Looking for a set of 650b wheels, with some 25mm+ rims. Best I’ve seen is some hope pro2 evo w/flow ex for about £310 which is about my budget, perhaps a bit more for something really nice.
I’ve looked at AC wide lightening but the rims are reported as flimsy, spank oozy 295 but a bit pricey and difficult to come by, ryde enduro on hopes which seem perfect but the build costs put them out of my range.
Anybody seen any really good deals around?
Thanks in advance.

Superstar switch with dt e512 rims for 200 quid. Or you could go with super wide fr570s for a bit of extra weight.

Superstar Tech 4 wheels with their new DS25 rims. Not ridden mine yet but the rims look great and they only cost me £130 in a flash sale.

I expect they’ll be starting a Jan sale tomorrow, might be worth seeing what’s in it.

Superstar?
I must admit I’ve been tempted. I just don’t think I can do it. Sooooo many horror stories over kit failing and terrible warranty. Then, of course there’s fruit…….
Aren’t they just rebranded novatech hubs anyway?

Wrecker, I’ve had 4 sets of SS wheels over the years – all have been fine.

The old anti-SS thing is pretty much just an old STW thing and it’s old news.

You’ll be fine with their wheels.

I’m on my 3rd SS wheelset. They have been much more reliable than the hope hoops I used to have

I think SS’s Tactic rim comes in around that internal width, they also offer a custom build with DT’s FR570 rim which is 28-30mm wide I think.
I’ve got SS wheelsets on both my road bike and MTB, they’ve been faultless.

I’ve recently bought a set of superstar wheels, went for tesla hubs with dtswiss m442 rims, cost £314. The rims wiegh 465g each, and are 27mm external width, so probably about 25mm internal.

Too early to say whether they’re well built as I’m only 2 rides in, but they were straight and tight out of the box, and no problems so far.

The tesla hubs feel nice with their 70 points of engagement meaning a quick pick up. And they’re quite light at 1900g for the pair with tubeless tape and valves.

I must admit I’ve been tempted. I just don’t think I can do it. Sooooo many horror stories over kit failing and terrible warranty. Then, of course there’s fruit…….

I gave them a chance when they were flogging the old wheels off mega-cheap – got three sets now and only needed help when they sent the wrong axle on one pair – which they sorted quickly and just let me keep the wrong one.

Aren’t they just rebranded novatech hubs anyway?

Apparently so. The Switch ones won’t have as quick engagement as fancy mavic or the new hope hubs, but they’re just my burly wheels for when I’m likely to smash them on rocks.

BTW I’ve got the Tactic rims on another wheelset and they are not as burly as I think you are looking for.

Thanks for the replies chaps. I did look into it, but I just can’t throw money at something considering the feedback;
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-superstar-tesla-hub-anyone-any-insightbought-one/page/2

Quite a lot of issues it seems.

Get the switch hubs then. Not found many bad reviews with them. With the exception of freehubs and bearings. The new hubs have SKF bearings. Freehub… Well if it breaks, a replacement isn’t expensive.

I have just got a set of the Tech 4’s for myself and some Tactics on switch hubs for my gf. I haven’t ridden mine yet, but she is pleased with hers.

Superstar usually offer the option of a steel freehub, it’s a small weight penalty but they’re far more robust than alu freehubs.

Spline2 E1700?

Thing is: you could find equally damning reviews of pretty much every hub in existence, you could find a thread slagging off a Hope or Shimano just as easily as that.

American Classic wide lightening

I’ve got some switch wheels on their 29r rims and theyve been great, seem very tough

Everyone I know with the new crossmax has had them fail at the freehub, repaired foc, but still bobbins for such a pricey wheel set, the mavic truck at ukge is constantly busy

What about some Halo Vapours? Highly rate my old Freedom Discs and switch the hubs (spin doctors) over to my 29er. Just got the Vapours for a current build. Come with qr/15/20 front and qr/142×12 rear. Weight on paper seems good to me too, lighter than hope enduro iirc.

http://www.halowheels.com/products/part/WHHAVBSK

£278.88 the pair from wiggle. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-vapour-650b-mtb-wheelset/

I just got an email from superstar..
clearance on wheels..don’t know if there’s any 650b in there
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/shop/mountain/wheel-clearance-sale/?utm_source=Superstar+Components+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f49d1e1c54-New+Year%27s+Sale+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b3cf3cb5e3-f49d1e1c54-16737873&mc_cid=f49d1e1c54&mc_eid=faa5eda6a1

Oh and use code NEW25 On the wheels..
looks like only 26″ though at a glance..
Also codes NEW20 and NEW30 work on other clearance wheels..

What about some Halo Vapours?

I though we had a winner then but 21mm internal width. Barring superstar (which I am) I think what I want is the moon on a stick…..

Just buy Hope Hoops stans flow and be done with.

You dont have to use SS’s products with their custom wheel builder, they have Chris King hubs, DT Swiss hubs etc….rims from DT, AlexRims, Mavic etc etc…you can order a wheelset from them composed entirely of other supposedly more reliable brands if you like.

Even if the wheels arrived shonky as hell and way out of true my LBS charge £10 for truing up a wheel which still works out at cheaper than most other places even with a trip to the LBS to have badly built wheels sorted out…and they havent been badly built in my experience i’m just giving you an idea, you couild think of SS as simply a parts source that you may have to use your LBS to build from if the wheels dont come built to your satisfaction?

