Advice needed: Better hub or wider rim

jupamaso

I'm looking for a new disc brake wheelset - road bike, no gravel. I'm looking at two DT Swiss models on Merlin Cycles :

-PR 1400 Dicut 21 Disc road: better hub (240 Internal), lighter, smaller height, narrower rim (18 mm internal), a bit pricier;

-ER 1600 Spline 23: less costly, wider hub (20 mm), heavier, good hub (350 internal).

I wanted the ER 1400 disc which seemed to tick all the boxes (240 internal, 20 mm rim, sub 1500g weight), but they are a lot more coslty (double of the PR 1400) in Canada.

I moslty ride Hills and commute.

My questions:

-does anybody have experience with those wheels? Review are few.

- will I see a difference between the narrower rims? I usually ride 20mm rims.

whyamihere

As these are shallow so you don't need to consider aero, if you're running 25-28mm tyres, I'd go for the lighter, narrower rims. You'll get a tiny bit of extra tyre width from the wider rims, but it's not a massive difference.

ugo.santalucia

The 240 is not better than the 350 as a hub, it's just lighter and more expensive

Alejandrosdog

the DT wheels are ok in my experience. Ive got a pair of pr1400 the 21mm version and they roll nicely, feel great and responsive on the bike i enjoy using them.

Down sides. The bearings had gone rumbly in c1500 miles, servicing them is easy but does require some very expensive tools to do properly. (I machined my own drifts and seal pressing device so wasnt too bad and the ring nut remover can be bought on ebay ) other than that youll need over axle bearing drifts a work bench and a vice. servicing was simple enough but if you cant or dont want to do it yourself youll probably need both wheels to be serviced at least once a year. disappointing.

alanyu

As it's disc brake, I will certainly choose a pair of hand built carbon wheels at that price.

cycleclinic

1500 miles for rumbly bearings is embrassing not for you but for DT swiss. there reputation suggests they never need changing.

If using 28mm tyres the wider rims are fine. 20mm internal is starting to get a bit wide for some but not all 25mm tyres.

lesfirth

Welcome back Malcolm .

I had some DT Swiss 24 spline wheels that I had to change the outer freehub bearing after 250 miles and had they had white corrosion around most of the hub spoke holes after a few weeks. Needless to say I do not rate them.