A couple of months ago I had to replace my front wheel, and ended up with a Crossride, which seems very well built and rolls really well. Now the hub in my rear wheel has packed up and I am looking for a replacement. I was hunting around for a used Crossride to match it, when I saw that On-One have Red Metal 5 wheelsets for £100 (and they are centerlock compatible, which I need).

Would it be better to stick to the plan of getting a rear Crossride, or buy the Red Metal set and sell my front Crossride? The Red Metals seem a whisker lighter and I am a reasonably heavy rider at 80kg but I don’t think this would matter as we’re not talking superlight wheelsets anyway. Thoughts?

my only issue with crossride is the availability of spokes, not all LBS will have them if you’re out and about and bust one.

and will a LBS buy a box of 20 on the off chance you’ll be back for more.

I had a set of Freemantle 5s for a few years. Seemed nice and tough, gave a good round profile to my tires and were easy to convert to Stans Tubeless System.
For that price it’s a no brainer!

Cheers for the replies. Think I will go for thenm, at that price you can’t really go wrong and from what i’m reading they will be as good as the Crossrides at the very least. Only thing I’m worried about is whether the freehub sound will p*ss me off 😉

I have some for about 5 months, been fine, just take the horrible stickers off

I like the noisy freehub 🙂

Mavic crossrides now out of action for 4 months, spokes not available.

mavic spokes are easy to get a hold of for just about any shop. they should be able to get them within a few days.

fulcrum rims on the other hand… rare as hens teeth to buy individually? some of them are.

ian,ive had a few sets of crossride spokes delivered in the past 3 or 4 months no probs.check availability through another shop to see what they come up with.

Crossrides for about 8 months – talentless 15 stone rider, riding a hardtail once or twice a week. They spin well, they’ve stayed perfectly true (despite regular small drops/jumps) and all the spokes are still taught. What more can you ask for?

Have a look at the Superstar Tech 2s. £85 quid a pair at the minute. One of my riding buddies has had a set for about a year, and reckons they’re easily as good as his Hope Hoops.

ive run both over a 2+ year period, imho the red metals are far far superior in build and quality, been 100 percent bombproof, last well, crossrides are just inferior built, and heavier..

ianw I have some crossride spokes from a rear wheel i took apart let me know if you want some mail in profile.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sturmey I’ll take you up on that offer If they are a match.

My wheel is a rim brake variety. Its a rear with 275mm straight pull with the last 10mm threaded.

Amazed these are about two lbs have told me they cant get them.
Cheers

I’ve got some Red Metal 3’s, very reliable and strong.

ianw ygm

I’ve had my Cross Rides for 2 years, and only had to have the rear trued up once, fantastic wheels for the cash and they look nice too 8)

I am over 90kg and used Red Metal 5’s, i thought they were great.

I’ve never owned a set of factory wheels, always bought shimano hubs/mavic rims from Merlin. How do these Red Metal 5’s compare to a pair of xt hubs on 317’s for example?