right then, looking to buy new wheels for my bike, was thinking about Hope/XM819 combo but for a few quid more could get an XT/717 and complete set of xt brakes combo – new splined stuff.

what would you do? I only ride xc but am fairly aggressive / and weigh around 14 stone

do you need new brakes?

if it was my choice then the hopes every time, I get fedup with tinkering with cup and cones of xt. Haven’t Merlin got any wheel/brake combos with hopes?

the hopes will last longer, without any faffing, end of (for me anyway).

Though the XT are lighter.. so it depends if your a serial bike bit buyer or want some thing that’ll last for ages without any hassle.

Thanks all, no don’t really need new brakes, running juicy 5’s which are scruffy/battered and bruised but work well, and would agree with general faffing (although not often) required with xt hubs.

May check merlin again to see if they have any combo’s with Hope hubs.