Rear Wheel hub now fooobarred, can't make it last any longer, need new rear wheel, on a budget, crossrides look good.

Opinions gratefully received!

Jim

They are heavy. They don't last that well. Cheap, though.

A Deore hub on XC717 would be similar price, but lighter. Try Merlin Cycles, they make good custom wheels, and they are cheep.

Hubs=good, Rims=fairly strong, hard riding=bad, XC=good, Hard riding=spokes break and replacements = whole pack for IIRC £25 (flat spokes) so cheap, but fixing difficult/costly!

Got two Crossride wheel sets & have had no problems although I ride mainly XC none of this DH malarky 🙂

I got my rear wheel off the STW classifieds & I'm very happy with it.

yup no heorics from me – just XC and a bit of trails, but with no drops to speak of. Not getting in with the Shimano cone stuff, like the idea of cartride bearings.

they wouldn't be heavier than my current wheels!

ok so thats decided then. Thansk for the advice 🙂

Jim

freehub inboard bearing is actually a bushing and is a pest, requiring regular maintenance (6-9mths) to run smoothly

bearings are cheap and easy to replace

heard bad stuff about spokes but no experience.

My crossrides lasted 18mth, bearings are replaceable, but freehub bush isnt, and a new freehub is £50 ish, so just buy a new rear!

Spokes arent an issue, new rim isnt much more than a rebuild so why worry

Not heavy for a factory 19mm rimset, lighter and cheaper than XT/719 at least, and a lot cheaper than Hope pro2 719 or 4.2d's

only better value are the Bontrager rhythm's as there a 22mm rim same weight as crossrides and £170 a pair for the comps, standard spokes, great rims tubeless too!

http://www.bontrager.com/model/07852/en
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/bontrager-rhythm-comp-item115799.html
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bontrager/rhythm-comp-tlr-disc-wheel-ec017843

I picked a rear up for £30 posted, with skewer, tube and minion tyre the other day. It weighs 1.14g with skewer and rim strip according to my cheap fish scales (just weighed). I've got it ghetto tubeless with a Minion DHR 2.5" and 30psi and it was fine for Redhill extreme 4X/Pump Tracks on Sunday and some DH action yesterday… I'm not a complete thrash, but neither am I smooth, seems fine with a decent air pressure in it.
On the back of a stiffee as well.

Very happy with mine,there are some small improvements over previous incarnations. No issues at all.
I compared the weight against my XT/819's. The front XT combo was lighter and the rear heavier.
Look better than their price suggests as well.

Mavic on Hope, you cant go wrong and not that much more money.

Brilliant, had mine for 18 months and have been used on my xc hardtail. I have had to true the rear once which was easy, bearings are still perfect and the free wheel/hub still runs perfectly. Ignore people who say they are heavy. My 2008 set with an XT cassette on weigh in 1944g (measured on bike shop scales a month ago).

My opinion was on my mates 2007 crossrides above. 2 spokes broke over a period of 4 months (about 1 yr into their life). Repair was specific to Mavic (flat spokes). He is an XC rider but rides moderately heavily but no big drops. Apart from that the hubs were great – upgraded to XT hubs with XC 717. Good value for money IMO.

I was very happy with my V/disc set. Pretty light for what You pay for, plenty strong for xc. Got them when I was over 16st without gear, performed flawlessly 🙂 Sold them after about 8 months working perfectly and running true (they were silver, and didn't match my black frame :-D). My girlfriends brother got a set of disc only black ones, he rides XC and he's pretty light but is mighty quick so they get proper use. Wheels work perfect, no bent/broken spokes, he's very happy with them. If You put some light tyres and tubes this could be a nice and quick set of wheels. His set weights a bit less than my current Bonty Race Lites with normal tubes and Kenda Blue Groove/Maxxis Larsen TT exceptions (Bonty RL are only around 80g lighter anyway). I would still prefer to pick up some nice second hand Race Lites, as they go for around the same as new Crossrides, normal spokes and are tubeless ready rims, come with DT hubs (easy to service) and are still a bit lighter, plus the decals are not in Your face as Mavics white and yellow ones.

Havent got the crossrides, but one of the guys I ride with has them on his hardtail and he rides as hard as anyone I know. He's just replaced the rear bearings and he's had to tighten the spokes up every now and then, but he's happy with them. Come with SKF bearings in them too, far better than the cup and cone crap in shimano hubs.