Wheel advice...

Hi all,

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm thinking of putting together some nice wheels for
cross-country and retiring my current ones to commuting duty. This is still a pipeline plan at the
moment, because money is fairly tight for at least this month, but I'd like to hear your opinions on
what to put together.

My riding is generally cross-country singletrack, I'm in the 'pie-eater' weight bracket (95 kg), my
bike is a hardtail. I don't go out of my way to do any jumps or drops, but I can occasionally be
quite clumsy. Having said that, my lightweight crossrides have lasted 2 years until I trashed the
rear last weekend. I have no intention to upgrade this bike to disks, so there is no need to
consider disk-specific hubs or rims.

I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
you think?

Cheers - Adam...

 

"Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm thinking of putting together some nice wheels for
> cross-country and retiring my current ones to commuting duty. This is still a pipeline plan at the
> moment, because money is fairly tight for at least this month, but I'd like to hear your opinions
> on what to put together.
>
> My riding is generally cross-country singletrack, I'm in the 'pie-eater' weight bracket (95 kg),
> my bike is a hardtail. I don't go out of my way to do any jumps or drops, but I can occasionally
> be quite clumsy. Having said that, my lightweight crossrides have lasted 2 years until I trashed
> the rear last weekend. I have no intention to upgrade this bike to disks, so there is no need to
> consider disk-specific hubs or rims.
>
> I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
> you think?
>
> Cheers - Adam...

I don't understand why a pie eater wants a 28h front wheel. Or an x517 for that matter. I've owned
(in order) mavic 117s, 217s and 517s and still have some 117s but the 217s and 517s have all gone
pear shaped on me. They're just too bendy unless you're really light. Which I'm not. They were all
32h so a 28H is asking for it.

For what it's worth, I'm also a pie eater with similar riding style and my next wheelset is
going to be 36h 618s on Hope XC disc hubs. You can argue till the cows come home about wether
36h is demonstrably stronger but I reckon they're much easier to true. I don't have discs but I
can't square away spending a lot of money on non-disc hubs anymore. "May as well have the
option" is my thinking.

Remember that Pie eater+light fetish=bent bike+light wallet

Andy Chequer has sensibly middleweight bike

 

Are you from WIGAN beeing a pie eater

"Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm thinking of putting together some nice wheels for
> cross-country and retiring my current ones to commuting duty. This is still a pipeline plan at the
> moment, because money is fairly tight for at least this month, but I'd like to hear your opinions
> on what to put together.
>
> My riding is generally cross-country singletrack, I'm in the 'pie-eater' weight bracket (95 kg),
> my bike is a hardtail. I don't go out of my way to do any jumps or drops, but I can occasionally
> be quite clumsy. Having said that, my lightweight crossrides have lasted 2 years until I trashed
> the rear last weekend. I have no intention to upgrade this bike to disks, so there is no need to
> consider disk-specific hubs or rims.
>
> I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
> you think?
>
> Cheers - Adam...

 

"Andy Chequer" <[email protected](youdontwantthisbitinit)thisisasparagus.com> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
-8<- snip ->8-
> > I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
> > you think?
>
> I don't understand why a pie eater wants a 28h front wheel. Or an x517 for that matter. I've owned
> (in order) mavic 117s, 217s and 517s and still have some 117s but the 217s and 517s have all gone
> pear shaped on me. They're just too bendy unless you're really light. Which I'm not. They were all
> 32h so a 28H is asking for it.

That's interesting. I've ridden the crossrides for two years (as I mentioned) with little or no
trouble, and that's a 24h radially laced wheel with a pretty lightweight rim (I understand now that
it's pretty much equivalent to x221). I've had no problem at all with the front, and the rear
survived until I whacked it last weekend - even then, it's only going to be a rim replacement...

A friend of mine is pretty much the same weight as me and rides an all but identical bike. He's had
x517s (32h, I think) for just over two years and has replaced them with x517s (upgraded to disks).

> For what it's worth, I'm also a pie eater with similar riding style and my next wheelset is going
> to be 36h 618s on Hope XC disc hubs. You can argue till the cows come home about wether 36h is
> demonstrably stronger but I reckon they're much easier to true.

That in itself could be a good reason...

> I don't have discs but I can't square away spending a lot of
> money on non-disc hubs anymore. "May as well have the option"
> is my thinking.

This bike will never have disks - no tabs on the frame or the fork and I'm very happy indeed with
the HS33s.

> Remember that Pie eater+light fetish=bent bike+light wallet

I don't particularly have a light fetish, but when I went to the crossrides (which were much lighter
than the wheels they replaced) it really seemed to make a positive difference to the way the bike
handled, so my feeling since then has been that wheels are worth spending money on to get as light
and strong as poossible (based on the old "light, strong, cheap: choose any two" adage).

> Andy Chequer has sensibly middleweight bike

Other than my wheels, everything else is sensibly middleweight...

Thanks for the advice, Andy.

Adam...

 

Invest some time in leraning how to build your own wheels. Then you will be be able to build
whatever YOU want.

