Aluminium wheel set for circa £300

[nathb]

Cheers Brucey - food for thought. Wheel building is something I'd like to have a go at sometime!

For clarification:
I only plan on having 1 set per bike, and one 700c rear for the turbo trainer (which is a fulcrum racing 7). If I bought a new set now I'd sell the current set. When it comes to a new bike if I buy off the shelve I'll sell the wheels it comes with, and get a decent set of hand made ones for it. But obviously if I build one from scratch I'd not have that issue. Hope that makes sense.

[Richard A Thackeray]

I bought a pair of these, from Planet X (Barnsley) just before the New Year

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/vis ... t-ec060711

I know the price shown on the Evans link (both, pre &, post discount), however, I only paid £149 for mine!!!!
To no surprise, they seem to be out of stock now, as they're not showing on the 'X' site

They ride great, rum very smoothly & look good too

[nathb]

Guys, you're all going to flame me for this but...

I decided to buy these: http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/p ... t-2024.htm

Pave 28 Ultra 11Speed Wheelset 20/24
20 spoke front - radial
24 spoke rear - 2x
Pave 28 Rim - 28mm deep section
17mm internal, 23mm external

Wheelset Weights:
Front 677g
Rear 856g
1533g for the pair.


I decided to buy these as:
- Repairable
- Serviceable
- Warranty
- Non custom Rim
- Cheap crash damage repair via their service
- 20% off = £156 inc delivery

Along with supersonic innter tubes it will reduce the wheelset weight by 750g!!

[Tonyf33]

Seem decent value with 20% discount, if they are indeed SKF bearings in the hubs then they should see you well, the review stated 1640g including rim tapes, the Pave rims are fairly heavy at 512g due to them being wider, was there any reason for that? The only thing that might concern me is the low recommended max inflation pressure of 100psi again that the review mentions.

[nathb]

Seem decent value with 20% discount, if they are indeed SKF bearings in the hubs then they should see you well, the review stated 1640g including rim tapes, the Pave rims are fairly heavy at 512g due to them being wider, was there any reason for that? The only thing that might concern me is the low recommended max inflation pressure of 100psi again that the review mentions.

I think the extra grams and the max recommended psi are all down to the rim tape that they use. I read some reviews that said to swap it immediately and then they are good to go.

[ANTONISH]

We've been down this one before and Brucey's remarks are most apposite.
I remarked on a previous thread about club mates new to cycling being sold bikes fitted with low spoke count wheels. I further said that as yet I had seen no spoke breakages - until Saturday last.
One of aforesaid mates had a breakage - straight pull spokes. We managed to get his brake to clear the wheel ( just) by undoing the QR and moving the brake off centre.
With higher spoke count wheels the wheel would probably not have been so far out of true.
I had a kevlar string emergency spoke but couldn't use it because the straight pull spoke hub end seemed to go into some sort of slot and there was no spoke hole to feed the string through.
To add insult to injury we had to descend a steep hill and he descended slowly only using the front brake. Fortunately the overheated rim didn't blow his inner tube and the tyre off the rim until we had regrouped at the bottom.

[Brucey]

Although I still think the benefits are not outweighed by the downsides, in the interests of objectivity I feel that I must comment on one thing that is arguably 'better' about some low spoke count wheels....

Some wheels with straight pull spokes have the spokes anchored in lugs that protrude from the hubshell; this means that in the event of driveside spoke failure, there is very good access, so you should be able to replace the spoke easily enough by the roadside, without all the usual faff of removing the sprockets etc.

Having said that, you would need to carry spare spokes, and to be able to get the nipples undone. On many such wheels (eg Shimano RS20) the (aluminium) spoke nipples almost invariably seize up....

cheers

[ANTONISH]

Although I still think the benefits are not outweighed by the downsides, in the interests of objectivity I feel that I must comment on one thing that is arguably 'better' about some low spoke count wheels....

Some wheels with straight pull spokes have the spokes anchored in lugs that protrude from the hubshell; this means that in the event of driveside spoke failure, there is very good access, so you should be able to replace the spoke easily enough by the roadside, without all the usual faff of removing the sprockets etc.

