A friend of mine is looking for a new set of wheels suitable for all mountain use, nothing to heavy but being able to withstand the odd drop etc. He would prefer cartridge bearings but cannot really push his budget any further than £200. What would you recommend?

pair of hope pro2 wheels should be about 200quid, give or take?

I had a look and the pro2 seem about £250 for a pair, although i have only looked on crc website who are usually pretty competitive

Hope Hoops are just over budget at £228 from Winstanleys.

Tell him to find a bit more and buy Hope Hoops, otherwise spend less on a pair of Merlin built Deore.

Best value wheels by far are on CRC. The Ringle Disc Jockey hubs have cartridge bearings and are really good quality. As good as Hopes IMHO. I've been running a set for about 2 years.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Kits.aspx?ModelID=18973

Hand built they come in at just under £200

There were two sets of Bontrager Rhythm wheelsets on Classifieds. One were over £200 but they were the top of the range model and second set was under £200. And the nice ones weight under 1800g. Seems like good value for money. I'm very happy with Bonty wheels as my Race Lites are going strong and have cartridge bearings and rims are still true.

First one from couple days ago.

Pro2's on X717's come up on here now & again. Paid £130 for mine IIRC.

£214 for those ringle hubs on 321s with a few upgrades seems like brilliant value to me.

If it was me, I'd go for those Bontrager Rythms. Got a set on t'other bike and they seem utterly bombproof and seem to weigh **** all

joolsburger – thats exactly what I'm running on the hardtail. Unbelievable quality for that price

If I didn't have wheels I'd buy some and I'm actually thinking of getting some anyway!!

How loud is the freehub on yours?

J

Have a set of Ringle/321 on classifieds at the moment

I'm selling the following (via the classifieds here) – might be of interest:

DT Swiss and XM819 wheels

Pair of DT Swiss wheels with a 240s rear hub, 370 (QR) front (I'm pretty sure it's a 370 stickered to look like a 240s so it matches the rear), on XM819s. Both hubs are 6 bolt.

They are practically new, pretty light, tubeless ready wheels. Since I bought them they have been on a spare bike and they have probably done 50 – 60 miles. I need to double check, but I think they are still in mint condition. I've only used them with tubes so there's no messy lube inside them.

I’m looking for £180 posted (in a proper wheel box) or they can be collected from west London (near start of M40, M4 and North Circular) or EC2 for £170.

smurf

joolsburger – Its not Chris King loud. But does make a quality noise. Like I said, great set of wheels for the money. CRC build 'em well too

£214 for those ringle hubs on 321s with a few upgrades seems like brilliant value to me.

Indeed they are, but better value than Stans Flows on Pro 2 hubs for £14 more?

Get Wiggle to pricematch the Winstanleys price on Hope Pro2/Flow wheels and then use the £20 off voucher they have running.

I did the same with CRC when they had the 10% of promo on and got mine for £205

I'll add to the quality of the Disc Jockey hub based wheels. I bought a set from CRC with EQ23 rims last year for less than £140 when they were ridiculously cheap. At today's prices some of the other second hand options mentioned might be better value though.

I have hope bulbs which have done big milage without a murmur or any maintenance and I have to say they have been brilliant freehub bearings are just starting to go now after serveral years of regular riding. Pros are just too sodding loud, I also like mavic rims as my 521's have been faultless.

Superstar might be worth a look as well. They have a decent range that seems to eb getting good reviews. I am considering a build, and would deffo plump for their upper end XC/AM/FR wheel set.

Kev