Wheels - silly question alert!

robertsims

Hi all,

After a good few years of time trials and road biking, I’ve just started cyclocross. Got a 2nd hand bike and after a few races which I’ve really enjoyed (near the back and suffering…but enjoying!) I’m looking to make few upgrades, in particular to the wheels (current set are Mavics and weigh about 2.4kg). However these are disc brake wheels which after years of road bikes and rim brakes are a mystery to me (I’m actually a decent mechanic on road bikes but never had disc brakes before).

With this in mind are there any things I need to consider when comparing and buying disc brake wheelsets. May seem obvious but do they come in different sizes (I know they are 700c wheels but hub width?), axles (mine have QR at moment…are all wheelsets suitable for QR?), brake rotars (Can I just take them off my existing wheels - will they fit any new wheels?)

Sorry for numpty questions!
Also any other things to consider for cx wheels and any recommendations ( based in UK and budget only about £200-£250 max). Would consider hand builds or 2nd hand but as can see don’t know much about good/bad options!

Any advice much appreciated!

bendertherobot

First question is, what bike is it? That will help us determine what's likely to be on there.

But, it's likely, even without that, they are Aksium disc.

Generally most QR disc wheels will be the same width, i.e. 100 front and 135mm or 142mm rear. Yours are 142mm, I think!

The Aksium are good, but about 1900g. You won't get much for £200 in the way of superlight etc. But loads of off the shelf stuff is good, such as :

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-racing ... -wheelset/

Or

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collecti ... less-ready

robertsims

Cheers
It's a Boardman Team CX 2014 model.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/boardman-cx-team-2014/


https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/c ... first-ride

cycleclinic

Why not stick with what you have until they wear out.

You may have some mavic rims laced to formula hub with random plain gauge spokes. Those are not mavic made wheels.

trek_dan

Superstar Components do some very well priced disc wheelsets, have a set on my MTB and can recommend.

tgotb

As you may have discovered, there are a bunch of different hub/axle standards in use for CX; front wheels have gone from QR via 15mm thru-axle to 12mm thru-axle, and rear hubs seem to have done something similar. My new bikes both have 12mm x 100 thru-axle front and 12mm x 142 rear, whereas my daughter's bike (same brand, previous generation) has 15mm x 100 thru-axle front, and 135mm QR rear. It looks like 12 x 100 front and 12 x 142 rear is eventually going to become the new standard, but in the meantime every bike seems to have a different combination.

Fortunately there are plenty of wheels/hubs around that can be converted between the different standards in a matter of seconds. For instance, my wheels are all built around Novatec 771/772/791/792 hubs, all of which can be converted to any of the standards in common use on CX bikes by switching axles/spacers. So long as you make sure your wheels are similarly convertible (and get the relevant conversion parts to suit your frame) you should be fine, and your wheels will be as future-proof as it's reasonably possible to be.

matudavey

I've got 2 sets of brand new disc wheels - Pacenti SL25 rims, front hub Novatec D351SB rear Prime branded Novatec hub, 11 speed, 6 bolt disc, black spokes. In your price range too - PM me!