So having had another spoke snap on me this morning, I’m getting frustrated having to replace every 6 weeks now, and making getting home a bit of a nightmare, it’s time for a new rear wheel.

I’m looking for a bit of help choosing. Ideally I’d want straight pull 32 hole, and suitable for 700 x 23 tyres. I’m happy to build it up myself, so I’m really looking for suggestions on hubs and rims. And would ideally be looking for around £150 all in.
If there is anything that I’m happy to drop, it would probably be the straight pul hub.
Opeen to a pair but my front is in reasonable condition but may need a re-rim in the next 6 months or so too.

Many thanks

Drop the straight pull hub. They’re a silly idea anyway. Personally I’d just get a mid-range Shimano hub with pretty much any reasonably priced rim and lace it 3x with DT Comps. You could build a pair of perfectly decent commuting wheels on that budget if you shop around for the components; for a rear on its own £100 should be plenty.

Is it for rim brakes? 130mm OLN? 8/9/10, 11, 1 speed…?

Are you breaking drive side or non-drive side spokes, and was it you or someone else that built the current wheel?

How old are the wheels? The front may look OK but the braking surface on the rim might be close to its limit. If that’s the case then look for a deal on a set.

I’d agree with Bez.

I had some rigid chrina on tiagra hubs years ago that were rock solid, and weighed about the same, didn’t give me a minute of bother for a couple of years though so would second the Shimano hub recommendation.

I bought some Mavic Aksium disc wheels in feb, they’ve been surprisingly robust for the last 6200 miles. *touches wood!*

I’ve got a carbon road bike which I use for commuting and have done for a few years. The original ritchey wheels died after a couple of years use (had the bike since 2011) so I replaced three with Mavic Aksiums.

They aren’t particularly light (but I think lighter than the original Ritchey ones), but they aren’t showing any signs of dying anytime soon. Never snapped any spokes or shown them any kind of tlc.

Think I paid about £150 for the pair from a cycles.

Tiagra/Open Sport £90 a pair:
https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro-build-700c-road-wheel-tiagra-hub-open-sport-rim.html

If you want to roll your own, Google Shopping says a rear Tiagra hub, an Open Sport and a set of Comps will set you back about £60.

I always forget something. 130mm, 11speed rim brakes unfortunately.

It sounds like shimano seems to be the best way to go. I have always preferred cartridge bearings as opposed to the cones in the shimanos, and have always been a hope guy on my mtbs, but they are very expensive for the rs4’s and no second hand ones come up.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPFURSPO/fulcrum-racing-sport-clincher-wheelset for £89?

The disc version came by default on my Cube, they’re £144 on PX at the mo for bolt thru, pretty decent wheels.

I’d go shimano, but get 105 or ultegra for the new bearings which don’t need 2 cone spanners. I never had a problem with cone spanners but the new ones are witchcraft.

Well, a 105 11-speed hub is only going to bump the price up £15, to £75 for a full wheel.

If it offers any confidence, I’ve used almost nothing but Shimano hubs for 25 years and at absolute worst they’ve needed a 20-30 minute clean up every 18 months (though obviously time isn’t an indication of mileage). Deore level has been a noticeable step down from LX/105 level, but eveything from that point and upwards has been magnificently reliable and maintenance-free. My last full-time commuter has done about 6000km on a Deore hub that I’d previously used for a few years of mountain biking, and it now needs the cones tightening for the second time. (From experience I’d expect higher-level hubs to do at least twice the mileage between services compared to a Deore.) I suspect (having ridden it slightly loose for ages) the cones are now pitted as well, but frankly it’s not a big deal: the hub isn’t going to damage anything other than its own cones, so you can keep on running a cup and cone hub into the ground with no ill effects other than very slightly increased rolling resistance.

Shimano R501‘s cheap as chips (£80 here but I got mine for £60, shop around, wait for bargains).

use and throwaway but they are pretty long wearing.

I’ve got Aksium Discs on mine and they’ve taken some right wallops. They certainly aren’t light, but they seem pretty damn tough. I’d Hazard a guess the non disc ones are similar.