Are the Cotic CC hubs and deepdish wheels that are available with the Roadrat any good? Does anyone know who makes the rims/hubs for them?

No one?

Ask Cy or Paul? They’re usually pretty open about stuff like that.

+1 for asking Cotic.

The reviews I’ve read on the Escapade say the hubs are good quality but with the tyres that come as stock, the wheels are overall quite heavy.

I asked Cotic last week if the rims are eyeletted (which I view as making the wheels stronger as they spread the load from the spoke) and they said no – so I’m paying the additional £200 to get the Hope/Stans wheelset and putting some Conti Grand Prix 4000s on, on that basis…

I had some Cotic wheels on a Roadrat from 2008 – 2013 and never had a problem with them though – but they were eyeletted rims rather than these new ones

+1 for the hubs being good – the ones on my roadrat still spin longer and more smoothly than anything else in the shed. Sadly can’t be converted to newer axle standards, though

Hmmm £200 for non-eyeletted wheels seems a lot….but I cannot afford the extra for Hopes. Plus I don’t want anything too flashy in case it gets pinched. I emailed Cotic this afternoon. I’m guessing Novatech hubs but I’ll wait and see.

I’d assumed that for an additional £200, the Stans rims would be eyeletted but apparently they’re not! Surprising, as the Hope Hoops with Mavic Open Pro do…

I’ll have a chat with the LBS on the wheel choices then and see what my options are re getting some decent wheels for it

It’s the 9mm axle that is stumping me. Initial searches have drawn a blank on hubs that can take a 9mm thru axle. Otherwise I would just build my own wheels.

Edit – as in a hub that works out a cost effective alternative to Cotics own wheels

I got the std wheels on my escapade. They looked better without the rim brake surface of the stans alternative. Cy said he had the std wheels on his escapade for the same reason. I’ve not had any problems with them. I guess you can get lighter wheels but it’s not that sort of bike for me. Been on road/ off road and no probs so far.

Thanks Burko,
I’m going to be using this for a mix of road and relatively flat countryside bridleways so strength and reasonable weight are important. Not least the wheels on my other bikes are all eyeletted and sensible weight so I don’t want the Escapade to feel sluggish in comparison.

I was very impressed with the Roadrat rims and hubs I had (a 2008 model) so if the standard wheels are the same quality I’m sure I’ll be fine. The review I read which commented on weight focussed more on tyres than the wheels and I’m changing those already.

£200 extra for a pair of non-eyeletted rims seems poor value to me – better off selling on the standard wheels or excluding them from the purchase, and sourcing my own…

I asked Cotic last week if the rims are eyeletted (which I view as making the wheels stronger as they spread the load from the spoke) and they said no

Well that certainly may have been case in the old days of Alu rims, but there’s been a fair bit of progress in the last 30 years 😉 And as you’ve already noticed, Stans (and many other posh rims) are not eyeletted. There’s also the difference between single and double (sockets) eyeletted, which are rarer on lightweight rims, to think about, single often not much different to none in some cases.

There are good rims with eyelets and bad rims with eyelets, and likewise there are good rims without eyelets as well as bad. Really the rim should be chosen on it’s overall quality and fitness for intended use, not by whether it has eyelets or not.

Personally I’d go with the OEM wheels and see how they are, you can always upgrade later if you find them deficient in some way in real world use, but at the moment you’re playing the virtual upgrade game based on paper specs and nothing else really.

That’s a fair point. Thinking about it all the rims I have had wih eyelets have ended up corroding around the eyelet. I think salt off the road must get stuck in them and then leaves a nasty stain on the rim.

Heard back from Cotic today. The hubs are Novatec as I suspected. Seem to be good in my experience from other Novatec hubs.

Now I just need to decide on the frame colour….

Superstar hubs (novatecs too?) Have a 9mm option which is for a fat QR that fits in normal QR dropouts.