Seeking wheel advice

[EasyRider]

What tires do you want to use/what did the shop recommend?

[cmj7gh]

I don’t have tires yet, so I’m pretty much a blank slate. I don’t know anything about tubeless, but I assume with-tube is cheaper. I’m not worried about getting tires thin enough to be cross-legal for now- I think I’ll want extra width for everything else.

The shop recommended 40mm Clement Xplors

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[TwoWheelsDC]

I’ve got Easton EA90 (I think now called EA90SL) wheels on my gravel bike and they’re awesome. I think they run about $500. I’m running them tubeless (with Clement X’plor MSOs 700×36) but you can run them with tubes if you don’t want to commit to tubeless…but buying tubeless ready wheels will make the change sooooo much easier if you decide later.

Edit: I’m running the Eastons with a Rival 1×11 drivetrain, so we could be twinsies!

[Crickey7]

@TwoWheelsDC 156275 wrote:

I’ve got Easton EA90 .

I got one for the front. It’s terrific. For a while, Nashbar (I think) had them for under $200.

[hozn]

No, no, no. $850 is cray cray unless you are doing carbon.

Here you go. http://bdopcycling.com/DIY%20Alloy%20Road%20Disc%20Kit%20V.asp

$350

There is also a centerlock version of those.

Those are well reviewed rims: tubeless ready, asymmetrical for better tension balance. And Novatec are solid, easily serviceable (and light) hubs. Those have the better bearings and the anti-bite guard which is nice. I used the predecessor to those in my previous road wheels and they were great. I am gonna rebuild my current road wheels to use Novatec (instead of Bitex).

Heck, November’s latest wind tunnel report shows these are just as fast as Zipp 303s for the typical yaw angles.

Or wait for the Gousseau rims (I am doing that for my next wheelset).

Either way, much better than a factory-built wheelset.

I will build them up for you for a 6-pack in support of dkel’s awesome frame

[antennariidae]

I’ve heard good things about these:

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collections/road-disc-wheels/products/4season-gravel-disc-road-cx-wheelset-1589g-24deep-24wide

With the lower exchange rates, I’ve been more interested . . .

[hozn]

@antennariidae 156291 wrote:

I’ve heard good things about these:

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collections/road-disc-wheels/products/4season-gravel-disc-road-cx-wheelset-1589g-24deep-24wide

With the lower exchange rates, I’ve been more interested . . .

Those are also using the same Novatec D771/D772 hubs. The rim profiles are nice, though, for gravel — a little wider, also offset. You’re right that with the exchange rate it’s only $100 more than the BDOP Kinlin/Novatec kit. Not a bad price.

[cmj7gh]

Wow thanks for all of the helpful advice! At those prices, I might start considering upgrading the stock wheels on my road bike someday too!

How should I compare the assembled hunt wheels to hozn’s generous offer to assemble the bdop kit? Looks like the biggest difference is the 19 vs 20 mm rims? I assume those are functionally the same, and could both handle up to 2.1 mtb tires (not that I’d necessarily want that, but per this chart I could: http://engineerstalk.mavic.com/en/the-right-tyre-width-on-the-right-rim-width/ )

I weigh 160 and will probably someday load up with touring gear. If those options will be functionally similar in those conditions, then it sounds like hozn’s solution is the answer!

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[Harry Meatmotor]

Coming from a happy customer, I’ve gotta recommend November, too. Mostly because they have one of the most non-bullshit marketing and customer support positions in the aftermarket wheel industry.

Free socks

Coming in May, some really cool rims (AForce33s)

According to Dave K., the rims are going to be available a la carte, and they’re also going to be offering BYOH (bring your own hubs).

[EasyRider]

One more … Velocity has a disc touring wheelset for $425.

http://www.velocityusa.com/product/wheels/touring/touring-disc-wheelset

The tire clearance on the Wolverine is 45mm with fenders and there are a lot of nice 700c tires in the ~40mm range from Soma, Compass, Schwalbe and others.

[hozn]

Yeah, November is another great choice. They also use those same Novatec hubs for their builds — though they also have more expensive options.

The new Aforce rims sound cool, though the wind tunnel test showed they weren’t any faster than the XR31 Kinlin rims. But I think the Aforce rim is welded seam which is a bit nicer. The Aforce rim will also be available from BHS and others, but if the Kickstarter pricing is any indication, it will be overpriced. I am waiting on the Gousseau rim from BDOP.

Probably not a big difference between 19 and 20mm inside. The Hunt might be a nicer rim than Kinlin and perhaps a bit lighter. But obviously costs more. $350 is a great price for the BDOP kit; it’s hard to beat that value proposition IMO.

[EasyRider]

One more!
http://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/Road/mavic-a319-shimano-xt-disc.html

I have these rims and they are very durable, and versatile. They will take tires from 28-45mm. The xt hubs are disc but the rims can be used with vbrakes or cantilevers … A bonus for wheel swapping with other bikes. I doubt you’ll find a better value for a touring wheelset ($300) but I would guess at that price that the hubs will need grease and adjustment out of the box, and some tweaks to the spokes as well. Perhaps Hozn would give them a once over for that sixer.

[ctankcycles]

Velomine is another good place to look for value-minded wheelets. They sell expensive stuff too but if I’m having a wheelset built with something like King hubs or Enve rims I’d have a wheelbuilder I know and trust do the job. These aren’t on the Velomine website right now but they’re available through eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Velocity-Aileron-Black-Shimano-RS505-Road-CX-Disc-Brake-Hubs-9-10-11s-/272011460556.

The RS505 is a solid workhorse, Velocity is MUSA and tubeless compatible, and DT Swiss spokes are DT Swiss spokes. A friend (who is on here and would probably be happy to show you) just built up a Wolverine with this wheelset and is happy with them. They look even better blacked out with logos removed.

[ctankcycles]

@hozn 156284 wrote:

No, no, no. $850 is cray cray unless you are doing carbon.

Is it though? A wheelset with a hub from Chris King, White Industries, Hope, Paul, Phil Wood, Tune, etc. built up with a popular high quality, lightweight aluminum rim like the HED Belgium and Sapim or DT Swiss spokes is going to be in the $800-$1000 range.

[hozn]

@ctankcycles 156388 wrote:

Is it though? A wheelset with a hub from Chris King, White Industries, Hope, Paul, Phil Wood, Tune, etc. built up with a popular high quality, lightweight aluminum rim like the HED Belgium and Sapim or DT Swiss spokes is going to be in the $800-$1000 range.

Well, I agree with some of that. You can pay a lot for hubs. I definitely agree with that. But there’s no necessary correlation with how long the hub is going to last, etc.

But even if you want more name-brand stuff than Novatec and Kinlin, you don’t have to spend $800. E.g. a Hope Pro 4 hubset, $250. A couple of Stans Grail rims, $160. 64 Sapim Laser spokes, $64. Total $474. (Ok I didn’t include the nipples, so we’ll just say “less than 500”.)

I don’t understand people buying Chris King / Phil Woods / etc. hubs, honestly. At least with Tune, you’re saving some weight … but $2/gram is pretty expensive weight. But, yeah, I know you can walk into a store and spend $800 on a set of alloy wheels, but that is crazy use of money to me.

Edit: Rather than say a “crazy use of money”, I should just say “I would prioritize bike expenditures differently”. I spend lots of money on bike parts and many of my purchases are frivolous. I can’t hate on people for wanting bling hubs if I’m going to pay $60 for a set of Arundel carbon bottle cages.

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