Just buy Hope Hoops stans flow and be done with.

If you can’t lower yourself to Superstar’s level then this is the answer IMO.

Too much scope for regretting anything else.

I think your right to discount ss. I’ve had a few products from some have failed, inc a rear hub and some have not. The reason not to buy ss is that if anything goes wrong there is zero back up. FWIW I had AC on my 29er and thought them to be excellent, I only changed for some carbon rim bling

I’m in the same boat too.

I looked at Superstar. On paper the Tesla hubs look great but there seems to be a few stories of failure. I know all products can and do fail, I just don’t want a battle over the replacements.

I don’t really like Stans rims…I can’t be bothered faffing with the rim tape which is why I have also ruled out the Race a Face Turbine wheels which get pretty good reviews and are £300 or so.

I’ve pretty much decided on a pair of Hope Pro II Evo built into Mavic EN423 UST rims on black double butted spokes. From CRC they work out to be £320 or so. Weight shouldn’t be too far from the Hope Stans jobbies either. The rims are more or less the same, just a slight penalty for the extra bits to hold the nipples into the UST rim.

I don’t really like Stans rims…I can’t be bothered faffing with the rim tape

It takes me about 30 minutes to pop some IPA on the rims, give them a little scrub, and stretch the tape on. Then it’s on until a spoke breaks, which is usually 6-12 months for me. Simple.

Stans rims are the best value for money rims about, as are the Hope Pro 2 Evo laced to any Stans or Hope rim. They’re bombproof, well supported, and great value.

Don’t even bother looking elsewhere, unless you have very specific needs – i.e. you’re elite level national XC, or DH or Enduro (Although even then Stans and Hope are a pretty good choice (podiums to Flow exs).

Or, you want to spend less than £300. Then buy a secondhand pair of Hope Hoops.

Can’t disagree. I’ve had a few sets of hoops now, and whilst I’ve been happy with them I just wanted to try something different. There are some sexy dt swiss, spank, ethirteen etc wheels out there. Thought someone might have seen some deals. I love the rims on my SX’, if only mavic made a 25mm version which weren’t DH rims,

I don’t really like Stans rims…I can’t be bothered faffing with the rim tape
It takes me about 30 minutes to pop some IPA on the rims, give them a little scrub, and stretch the tape on. Then it’s on until a spoke breaks, which is usually 6-12 months for me. Simple.

Stans rims are the best value for money rims about, as are the Hope Pro 2 Evo laced to any Stans or Hope rim. They’re bombproof, well supported, and great value.

Don’t even bother looking elsewhere, unless you have very specific needs – i.e. you’re elite level national XC, or DH or Enduro (Although even then Stans and Hope are a pretty good choice (podiums to Flow exs).

Or, you want to spend less than £300. Then buy a secondhand pair of Hope Hoops.

The Mavic EN421/423 jobbies are about the same weight as the Stan’s rims that I was looking at plus they’re UST so no rim tape. My UST Easton rims have been so easy to run tubeless. I’m totally sold on UST. The Mavic rims are £32 each too.

Price wise the custom build from CRC is the same price as the pre-built wheels. My experience of their wheel builss has always been really good too.

My old Mavic EN321/521’s took a right beating too.

TBH, the bit that makes or breaks wheels is the build. and the single most important bit of the build (imho) is spoke tension (for a given variation between spokes that keeps the wheel true) Some rims are softer than others perhaps, but then I’ve never been not able to satisfactorily straighten any rim with nothing more sophisticated than a set of molgrips, so in my view when people tell me a rim is soft…I don’t really care overly much, because the overall strength of that wheel isn’t coming from the rim itself. And while personally I prefer rims with eyelets, I’m not so eyelet phobic that I would dismiss Stans out of hand. There are however some things that are generally true.

1. Mavic rims are a bit narrow internally, a bit hefty, but well made and at least round and flat.
2. Stans can be oval, and not flat, which makes even tensioning trickier, they are however lighter and wider than their Mavic counterparts.
3. Don’t dismiss other not as fashionable brands: Pacenti (for example) makes some very very good rims that will give Stans a run for your money, they are also generally flat and round, which makes them build into stronger wheels

Hubs

Aren’t really as important as a lot of folks on here would like you to believe. You could point at design flaws in Hopes, Shimano, SS and CK that would cause you to question all of them, and TBH if you want to, you can find disparaging reviews that will tell you that you’ve just wasted your money, I’ve lost track of the amount of times people slag off Shimano hubs despite mechanics like peterpoddy of this forum taking the time to tell folk again and again, that all they need is a good coating of grease internally from the off, and they will last literally forever. Thing is they’re all variations of an aluminium shell with bearings and an axle, and a selection will fail straight away through bad luck, manufacturing tolerance, poor construction, and mishandling. Given that a large percentage of us don’t bother cleaning anything other that the shiny bit on the outside, and lots wouldn’t know how to get the freehub off to clean it, I’m amazed more don’t fail.

some things never change though, look after your wheels reasonably well, (clean and re-grease them routinely, check spoke tension and learn how to true them ) and even the lowliest Deore hub with plain gauge spokes on an Alex rim will last ages and ages.

The rest is mostly just fashion.