Earlier in the year, I picked up some billy-bargain carbon rims from Superstar to use on a project bike for my son. While tidying up last night, I came across them and this reminded me that they had sat for far too long and it was about time they got built!

My ideal requirement would be for cartridge bearings and reasonably lightweight (strong is a secondary concern as he’s very, very light!). Rear is 142×12 and front is regular spacing and 15mm (actually, that’s an assumption as I’ve not bought a fork yet!). Rims are 32 hole and I’ll probably run it SRAM 1x, so would be an XD freehub.

So, what can you recommend for not too much money?

Novatec, use an XT 11 speed instead.

cheap and good

Novatec, use an XT 11 speed instead.

Ta, although it’s a shame to have to use Shimano’s “pig-iron” big cassettes :-/

Looks like they come with multiple spacers, which is a nice touch.

Superstars own hubs are pretty good, certainly cost effective. They’re a evolved Novatech Hub anyway.

What’s wrong with Novatec’s XD hubs Nobeerinthefridge?

Nowt, but I think the one I linked to was a shimano one….

You could buy my Giant wheels and swap the rims. 40 miles old and an xd driver.
https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/78662/Giant_Anthem_275_SX_1_2016_Bike
£50:plus some postage.

I’d hunt for something with nice hubs but unfashionable rims, secondhand.

I bought a wheelset recently with some 26″ rims, but had a nice set of DT 240S hubs. They were £90 posted.

Ditch the rims, rebuild with new 29″ bits on the old hubs.

Sounds interesting – it’s a bit hard to make out from that website, but what size are the hubs?

They come with all the end caps to fit all sizes, I bought a set for a wee plus wheel experiment, a mate has them too.

Hobnobs suggestion is worth a look too.

What about On-one’s EL Guapo Rattlesnakes ?

You could buy my Giant wheels and swap the rims. 40 miles old and an xd driver.
https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/78662/Giant_Anthem_275_SX_1_2016_Bike
£50:plus some postage.

I’m interested – feel free to drop me a note offline.

What about On-one’s EL Guapo Rattlesnakes ?

Hmmm, had a quick look but doesn’t seem like they are sold standalone…

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HUELGRS/el-guapo-rattlesnake-hub 😉

Well, that’s me learnt then 🙂

DMR Revolvers

Had them for yonks. Easy to service, use cartridge bearings and good price.

DMR Revolvers

Had them for yonks. Easy to service, use cartridge bearings and good price.

Thanks, will check them out too.

Thread hijack: anyone got any tips for a cheap(ish) road 11speed disc hub for a 12 by 142 through axle

The one I linked to would do that ferrals, yokaiser uses them in his charge plug.

The one I linked to would do that ferrals, yokaiser uses them in his charge plug.

I don’t think it will work with 11 speed road, and you can’t change the freehub either. You’d need the “D772” (it’s what i use)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Novatec-D771SB-D772SB-hubs-for-MTB-CX-Road-bikes-24-28-32-holes-hub-conversion-/272321156586

Hob Nob – Member

I’d hunt for something with nice hubs but unfashionable rims, secondhand.

I bought a wheelset recently with some 26″ rims, but had a nice set of DT 240S hubs. They were £90 posted.

Aye, this, it’s how I do all my wheels now. Takes a little thinking, ideally you’re looking for something where nobody knows the hubs are good- santa cruz oem with Pro 2s in are good, DT EX 1750s with the 240s are better…

I don’t think it will work with 11 speed road, and you can’t change the freehub either. You’d need the “D772” (it’s what i use)

I have those. The freehub does seem prone to gumming up after it’s been used in the wet. Servicing is dead easy though.

Cheers!

Thanks everyone – in the end, I went for the EL Guapo Rattlesnakes (thanks nickfrog!) as they seemed good quality, nice and light and cheap, as well as more quickly available than some of the far-eastern options.

Spokes (DT Swiss double-butted) from RoseBikes and nipples from “The Bay”.

Couple of weeks for all this to arrive and then you can expect some wheelbuilding questions 🙂

Thanks all.

Slight hijack but for wheel building all you need is this:

Wheel Pro

Hth

Thanks, had already spotted it and added it to my reading list 🙂

Thanks for the advice all. First wheel built and the PX El Guapo hubs are very nice to work with and went together a treat. Very happy indeed and this is a splendid looking wheelset (even if I do say so myself!) 🙂

Final update: both wheels are now built up and have tensioned and trued very easily. Very happy with how this has gone considering it’s my first wheelset. I now have a groupset to fit and then I’m after a fork and we’re done… (If anyone happens to have any Fox 32 forks with tapered steerer knocking around in the garage, please let me know!)

Oh, and weights…?

870g rear, 730g front giving a total wheelset weight of 1600g. Very respectable for a good, strong wheel for the boy.