I ride a hardtail 26 inch bike. Rear wheel is Decathlon own brand hub mated to a Mavic 317 rim. Rear hub sounds like a bunch of marbles bouncing around a metal dustbin.

I don’t think Mavic 317 rims are made any more, so what is a god replacement? Hope hubs seem very expensive, but I have had lots of people say they are worth it (but nearly £200 for one mated to stans rim at the lbs).

My only requirements are not too heavy and has got to be easy to put on a tyre – I have heard Stans crest rims are quite tight, I am not keen on using tyre levers if I can help it.

From Merlin a 317 rim on a deore hub is £57 and it would match the front rim. Stans rims are a bitch to get some tyres on and if you don’t want to use leavers then it would be best to avoid if your not running tubeless.

might want toget something a bit wider than a 317 on the rear.
mavic rims and shimano hubs are by far the best vfm.
though I’ve had good luck with sun rims as well.

Thanks Jonk, they don’t appear to do a disc version any more.

Regardless at that price (assuming I go for a lower end Mavic rim) they would be under £70 and better than servicing a knackered wheel.

Are 319 rims basically just a slightly fatter/stronger version of a 317? Is it worth forking out the extra for a Hope hub? If I do stick with Shimano hubs, what are the advantages of XT over Deore? I am restricted to 6 bolt.

There is little advantage of buying XT vs Deore hubs IMO. The 319 is 19mm where are the 317 is 17mm wide. Hope hubs are superb i have them on all of my bikes and they sell all of the spare parts for them. i have a set of XC hubs that are going on 8 years old and still running after thousands of miles. it all depends on your budget.
To throw a spanner in the works, how about a set of mavic cross ride wheels. They are lightish and have cartridge bearings along with easily available spares at less than £150.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/mountain-bike-wheels/factory-mountain-bike-wheels/mavic-crossride-disc-wheels-pair.html

Thanks Jonk – I saw those Mavic cross rides.

Edited – have checked out the spec and see they are 19mm wide. Might be on order then…

properly built handmade wheels are always the best value.
spokes are easy and cheap to replace.so are rims.
cup and cone/cartridge has been done to death,about once a season.
either wait for the next discussion or search for it.
lx is nice and shiny,only a bit more than deore.deore is great stuff.
pickup is lower on deore and lx,not sure about slx,but xt has double the pickup.(good)
but it’s not that much of a difference.

Can’t fault my Superstar wheels. Brilliant.
However, someone will be along in a minute to diss Superstar… 8)

I have plumped for some magic cross rides in the end. I know the spokes are funny bladed efforts, but it seemed a good deal.

I might keep hold of the old rims and just leave some mud tyres on them for when it is super gloppy around where I live, which I expect won’t be far away.

Thank you all for your input. My next bike will hopefully have Hope hubs on a decent set of hand built wheels.