you'd need sub 450g rims if you went with the Pro 4 hubs, that's light for 30mm id alloy rims, the light bicycle AM728 rims are 410g and they are carbon.

The Rookie

A pair of Pro4 in boost is 499g, so the rims need to be circa 380g for a 1700g set, not the right hubs for a light build.

The only way to do it in budget is to rerim the 1900s with some lightbicycle carbon rims, that would do it, but the value of what’s left would be minimal where an all new set would have a circa £200 set for sale.

02gf74

TallPaul_S wrote:

No I know, just pointing out that you can build light wheels for not ridiculous prices.

.

Depends on your definition of light and ridiculous.

Basically you can't, did you not see what was written above:

However, pick any 2: light, strong, cheap

Holds true whether you buy off the shelf or buuild yourself.

steve_sordy

Do you use tubes? Have you considered going tubeless? You may save some weight there, and in the best possible place too.

What is it about your fork that you are unhappy with that you believe a new damper will fix? Are you certain that your fork is as good as it can be already?

tallpaul_s

02GF74 wrote:

TallPaul_S wrote:

No I know, just pointing out that you can build light wheels for not ridiculous prices.

.

Depends on your definition of light and ridiculous.

Basically you can't, did you not see what was written above:

However, pick any 2: light, strong, cheap

Holds true whether you buy off the shelf or buuild yourself.

Yes I did see what was written, seeing as I wrote it...

Anyway, no point in talking about expensive or very light wheels as neither of those are what the OP is after.

joebristol

I think the DT Swiss xm481’s are top of my list for rims, but I’m flexible on hubs to get as light as I can without being too unreliable.

I’m already tubeless with 2.5” Maxxis Minion dhf WT on the front and either 2.3 dhr2 or aggressor on the rear (depending on winter / summer). The back of the bike probably has enough room for a 2.5” on the back comfortably too.

joebristol

And yes - budget is probably £400 excluding labour costs. Super light isn’t my aim, but a bit lighter would be nice. Stiffer / wider / quicker pick up would be nice though.

On the fork I find the Yari can spike a bit over fast rocky stuff. I’ve already removed all the tokens, it’s running 30% sag but still ramps up too much. I’ve heard it’s a feature of the motion control damper that it can ramp up. I run compression wide open, and rebound is just right so it doesn’t come back too quickly.