Upgrade to Boardman Pro HT wheels

Big dave 3 · January 2011

Hi, I currently run wheels off a Boardman Pro HT on my mountain bike turned to commuter. I believe they are Ritchey WCS rims with some unknown spokes & hubs. What are people's opinions on these wheels?

I would like to upgrade these to something lighter & better. The useage will be for running semi slicks on my commuter so they need to be light & won't be getting too much abuse.

I have Hope pro 2s on mavic XC 717 rims on my off road MTB & you can feel the difference in performance in these wheels I reckon. However, I would prefer to avoid the clicking as I have to freewheel the commuter through town & train stations etc.

I was thinking of XTR/XT hub on Mavix XC 717 rims or maybe XT wheelset?

Or some variation of Mavic Crossmax? Or maybe another set of Hope pro 2s with Mavic XC 717 rims & live with the clicking?

My budget is £200 max but Im hoping for a second hand bargain

ellsbells1973 · January 2011

most of the weight of the boardman wheels comes from the unbranded hub, the ritchey rim itself is 60g lighter than the 717 rim, i have just upgraded the boardman hubs to pro 2's and you can definitely feel the difference, though the cost was £170 just for the back wheel

Big dave 3 · January 2011

Oh Cheers I didnt realise that! That £170 is a lot just for a hub though. Then I would need to pay labour to rebuild the wheel.

Id probably be better off just buying second hand wheelset.

So the hub is the where the weight is. Now I know :shock:

ellsbells1973 · January 2011

Big dave 3 wrote:

Oh Cheers I didnt realise that! That £170 is a lot just for a hub though. Then I would need to pay labour to rebuild the wheel.

Id probably be better off just buying second hand wheelset.

So the hub is the where the weight is. Now I know :shock:

the hub was £130 and the build was £40

Big dave 3 · January 2011

Oh I see. Ive seen the front hubs for £50 on e-bay. So for new hubs Im looking at £180 + labour.

This seems a lot to me. Do you reckon this would make a good wheelset though? Do you think your wheels feels much better now with Hope hubs ?

ellsbells1973 · January 2011

its a good wheelset IMHO, but very pricey, it does feel a lot better though as loosing rotational weight from the bike makes it pedal a lot lighter, but as the rear hub is still new to my ears that clicking does get on your t1ts
these are a good option for a factory built set
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... t_1743.htm
a little bit dearer than the crossrides but also lighter, you also get a discount online with merlin at checkout

Big dave 3 · January 2011

They look good and DT are a good wheel I believe.

1800g isnt the lightest though is it? Do you know how much the Ritchey wheels weigh for the set?

pastey_boy · January 2011

ellsbells1973 wrote:

most of the weight of the boardman wheels comes from the unbranded hub, the ritchey rim itself is 60g lighter than the 717 rim, i have just upgraded the boardman hubs to pro 2's and you can definitely feel the difference, though the cost was £170 just for the back wheel

a mavic 717 disc rim weighs 400 grams, the ritchey rims on the boardman weigh 393 grams.
for light wheels under £200 these are very hard to beat
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bm ... ROLWHFM200
or tor £30 more superstar are doing a mental deal on a set of their hubs with stans crest rims plus all the bits to go tubeless , i also like the idea that the wheels can be converted to any axle standard for very little cost
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... a21287c4cb

Big dave 3 · January 2011

Both wheelsets look good, but the pro lite bearing system is an unknown & Ive never heard of switch hubs. Are they good ?

pastey_boy · January 2011

pro-lite have had awesome reviews both road and mtb, they are handbuilt and spares easy to come by. the switch hubs are superstars own and look very good for the money and have good spares back up, decent weight and as i said lots of adaptors. both wheelsets i mention weigh 1600grams which is a good weight

Big dave 3 · January 2011

OK Im looking at the Superstars switch hubs. I dont understand what they are on about with no tools needed and snapping on the adaptors . . . .

pastey_boy · January 2011

it means you can puul the adaptors out with your hands no tools needed my roval wheels are the same

Big dave 3 · January 2011

What adaptors? Sorry I don't get it. Ive only had QR wheels before

pastey_boy · January 2011

there are many different axles. on the front you hav qr, 15mm thru axle, 20mm thru axle plus a few other oddball sizes from various fork manufacturers. on the rear you can have qr, 10mm, 12mm along with different widths. the hubs allow you to switch between different standards so if you buy a different frame or forks in the future with different fittings you can just buy the adapters you need and fit your wheels with no aggro

Big dave 3 · January 2011

OH I see! That makes sense now. I thought it was a quick way of changing the bearings or something

KonaMiniMula1 · January 2011

If you really want to drop some weight http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/WPFSXC300SL ... %28pair%29

Good price as well IMO.

Big dave 3 · January 2011

Well I got a wheelset with Shimano XTR M980 hubs, Mavic XC 717 rims & black DT swiss competition spokes with brass DT nipples on ebay brand new for £170.

The only problem is that those hubs are for 10 speed cassettes, according to Shimano website. All my drivetrain is 9 speed. Will that be a problem?

bails87 · February 2011

I would have thought it's all the same size. But it would have been wise to have checked it before buying

Just FYI, someone on here weighed the Boardman Pro wheels at 1700g for the pair.

Bar Shaker · February 2011

The weight of the rim is the only thing that really matters as this is rotational mass. The difference in hub weights won't be more than a couple of slugs from your drink bottle, even if you pay a lot.

The Ritchey WCS rims are up there with the best and you will need to spend a lot on a set of wheels to get better. The hub may be un-named but likely uses the same bearing race as most other well known hub makes. Hub makers make the ali housings and then insert commercially available bearing races, they don't make their own bearings. Anyone who can tell the difference in rolling resistance from a hub swap when riding is 'wearing the emperors clothes'.

Putting lighter tyres on your wheels will make a huge difference to the ride. Running on slicks and 70psi for commuting will make by far the biggest difference.

Big dave 3 · February 2011

Well I didnt realise the Ritchey wheels were 1700g. That is light.

It seems as if I have wasted my money on these new XTR/Mavic XC717 wheels then

I already have slick tyres on (Continental reflex) & Schwalbe XX light inner tubes.

Upgrade to Boardman Pro HT wheels

Comments

Categories