What do factory builds offer ‘more’ of? I generally think they offer less, but there you go…!

What do you want to use them for? If you can handbuild yourself, then I’d seriously consider…..

Sokin 20/24hole hubs 288g/pair off ebay (or the pair off classifieds yesterday) £50-70

Stans Alpha 340 rims £160/pr

DT revolution spokes £40 from Rose

That will give you an approx. 1300g wheelset for £250ish

Pretty much, DT tried but the first eyelet less design wasn’t reliable, and the replacement was heavier than open pro’s.

cheap alphas (just check the build before riding and loosing a child).

the downside to those SS wheels is the straight pull spokes are (according to SS) made specifically for them in the required length so spares could be tricky. Put me off buying them earlier in the year.

Just a question, anybody running Alpha’s on 20H hubs up front suffering stifness issues at all? Or are they stiff enough built well?

FWIW Superstar do their own brand hubs built onto Stans Alphas (20/24H) for £250 and they come in at £1350 the pair… Tempting, if I had the money!

yep, I’ve got some 20f/24r alphas (superstar). I’m around 80kg. I was a bit worried at first but the front wheel has been fine so far, only done a couple of hundred miles so far, its still as true as when I first got it. The rear has gone out of true by a couple of mm but still fine.

I’m fairly sure they are re-branded Novatech hubs that Superstar use.

The rear going out by a couple of mm is alot. I would get that seen too. If you use Sapim spokes the build will cost less and they are just as good, infact I prefer Sapim Laser over DT revs as they are easiier to build with (you have to do a fair bit of bending of DT revs at the elbow to get them sitting right on a 2 cross or 3 cross build). I would also use a 2.0mm/1.8/2.0mm spoke like the DT comp or Sapim Race on the drive side rear.

Personally I would not go for super light weight for the OP as he/she is not racing/TT. Also all the builds suggested assume he can build them himself/herself. If he can then great but if not those builds will go over budget.

An alternative to the Novatec hubs are the Miche Racing box or Primato. They do weigh 440g for a pair but are well finished, have quiet freehubs and use larger bearings than most hubs front and rear (6001) so they are durable. There is a downside however. The U.K distributor only sells in pairs of the same drilling so I have had to go through Miche and buy of them to get the 24H version and the front and rears individually. Not something an individual can do though. These hubs are also O.K for radial lacing as it does not invaliadte the warranty. The novatec hubs are probably O.K for radial lacing but I do not use them I cannot say for sure.

Velocity A23 rim 28H 2x front (or 24H radial) and 28H 2x or 32H 3x rear on the Miche RG2 (racing box)They also cost £70 for a pir of whjatever drilling you want. Grant some novatec are lighter but other Novatec’s are heavier.

24Hole version of the Miche hub is not normmally avialble in the U.K but I have a couple comming on order.

I think the velocity A23 28H front (or 24H front) with 28H or 32H build with Miche hubs and velocity A23 rims come in between 1600 and 1700g (1009g for a 24F with 28R)with brass nipples but will be reliable and sub £250. Save some more weight with Alu nipples. Use some of the lightweight Novatec hubs and more weight will be saved but at the hub where it matters least.

A note on the Open Pro’s, a good rim but the last one’s I had weighed a whopping 480g!

Some of these cheap light weight hubs like Sokin/novatech e.t.c work but use small bearings which wear out more quickly and can have axle allignment issues sometimes. Lightweight hubs from the likes of Tune are alot better but cost alot more.

Alot of factory wheels are pretty good. The only issue is propriority parts but as the like of Fulcrum rarely go wrong this is not much of an issue.