Planning on replacing my stock wheels, I have a set of hope hubs that I could build up with alpha 400 or Archetypes but given that a ultegra wheelset is only £230 is it worth it?

Ultegra is Road Tubeless, so gives you that option too.

No….

I had pretty much come to that conclusion.

Ultegras are a nice wheelset for the money, great hubs… But that stupid externally threaded nipple design means that once they’re out of true, it’s time for new wheels. The nipples seize onto the spokes and replacing spokes is prohibitively expensive.

If you’ve got the Hope hubs, I’d get them built up.

G

Nothing a drop of WD can’t fix shirley..spokes are expensive though.

A spoke went on my ultegra rear wheel. Spoke was 6 quid, but you also need a new nipple to hold it in the hub which is sold separately and a tool to tighten the odd size nipple up. Needless to say, once fixed i sold them on and bought more serviceable wheels. I also didn’t like the cone and cup bearings it took an age to get them just right with no play.

I have a set of hope hubs that I could build up

This.

only £230

Using some of this for the rims and spokes.

I’ve got a set, chose them over the Hope hoops. Got them through Wiggle and both had to be trued out of the box by local bike shop which Wiggle paid for with out any hassle. Been fine since but when they go i’ll go back to standard 32 hole hubs like the Hope.

Or Superstar that are 400grs lighter and £180.

superstar also doing 20% off road wheels atm, just bought some pave28’s for £155, weigh 1600g out the box, looking forward to trying them. well reviewed on road.cc

I’ve swung back to getting the hubs built up, just finding the right rim now becomes the challenge.. Though I’ll have a look at the superstar wheels though.

handbuilts with Archetypes (which go up tubeless no problem).

There a comment on the strada website that they’ve seen build quality issues with the recent archetypes and the stopped using them.
Is there a code for the 20% off? I thought I was on their mailing list for that sort of thing. Edit just looked on their Facebook page.

riddoch – Member
There a comment on the strada website that they’ve seen build quality issues with the recent archetypes and the stopped using them.

Get in touch with JustRidingAlong; they’ll see you right. Either Archetypes or Pacenti’s would be a good shout.

Superstar wheels sounds good on paper but I believe there’s a rule along the lines of cheap/light/strong; pick two.

save up for a fancy wheelset and use your stock wheels for training and the fancy ones for sunday best.

Nothing a drop of WD can’t fix shirley..spokes are expensive though.

WD40 can’t really undo the bond when alluminium and steel corrode together.
The spokes rely on being able to move freely in the nipple so they remain straight and aero, but in my experience, even on dry-use-only wheels, they become seized and twist the spoke when you try to true them.

Silly spokes asside, my last pair of shimano wheels lasted almost 10 years and only snapped one spoke and needed truing once. Not bad seeing as I only had one pair of wheels for most of that time so they did everything from commuting to club runs.

Never needed new hub bearings, just strip, degrease with WD40, replace bearings and grease.

So offset the cost of spokes and having to get a shop to true them against the cost of cartrige bearings. Spoke and a true cost about £20.

There’s some ultegra wheels in the classifides with tyres at the moment, not clear if they’re tubeless tyres if they are they’re a bargain.