Looking for a wheelset circa £150 – 200. 15mm front qr rear for a rowdy hardtail build (cotic bfe) I can’t seem to find anything except superstar weird brand hubs with pinned mavic rims. Am I asking too much? Any ideas?
Thanks

Superstar switch hubs are pretty good IMO, over 1500km on mine in all sorts of conditions without having to service them yet.
Unless you go 2nd hand you’re not going to get much better for your budget.

Have a look at the Merlin site at the Alex Voltar / Choosen hubs. You wont go far wrong, they are strong, fairly light and wont break the bank

+1 for Superstar Switch and the best rims you can get them laced into for your budget.

I came on this thread to recommend the Alex/Chosen Probuild wheels which Tracey has beaten me to. Brilliant wheels for the price. We use them on some of our demo bikes and have sold a few sets. Excellent quality and the easiest bearing replacement of any wheel I’ve ever seen.

We have them in stock, and we – as well as any other proper bike shop – could do the same deal as Merlin are offering.

+1 for the Merlin wheels, been running them for a while and they’re great

Also to add, upper end of your budget but DT Swiss E1900 would be another option. Great wheels at an inexpensive price point.

In the same boat, looking to build a hardtail up over Chirstmas. Wheels were last thing on the list.

Good shout on those Merlin wheels though! I was settled on Superstar as I had some of the cheap 26″ AMX wheels on my first hardtail and they were great.

Alex Voltar are an awesome shout, rant them 2 yr on my ht, with zero issues

In contrast to the above re the Alex / chosen hubs I have found them pretty poor. The rims seem very soft and don’t shrug off dents very well. And they seem a real faff to get up tubeless ( 3 layers of tape and still wouldn’t go up with a track pump). I have tried maxxis, Schwalbe and Specialised tyres and all seem very baggy on the rim. They haven’t seen much use and a good few spokes ended up loose on the rear needing a re true / tension.

The above said I’m not light and ride as such plus they are on a hardtail but I also don’t ride with silly low pressures either. The hubs seem pretty fair though.

If I were in the same position again I would save up more and get a custom hope / dt Swiss build with WTB rims.

Or if money is an issue maybe a custom shimano / wtb build from crc could be possible for that budget depending on hub size / rim needs. I have had a couple of WTB rims before and they seem good quality and tyres seem to seat well on them.

Got a set of 26 inch On One Reetard rims laced to SRAM X7 and X9 hubs respectively.
Very good condition, no dents cracks etc…bearings are great, freehub perfect, they are 15mm and QR etc…i was practically giving them away on eBay as I didn’t want the hassle of posting wheels so clearly advertised ‘collection only’…..the buyer is now being an arse about couriers etc.
I’m in Wales, if you want them they’re yours for £50….collection only!

Superstar tech4 with ds25 rims are excellent, especially if you get the 25pc discount they do every few months.

If you can get dt1900 wheels for budget and with the right axle formats, they are really good too.

How hard do you intend to ride?
I bought an on one parkwood 29er as a winter bike for the lakes. It’s been generally abused through winter and done some bike packing trips with a bit of weight on it.
Broke 1 spoke on the rear wheel in a year.
Stripped the rear hub ( cup and cone) to re grease it last month and it was like new inside
These are deore hubs on MT 35 shimano rims.
I’ve been pretty impressed how they have lasted considering the abuse they’ve had.
Anyhow CRC have them in 650 size with 25% off
A pair are less than £150 and probably spend £75 and get £10 off so well in budget.

Would the Alex/Voltare be too wide for 2″ tyres?