Looking at Crest/Hope hubs which seem good, reliable and reasonably light, and good value. If I wanted something a bit lighter without costing a fortune (for a lightweight 29er rigid build – I’m a lightweight chap), what should I be looking at?

Cheers

I will probably be decried for this but I’d actually recommend a Superstar wheel build, Crests on Switch Lite hubs with Sapim Laser spokes (or CX-Rays if you’re feeling flashy). I’ve been impressed by the latest generation of Switch hubs, light (well the front is anyway) but no noticeable reliability issues, well sealed. The whole wheelbuild should work out both a bit cheaper and a bit lighter than the Hope one.

Otherwise, if you’re looking at off the peg rather than custom, the American Classic offerings are rather nice.

Think Superstar have 25% off at the moment.

Tune, Carbon Ti, American Classic, DT Swiss hubs on Crest rims will all be lighter.

I’ve got American Classic on Light Bicycle carbon with Revolutions. They’re 1370g, so not too bad.

I don’t think you’re going to get much lighter without getting spendy – carbon rims and exotic hubs. Most of my bikes have Hope/Crests, because they are about as light as you can get. My Jeffsy came with DT Swiss XMC1200 carbon wheels, which are lovely, but seriously expensive – don’t know how YT manage that.

I got a pair from Superstars, Switch Ultra hubs laced on Alexrims Evo Super Comp rims, in 29er flavour. Very solid wheels (only issue I had was with a rear axle adapter breaking, but it was due to a faulty spacer – a sharp edge was working through the material…), flawless tubeless set up and the weight: 1575 grams!

I paid £160 on sale.

Stans own wheelsets look good, but not used them.

^They’re not bad but watch out for very expensive parts if you want to change axles etc.

In previous generations the Stans Race Gold wheels have a bit of a reputation for the rims being made of cheese, not sure on the latest generation though.

I’ve got some Stans Crest/ ZTR 3.30 wheels in 27.5 on my hardtail. They’ve been absolutely solid since I bought them. The 2016 ones have the slightly wider rims and the Neo hubs, but I can’t see why they’d not be equally good or better.

Medoramas is that weight an actual with rim tape?