Decent road bike wheels

On 13 Apr 2006 03:44:57 -0700, "Travis" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set

I got just a rear built, Mavic Open Pro on a 9 speed Durace hub.
Cheaper than buying a factory made set.
Course, I ordered the front 2 weeks after the rear was done.

Travis said:

The wheels on my "new" second hand Trek look in ok condition to me, but
the LBS said they've been a bit banged up by the previous owner and
while a low cost rebuild may at some future service may fix what ails
them (brittle spokes, rounded spoke nipples), its possible at some
stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set.

He quoted me around $600 for a new pair of wheels, or a few tens for
the rebuild. Naturally I'd go for the rebuild unless the thing is
beyond repair, but so I can check out prices and consider my
alternatives, I'd like some suggestions of appropriate replacement
wheels.

I currently have Bontrager Race Lite wheels fitted, they're original
equipment on a Trek 2300.

The bike is mainly used for commuting at this point in time, though I
can see myself getting into club racing events once my fitness has
reached an appropriate level.

So I need something that's not going to be ruined by commuting, doesn't
cost TOO much, and has good bang for the buck.

Any suggestions?

Travis

"Brittle" spokes? that's a new one... you might consider buying a spoke wrench and replacing the worn out nipples. You will be able to commute quite happily with your wheels as long as you are careful around potholes and gutters. The Race Lites are seen often enough around club races to suggest they're acceptable to many for racing. I'd go for the cheap option - get a spoke wrench, the right nipples and service the wheel yourself. The rear should last until the hub wears out (hopefully a loooong time) 🙂

Ritch

Aeek said:

On 13 Apr 2006 03:44:57 -0700, "Travis" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set

I got just a rear built, Mavic Open Pro on a 9 speed Durace hub.
Cheaper than buying a factory made set.
Course, I ordered the front 2 weeks after the rear was done.

If your hubs are in good condition would not hesitate to rebuild on them with Mavic Open Pro rims.

One warning thou. You will get sore face muscles from smiling so much.

Its so nice to have wheels that GO and feel so strong in corners.
Sure that LBS have to order the rims in pairs but that should have no effect on you as they are a common rim and they wont get "stuck" with the other one.
Get them both done and be done with it if you can afford it.

I had to have rear done and chose Mavic Open Pro. Was so impressed that I had the front rebuilt a week later.
Cheers
Hugh

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"Travis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The wheels on my "new" second hand Trek look in ok condition to me, but
the LBS said they've been a bit banged up by the previous owner and
while a low cost rebuild may at some future service may fix what ails
them (brittle spokes, rounded spoke nipples), its possible at some
stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set.

He quoted me around $600 for a new pair of wheels, or a few tens for
the rebuild. Naturally I'd go for the rebuild unless the thing is
beyond repair, but so I can check out prices and consider my
alternatives, I'd like some suggestions of appropriate replacement
wheels.

I currently have Bontrager Race Lite wheels fitted, they're original
equipment on a Trek 2300.

The bike is mainly used for commuting at this point in time, though I
can see myself getting into club racing events once my fitness has
reached an appropriate level.

So I need something that's not going to be ruined by commuting, doesn't
cost TOO much, and has good bang for the buck.

Any suggestions?

Travis

Who's your LBS? I think I'll be avoiding one that tells me wheels come as a
set (I assume they told you rather than you think that). You don't need to
buy wheels as a set - you can buy what you want - rim, hub, spokes, etc. -
separately.

It if your rim and hub are in decent nick it may be worth your while to
simply get a rebuild with new spokes. Unless you go kerb-slamming your
current wheels should hold up OK. Perhaps for commuting you can try
something like 28mm kevlar belted tyres for a bit of extra cush and puncture
protection and switch to race tyres if you decide to race.

Cheers,

Frank

Plodder said:

--
...

Who's your LBS? I think I'll be avoiding one that tells me wheels come as a
set (I assume they told you rather than you think that). You don't need to
buy wheels as a set - you can buy what you want - rim, hub, spokes, etc. -
separately.

