Wheels needed, £300 tops

parryman

Hello all,
Speccing a new build and I need wheels.
29" front, 27.5" rear, boost axles, Sram cassette.
For my budget I have found Superstar custom, V6 hubs to WTB i25 rims.
Are superstar any good? are WTB Rims any good?
Something else I should consider?

The Rookie

Superstar are good, they had some problems years back but their customer service was good at fixing them, recently (last 6-7 years) I've heard very few issues.

WTB rims are perfectly good, biased towards strength over weight but perfectly good.

Also have a look at Merlin cycles as they do individual wheel builds not just sets. If you don't 'have' to have matching wheels then you could look at clearance wheels (CRC, on-one, etc) and possibly get better bang for your buck.

Or build your own? I've just built up a CX/Gravel front wheel for £55, all new parts, sub 800g.

parryman

Cheers, strength is always my preference over weight, as I am larger than the average.

reaperactual

Strength over weight? In that case a Hope Fortus 30 wheelset with Pro 4 hubs are worth considering. 👍

The Rookie

With a pair of Hope hubs coming it at circa £240, another £60 isn't going to get a wheelset built on them.

reaperactual

Just spotted max budget in the title. I bought a Fortus 30 wheelset for £340. I'd stretch the budget by £40 for that kind of quality, strength and bulletproof reliability, all without having to build them myself.

OP ain't looking for some flimsy 800g gravel wheels either so where's the relevance there Rookie?

The Rookie

We don't know what he's speccing it for do we? He's mentioned i25 rims so it's not Enduro/Downhill either.

Gravel wheels are not flimsy either, pretty much the same as an XC29 wheelset apart from axle fitments.

I was just giving it as an example of what can be achieved. I could use the example of the 1435g MTB wheelset I built for £180 if that makes you feel better.

reaperactual

Strength over weight prompted me to post a response with the suggestion for a Hope wheelset and yes it's slightly over budget as you pointed out.

I am putting forward options and examples as you are. Is one suggestion right and one wrong?

What you post is of no concern to me and doesn't make me 'feel' anything.

The Rookie

Can you link to a 29/27.5 Fortus wheelset for that price?

reaperactual

Of course I can, anything for you Rookie.

Rear 27.5 wheel £229.99
Front 29er wheel £135.99
-£20 discount for buying a wheelset = £345.98

https://bikewheelsdirect.com/hope-275-fortus-30w---pro4---rear-wheel-10000-p.asp?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6rbl3PiU5wIVB7LtCh0tdglqEAAYASAAEgKQsfD_BwE

Oh dear the 29" front made it £6 more compared to my 27.5" £339.98 f & r wheelset. I hang my head in shame.😞

The Rookie

Thanks, I couldn't find anyone doing them for less than £400, but that's a better price.

parryman

Think I might stretch the budget for the Hope wheelset.
Cheers both, think it'll be worth the extra £50 or so.

reaperactual

😎👍

whyamihere

Not relevant any more if you're going for the Hopes, but the 15mm adapters for my Superstar V6 front hub (non-boost) are useless. They're only held in by some o-rings on the edges of the adapter, which means that roughly 90% of the times you try to put the wheel into the fork one of them gets knocked out, meaning you need at least 3 hands to get the wheel in. The other adapters all slide into the hub axle better so don't have this problem. I've relegated my wheelset with V6 hubs to only be used on a road bike with 12mm axles so that I don't have to put up with that frustration.

parryman

Thanks for the warning, good to know for possible purchases for the other bikes.
My road bike and the fixed wheel have V Sprint wheels, cannot fault them at all (sadly don't make MTB wheels)