I am in the market to upgrade the stock wheelset that came on my Giant Trance X. I’m not looking to spend a great deal of cash (upto around £200).

I’ve been thinking along the lines of XT hubs with Mavic XC717 or XM719’s. Alternatively, I may look to bling up a bit with Hope Pro hubs.

However, I’ve had these recommended recently and wondered what the opinions (if any) are?

link!

I’m quite a big rider at 6’2″ and 14.5 stone but don’t do particularly heavy duty riding living in the mountainous West Midlands, albeit with trips out to the Lakes, Wales etc.

Cheers!

Errmm – your title doesn’t seem to match the thread!

I have xc717 Hope Hoops on my Stumpy front and back. I recently bought an XT hubbed Merlin built wheel on an xc717 for Mrs Matt. TBH the XT ones was such amazing value, I’d get another – very light and pretty strong with genuinely good build quality BUT cup and cone bearings only.

Hope quality is also very very high (my wheelbuilder mate was amazed at how well they were made) but they have suddenly rocketed in price.

I am only lightish at 11.5 stone though – you might need a slightly stronger rim?

I also run narrow tyres and tubes – Stan’s rims may suit wider tyres and tubeless.

For just a little bit more on CRC (or less if you shop around) than those SRAM ones you can get Mavic Crossrides or (my preference) Fulcrum Red Metal 5s. I must admit to having absolutely no experience of the SRAM wheels though. They got a pretty poor review in a mag recently (poorly sealed and high weight for the price iirc) and, lets face it, Mavic and Fulcrum are tried and tested.

Otherwise The XT/Mavic wheels are excellent vfm, and will last forever. I have a set that are at least 7yrs old now and still going strong.

Cheers Surf-mat, sorry I wasn’t clear. The link took you to Chainreaction and the SRAM X9 comp hubs/wheelset.

My brother runs XT on Mavic XC717’s but he is a couple of stone lighter than me which is why I’m considering the XM variants.

I’d not heard of anyone using the SRAM option though, which is why I posted. They were recommended by my LBS who rated them and who are able to provide the XT / Hope sets too.

EDIT: Thanks Warpcow, just read your post.

Forgot to say the the XT wheels were fine with me when I was your weight (and more). The Fulcrums I have on my other bike feel very stiff too, though I am lighter now.