It if your rim and hub are in decent nick it may be worth your while to
simply get a rebuild with new spokes. Unless you go kerb-slamming your
current wheels should hold up OK. Perhaps for commuting you can try
something like 28mm kevlar belted tyres for a bit of extra cush and puncture
protection and switch to race tyres if you decide to race.

....

finding a wheel builder/repairer who knows, as opposed to someone who will do it anyway, can be a challenge...I've tried most of Me!b's claimed wheelsmiths and IMHO there is only one...Hampton Cycles

they don't charge an arm and a leg, and get it right the first time...can't ask anymore than that.

Knowing you Travis, you will want to research the spoke options. Have a
look at DT Swiss, especially the Competition spokes which might suit
your needs well:

http://www.dtswiss.com/index.asp?fuseaction=category.bikes

There are other brands and people have their preferences, by DTs are a
standard just like Mavic rims.

Donga

rooman said:

finding a wheel builder/repairer who knows, as opposed to someone who will do it anyway, can be a challenge...I've tried most of Me!b's claimed wheelsmiths and IMHO there is only one...Hampton Cycles

they don't charge an arm and a leg, and get it right the first time...can't ask anymore than that.

peter moore. way too cheap, reliable and not much he cant do as well or better than anyone else in town

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

Who's your LBS? I think I'll be avoiding one that tells me wheels come as a
set (I assume they told you rather than you think that). You don't need to
buy wheels as a set - you can buy what you want - rim, hub, spokes, etc. -
separately.

It was my local Bike Force. To clarify he said Bontrager wheels come
as a set, no mention was made of other brands. Maybe Bontrager does
come as a set? I've heard good things about Mavic and Alex and other
brands, hence figured it would be worth asking here if there was a
wheel that was basically in the same range as the Bontrager Race Lites
but perhaps superior in some way, like same bang less bucks, or more
bang same bucks etc.

He didn't try to sell me a new set of wheels, I just asked what they
would cost.

Quoted message said:

It if your rim and hub are in decent nick it may be worth your while to
simply get a rebuild with new spokes. Unless you go kerb-slamming your
current wheels should hold up OK. Perhaps for commuting you can try
something like 28mm kevlar belted tyres for a bit of extra cush and puncture
protection and switch to race tyres if you decide to race.

I've got slime tire liners and haven't had any issues in the short time
since I put them in.

The LBS guy pointed out that the back wheel had several different types
of spoke (blade, round, in black and unpainted metal), indicating that
there had been a number of replacements made, showed me how a number of
the nipples were rounded (presumably they can be cheaply replaced?) and
said something I didn't quite understand about potential for them to
break somehow and it not to be repairable, in which case I'd be up for
a new set of wheels.

But probably I'll just go for a low cost rebuild and if that isn't
possible get one of those Mavic Open Pro builds people here are talking
about.

Travis

Travis said:

But probably I'll just go for a low cost rebuild and if that isn't
possible get one of those Mavic Open Pro builds people here are talking
about.

Travis

Have just purchased a new set of mavic open pros on ultegra hubs and dt competition hubs, it is a beautiful thing and a huge improvement on my old shimano r550 wheelset. Thats my 2C

Travis said:

The wheels on my "new" second hand Trek look in ok condition to me, but
the LBS said they've been a bit banged up by the previous owner and
while a low cost rebuild may at some future service may fix what ails
them (brittle spokes, rounded spoke nipples), its possible at some
stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set.

He quoted me around $600 for a new pair of wheels, or a few tens for
the rebuild. Naturally I'd go for the rebuild unless the thing is
beyond repair, but so I can check out prices and consider my
alternatives, I'd like some suggestions of appropriate replacement
wheels.

I currently have Bontrager Race Lite wheels fitted, they're original
equipment on a Trek 2300.

The bike is mainly used for commuting at this point in time, though I
can see myself getting into club racing events once my fitness has
reached an appropriate level.

So I need something that's not going to be ruined by commuting, doesn't
cost TOO much, and has good bang for the buck.