Having said that, you would need to carry spare spokes, and to be able to get the nipples undone. On many such wheels (eg Shimano RS20) the (aluminium) spoke nipples almost invariably seize up....

cheers

My Shimano 105's which I've had for some years now have the nipple at the hub and a lump of metal at the other end that sits in the rim. That means removing tyre, inner tube and rim tape to change a spoke. Not surprised that they changed it.
Of course as you say I don't have to remove the cassette on the drive side - but still have to carry two different length spare spokes.
All in all my experience has inclined me to favour having a few more spokes.

[nathb]

Seem decent value with 20% discount, if they are indeed SKF bearings in the hubs then they should see you well, the review stated 1640g including rim tapes, the Pave rims are fairly heavy at 512g due to them being wider, was there any reason for that? The only thing that might concern me is the low recommended max inflation pressure of 100psi again that the review mentions.

So I emailed superstar about that, asking if it was the rim tape or the rim itself that was the limiting factor of the 100 psi.

They said it was the rim itself.


Order cancelled...


(BTW I feel I should say I'm not a dreamer/time waster - which I fear I'm coming across as here - I'm a chartered accountant so I have got a few pence to put towards proper kit... honest (well no one is going to lie about that are they ))

[Tonyf33]

I thought as much, a rim that has a 100PSI max 'tag' to it is one to be avoided and rightly you cancelled the order.

So, if you're still in the market for some quality hoops I have a set of very very lightly used Mavic Helium's I'm letting go..
not the lightest, not the cheapest, amazingly smooth hubs, rock solid (28/26 double butted round spokes) and looks to die for (IMO of course), did I mention the hubs are smooth
just a thought seeing as you're in a spot

[nathb]

I thought as much, a rim that has a 100PSI max 'tag' to it is one to be avoided and rightly you cancelled the order.

So, if you're still in the market for some quality hoops I have a set of very very lightly used Mavic Helium's I'm letting go..
not the lightest, not the cheapest, amazingly smooth hubs, rock solid (28/26 double butted round spokes) and looks to die for (IMO of course), did I mention the hubs are smooth
just a thought seeing as you're in a spot

Probably shouldn't - I'm on a mission now to wear down my current wheelset so I can justify a really nice set to myself, just clocked my 1100th mile on this set.

Cheers though!

[Brucey]

So I emailed superstar about that, asking if it was the rim tape or the rim itself that was the limiting factor of the 100 psi.

They said it was the rim itself....Order cancelled...

IMHO a blanket max pressure rating is a daft idea; the loads on the rim vary with the tyre width too; a wider tyre at the same pressure exerts more load on the rim. So if (say) it is OK to mount a 28mm tyre at 100 psi then a higher pressure would be just fine with a 23mm tyre, for example.

Some rims (Mavic for instance) have a pressure rating that varies with tyre width in this way.

cheers

[Tonyf33]

Probably shouldn't - I'm on a mission now to wear down my current wheelset so I can justify a really nice set to myself, just clocked my 1100th mile on this set.

Cheers though!

good lad, you know it makes sense

[nathb]

Probably shouldn't - I'm on a mission now to wear down my current wheelset so I can justify a really nice set to myself, just clocked my 1100th mile on this set.

Cheers though!

good lad, you know it makes sense

Yep!

Actually didn't realise I'd done so many miles on it (now at 1077), only thought I was at around 500 or so... crappy shimano chain's at 25.5cm - good job I checked

(I've increased my average pace from 16mph to 19mph in that time )


Thanks for everyone's input by the way, really appreciate it!

[Tonyf33]

Ah see, now you're into the faster speeds you're going to need some properly decent hoops for when you get your new frame , I'm after a set of ENVE 45s (though I have some 38mm carbons already), seen a set with 300miles on them & handbuilt with Alchemy hubs that I'm hoping to get for under a monkey, well that's the plan..
Keep your eyes open on bike radar and the like, you can get some expensive wheels for not a lot toward the end of Autumn as the wannabe's dispose of their few hundred mile old wheels for the latest and greatest