I’m a bit underwhelmed by my Hope Hoops, not sure I’d buy another set. Can’t really put my finger on why, they feel slow, and it’s not just because they’re heavier than my race wheels. Cynic-Al tells me I’m not allowed to put it down to bearing drag, even though there is tonnes, and they’re starting to go a bit gritty despite having relatively little use.

I’d probably choose the Superstars if I was after another set (and I didn’t have access to Hoops at trade!).

Hoops seem to have come back down in price so the Superstars aren’t as tempting an option as they were. If their builds were more consistent they’d be a better option but my mate’s had nightmares with his Superstars (including being told that it was all his fault for expecting an all mountain wheelset to survive Glentress red)

The Switch hub feels pretty much exactly as draggy as a Pro2, though I don’t think the difference is noticable in use myself (my ancient Shimanos spin forever, at least 10 times longer than either of my Pro2s, but they all feel the same when riding)

I suspect it is psychological and the difference is the weight, but I know my race wheels will spin better with the brakes dragging slightly than my Hopes will without! Must be some losses there!

Agree on SSC builds, seen some really poor ones. Could get Novatech hubs off eBay and custom build, dunno how the price would compare.

including being told that it was all his fault for expecting an all mountain wheelset to survive Glentress red

Really? 😯

I did and they have been fine. They were significantly cheaper and they threw in a free tubeless kit worth £30, which clinched the deal.

What makes the Hopes that much better than these hubs? They are made by Novatec/Joytec, who make good quality hubs.

They aren’t that much difference in price at all. Novatec hubs are cheap as chips, my brother has some on his road bike. Hope hubs are way better quality, and customer service is excellent if anything does go wrong.

i didnt read all that ^^

but what about american classic AM wheelset?

http://www.amclassic.com/en/products/mtbwheels/allmountaindisc.php

1546g/pair

I’ve just bought an Arch/Pro 2 Evo, supercomp, brass nipples and running tubes that is 967g for the rear, so you’d be struggling to break 1800g for the set?

The Sun Ringle Black Flag Expert wheels 1725g and Sun Ringle Charger Expert 1825g on CRC for £185 and £190 respectively are a good buy.

Both use Stans Notubes based rims – the Black Flag are the XC/Trail wheelset with a 24mm rim and the Charger more AM with a wider 28mm rim and come with valves, yellow tape and sealant which normally would cost another £20+ if you buy Hopes.

A cheapish option – Halo 4XRs

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/wheel-sets/product/review-halo-4xr-wheelset-11-45050/

They’re a shade under 1800 grams and won’t break the bank

I’ve recently fitted a set to my 160mm AM bike and first impressions are excellent

some of these bad boys. only ever seen one pair in the flesh, but god theyre sexy. hub is a superfast noisy engagement that sounds like an angry wasp. cant elaborate any more than that, but i seriously want some.

For the £/weight/strength I doubt you could beat the Sun Charger Experts on CRC at the moment for £146!:
Charger wheelset

I’ve already got a set of xm717 on WTB speedlite disc rear, RockyMountain Carbon 20mm front that are uber light (sub 1600), but their just not quite wide enough to the support tyres well under hard cornering. They are plenty strong enough, and have put up with all the abuse I give them tho.

Scar

Running bontrager rhythm pros here. under 1700 grams, tubeless, cheapish.
Apart from the palls needing changing a few times, and some tyres not seating properly/easily, excellent wheels.

I think Stan’s are the Emperors new rims. Folks always recommend them because they are lighter than Mavic.

I don’t trust them after my bad experiences with them. A racing snake mate has white Olympics on his bike. After a ride the other day I noticed they are corroding, especially around the spoke holes. A quick google shows this to be fairly common.

It would be good if DT came out with rims that were not so prone to denting, and there would be a third way.

And Superstars famous aftersales service means it should be Hope all the way.

I built my own wheels recently for similar reasons. Wanted to build them around a set of DT Swiss 240’s but the hub prices new were frightening. Managed to find a second hand wheelset for cheap, so bought it, stripped the rims, sold them & was left with the hubs for £100.

Ended up with Flow’s (sadly I couldn’t find anything more suitable) and DT Revolution spokes. Including my ghetto tubeless setup (electric tape & Mavic UST valves) they came out at a gnat’s boll*ck over 1700g.

Saved a good chunk over the default choice of Pro 2/Flow & were cheaper too.

However, at nearly £600 to build new, its an expensive way to save 200g!

mavic crossmax sx for me too 🙂