Any suggestions?

Most people, including myself, will strongly recommend Shimano
105/ultegra/dura ace hubs with Mavic Open Pro rims, and some selection
of DT Swiss spokes. These are bombproof and cheap (depending on your
choice of spoke). We've also worked with DT Swiss RR 1.1 rims, which
are a whole 10g lighter than the Open Pros but are a little dodgey -
I've seen too many of them with cracking around the spoke eyelets. For
10g, it's not worth the risk, IMO. The DT Swiss hubs, on the other
hand, are delightful, but you will not find them cheap!

These are find for racing, commutting etc. Here's a tip - you can race
on just about any wheels (as long as they're at least 16 spokes). It's
your legs & lungs that make you go fast, fancy wheels are [censored] value
except at the elite level of the sport where fractions of a second
start to be relevant. Invest time in training, it's worth so much more
than wanky wheels.

That said, you can also get some good wheelsets that aren't the above
built - I very much like Easton (formerly Velomax) circuits - they're a
good, strong and lightish wheelset that should retail for around
$750-$900. They're at least as good as the equivalent Ksyriums and a
lot cheaper and easier to get parts for (or, cheaper to get parts for
anyway). A friend of mine, 110kg, commutes on them (1700g wheelset)
and he has had no problems with them. My next set of wheels will be
Easton Orion II's, I can't build a wheel that light and strong for the
price they sell for, but they will only be used for racing, I wouldn't
commute on them, not because they're not strong enough, but because I
trash wheels descending in the wet and replacing expensive rims gets
expensive!

You can read about them here : http://www.eastonbike.com/
Some people here have recommended rebuilding your racelites, which
isn't a bad option either, I've built a few of these and they build up
ok. I wouldn't suggest trying to use the Bontrager hubs with other
rims though, they're designed to work with paired spokes and a
conventional spoke pattern will be ... interesting ... to lace up with
the spoke holes on your hubs. You can get new Bontrager rims - we
often rebuild them after crash damage and they're not a bad wheel to
rebuilt. The hubs are ok but not brilliant.

so, now we get 4 weeks of you trying to find a dodgey deal? 🙂

Bleve said:

My next set of wheels will be Easton Orion II's, I can't build a wheel that light and strong for the price they sell for, but they will only be used for racing, I wouldn't commute on them, not because they're not strong enough, but because I trash wheels descending in the wet and replacing expensive rims gets expensive!

Yeah, I'm running these on my roadie. Only small issues I've had are;
Rear hub has come loose maybe 3 times. Usually noted by a ticking kinda sound from the rear. 2, 5mm Hex keys fixes this quickly though.
Kool Stops are a tad wide on them and make it a fiddley job to get them centred and not over hang.
Apart from that they have been serving me well over the past 7 months.
Speaking of rims, anyone tried Velocity Razors as a Open Pro Alt?

Travis said:

The LBS guy pointed out that the back wheel had several different types
of spoke (blade, round, in black and unpainted metal), indicating that
there had been a number of replacements made, showed me how a number of
the nipples were rounded (presumably they can be cheaply replaced?)

I have absolutely no idea if you can get nipples separately. However they
come as standard with spokes, and if there are a range of spokes on the
back I'd say it's up for a rebuild.

If the hub and rim are OK just replace the spokes. Decent spokes will cost
$1-2 each, depending on what you go for. Much more than this and you're
either getting wanky spokes or ripped off. Also factor in a wheel build,
unless you want to do it yourself. AFAIK that's around the $50 mark.

If the rim is cactus, or even starting to look that way, you may as well
pop a new one on now. From an MTB perspective decent rims are around the
$100 mark, so I'd expect a road rim to be similar.

Unless you've got really nice hubs, you might be better off getting a new
wheelset anyway. Keep the existing ones for hack about rims, with cheap
and crappy tyres on them. You can get a wheelset
for $160 here:
http://www.phantomcycles.com.au/product.php?productid=2533&cat=35&page=2

Or for around $500 you can get Open pro rims on half decent hubs.