 

Andy Chequer wrote:
> "Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm thinking of putting together some nice wheels for
>>cross-country and retiring my current ones to commuting duty. This is still a pipeline plan at the
>>moment, because money is fairly tight for at least this month, but I'd like to hear your opinions
>>on what to put together.
>>
>>My riding is generally cross-country singletrack, I'm in the 'pie-eater' weight bracket (95 kg),
>>my bike is a hardtail. I don't go out of my way to do any jumps or drops, but I can occasionally
>>be quite clumsy. Having said that, my lightweight crossrides have lasted 2 years until I trashed
>>the rear last weekend. I have no intention to upgrade this bike to disks, so there is no need to
>>consider disk-specific hubs or rims.
>>
>>I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
>>you think?
>>
>>Cheers - Adam...
>
>
> I don't understand why a pie eater wants a 28h front wheel. Or an x517 for that matter. I've owned
> (in order) mavic 117s, 217s and 517s and still have some 117s but the 217s and 517s have all gone
> pear shaped on me. They're just too bendy unless you're really light. Which I'm not. They were all
> 32h so a 28H is asking for it.
>
> For what it's worth, I'm also a pie eater with similar riding style and my next wheelset is going
> to be 36h 618s on Hope XC disc hubs. You can argue till the cows come home about wether 36h is
> demonstrably stronger but I reckon they're much easier to true. I don't have discs but I can't
> square away spending a lot of money on non-disc hubs anymore. "May as well have the option" is my
> thinking.
>
> Remember that Pie eater+light fetish=bent bike+light wallet
>
> Andy Chequer has sensibly middleweight bike
>

I'm about 100kg. I broke a rear 32hole 519 rear rim -- split under the rim tape. Every Mavic rear
rim that I've owned has done this or split at the eyelets. If I had the money, I'd go 36 hole, but I
won't give up my Chris King and I don't have the money to replace it. If you want a 618 rear, go 36
hole and check the build. Tell your LBS that you expect the spokes to be evenly tensioned and stress
relieved and that you won't accept the wheel until you can pluck the spokes and they sound the same
pitch (the sides will be different, but all of the spokes on the same side should be close to the
same pitch). If they don't understand or balk, find a real wheel builder. Note that a machine built
wheel is unevenly tensioned and not stress relieved and won't last as long. If the wheel pings and
pops when you first ride it or when you put it in your lap and apply tacoing pressure, the builder
didn't untwist the spokes -- another sign of an inexperienced builder.

As to the front, it takes a lot less stress, but at 95 kg, why risk a couple less spokes? I'd at
least use 32 hole for strength; or 36 hole for balanced looks .

oh, and I'd also use brass nipples. They're a little heavier, but they won't corrode to the spokes
or be as likely to strip when you need to true the wheel down the road.

David

 

ClydesdaleMTB <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Invest some time in leraning how to build your own wheels. Then you will be be able to build
> whatever YOU want.

Hi Clydesdale,

I have just learnt (although I guess it's something you keep on learning about) and have built
wheels for friends and partner, although I've never built any for *myself* before. That's why I'm
asking for people's opinions on rims and hubs...

Cheers - Adam...

 

David Kunz <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Andy Chequer wrote:
> > "Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
-8<- snip ->8-
> >>I've been thinking about Hope mono hubs and mavic x517 28h front, mavic x618 32h rear. What do
> >>you think?
> >
> > I don't understand why a pie eater wants a 28h front wheel. Or an x517 for that matter. I've
> > owned (in order) mavic 117s, 217s and 517s and still have some 117s but the 217s and 517s have
> > all gone pear shaped on me. They're just too bendy unless you're really light. Which I'm not.
> > They were all 32h so a 28H is asking for it.
> >
> > For what it's worth, I'm also a pie eater with similar riding style and my next wheelset is
> > going to be 36h 618s on Hope XC disc hubs. You can argue till the cows come home about wether
> > 36h is demonstrably stronger but I reckon they're much easier to true. I don't have discs but I
> > can't square away spending a lot of money on non-disc hubs anymore. "May as well have the
> > option" is my thinking.
> >
> > Remember that Pie eater+light fetish=bent bike+light wallet
> >
> > Andy Chequer has sensibly middleweight bike
> >
>
> I'm about 100kg. I broke a rear 32hole 519 rear rim -- split under the rim tape. Every Mavic rear
> rim that I've owned has done this or split at the eyelets. If I had the money, I'd go 36 hole, but
> I won't give up my Chris King and I don't have the money to replace it. If you want a 618 rear, go
> 36 hole and check the build. Tell your LBS that you expect the spokes to be evenly tensioned and
> stress relieved and that you won't accept the wheel until you can pluck the spokes and they sound
> the same pitch (the sides will be different, but all of the spokes on the same side should be
> close to the same pitch). If they don't understand or balk, find a real wheel builder. Note that a
> machine built wheel is unevenly tensioned and not stress relieved and won't last as long. If the
> wheel pings and pops when you first ride it or when you put it in your lap and apply tacoing
> pressure, the builder didn't untwist the spokes -- another sign of an inexperienced builder.

Thanks David. I will be building them myself.

Can you (or anyone else) recommend rims from anyone other than Mavic? Not that I have a problem with
Mavic; I'd just be interested to hear about other experiences...

> As to the front, it takes a lot less stress, but at 95 kg, why risk a couple less spokes? I'd at
> least use 32 hole for strength; or 36 hole for balanced looks .

Well, the original thinking wsa for the weight saving - I've always regarded wheels as the best
place to save weight. Given the responses, though, I think I'll go up to 32 at the front.

> oh, and I'd also use brass nipples. They're a little heavier, but they won't corrode to the spokes
> or be as likely to strip when you need to true the wheel down the road.

Agreed.

Thanks for the advice - Adam...

 

Adam wrote:
> ClydesdaleMTB <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>Invest some time in leraning how to build your own wheels. Then you will be be able to build
>>whatever YOU want.
>
>
> Hi Clydesdale,
>
> I have just learnt (although I guess it's something you keep on learning about) and have built
> wheels for friends and partner, although I've never built any for *myself* before. That's why I'm
> asking for people's opinions on rims and hubs...

Hugi (or $_Chris King_$ )hubs Sun rims DT-Swiss spokes Brass nipples

what else is there?