Dave - who isn't affiliated with Phantom, but has bought a few bits from
Kerry in the past.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Mr Tulip's vices were also limitless, but he owned up to cheap
aftershave because a man has to drink *something* -- Terry Pratchett

JayWoo said:

Yeah, I'm running these on my roadie. Only small issues I've had are;
Rear hub has come loose maybe 3 times. Usually noted by a ticking kinda sound from the rear. 2, 5mm Hex keys fixes this quickly though.
Kool Stops are a tad wide on them and make it a fiddley job to get them centred and not over hang.
Apart from that they have been serving me well over the past 7 months.
Speaking of rims, anyone tried Velocity Razors as a Open Pro Alt?

My wife is using Velocity Razor's on her road bike and has been happy with them. Front is 28h with a Ringle hub and the rear is 32h Ultegra. Spokes are Sapim 14-17-14 with alloy nipples. There haven't been any problems at all with these but she only weighs 50kg. They wouldn't survive being used by me for more than a few rides though due to my being a bit of a clydesdale.
My next wheels will be Velocity Fusions 32h, Chris King hubs with 14-16-14 DT spokes which will be light enough and reliable.

Cheers

Geoff

Lots of ill informed tosh and random opinion below. So here we go with my
serve of same:

Brittle spokes? Yes - and for two reasons. First, vibration will 'work
harden' spokes over time - particularly at contact points - such as the 'j'
bend and the point where the spoke and nipple join. The more work a spoke
has done the more brittle it will become. This generally is not a huge
issue unless there is variation in spoke tension - some are tighter than
others. If the wheel is not frequently 'tweaked' to maintain approx even
spoke tension some spokes will bear more of the weight and get more work
hardened. Secondly, there are a number of ways of treating spokes to get
either specific performance (ask a metalurgist) or aesthetics. Some cheap
treatments used to render a hard black finish on spokes can make them prone
to snapping.

Some suggestion in the responses below that hubs and rims have the smae life
span and that therefore replace them at the same time. Utter tosh - well
maintained hubs will last for years - BUT rims subject to frequent braking
and wet conditions will s*%& themselves V quick. Possible a lot less than 12
months - regardless of quality. Many new rims have wear markers in them to
so that you can see the extent of wear. If in doubt replace the rim - this
is far cheaper than the dentistry than may be required by persisting with an
aged and weary rim.

If there are a mixture of spoke types in the rear wheel then get them all
replaced with a single type. The difference in the relative stiffness of
the current ones will be referring stress to the tightest point (spoke /
rim) of the circle - with some 'ooops that hurt' moment not too far away.

Sounds over all tho' like the wheels have had a bit of a work out. Check
the hubs bearing fit - this should be quite firm (assuming they are
sealed?), straightness of the axle and condition of the spoke-holes in the
hub. If these pass muster consider getting new rims built on to them - but
all with one spoke type this time. If not - retire them as having done a
noble job and part with circa $1k

"Travis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The wheels on my "new" second hand Trek look in ok condition to me, but
the LBS said they've been a bit banged up by the previous owner and
while a low cost rebuild may at some future service may fix what ails
them (brittle spokes, rounded spoke nipples), its possible at some
stage I may be up for a new set of wheels. Actually its only the back
wheel which is a bit dodgy, the front is perfect but supposedly wheels
come as a set.

He quoted me around $600 for a new pair of wheels, or a few tens for
the rebuild. Naturally I'd go for the rebuild unless the thing is
beyond repair, but so I can check out prices and consider my
alternatives, I'd like some suggestions of appropriate replacement
wheels.

I currently have Bontrager Race Lite wheels fitted, they're original
equipment on a Trek 2300.

The bike is mainly used for commuting at this point in time, though I
can see myself getting into club racing events once my fitness has
reached an appropriate level.

So I need something that's not going to be ruined by commuting, doesn't
cost TOO much, and has good bang for the buck.

Any suggestions?

Travis