As per the title - looking for a wheelset to replace the stock set on my Charge Cooker. 27.5+ with a single speed specific rear hub, QR front and rear.
I can't find anything off the shelf - I'd be grateful for any suggestions, if anyone has any!
Thanks very much.
Too rare a combo for there to be any choice of readymades. Just get some handbuilts from a decent LBS. Initially maybe a little pricey, but they'll last a lifetime.
Hope pro 4 single speed/trials hub, and your rims of choice. Probably DT Swiss.
I really rate my Velocity Dually rims if you can get them. Mine are 29+ but sure they do them in 27.5+ too.
Too rare a combo for there to be any choice of readymades.
Yep. Learn to DIY?
It's a good suggestion. Building your own is very satisfying and actually not that hard because you're starting with everything nice and straight and evenly tensioned.
I'm doing just that at the moment, well I will be once I have the correct length spokes...
Starting out from scratch, the kit to build has cost me:
£70 truing stand
£22 nipple driver
£22 bolt through adapter (not needed for QR)
£8 spoke key
So £100 all in excluding the bolt through adapter.
Saved most of that with getting a pair of new rims off eBay, £108 for 2x wtb i45 light rims. £80 for spokes (sapim race double butted) and nipples.
It's a few quid to get what you need to start with, but worth it when it comes to replacing hubs/rims and for cheap deals on parts.
Why go singlespeed-specific hubs now? I know the spoke angles are better but I suspect a wider comparison of all the pros and cons makes it all a bit marginal.
I toyed with singlespeed-specific for 27.5+ on boost, having had them before, but this time round I went for a normal geared hub (just bought wheels actually - Newmen). It seemed to me there aren't many SS hubs about now, perhaps because of new standards. And strength I ended up thinking more about "strong enough" than "stronger", if that makes sense. I got gravel ones built up a few years ago but to find light SS hubs was a challenge and arguably the ones I have (some now out of production Halo ones) aren't that great (sealing so-so). Hope SS hub is pretty heavy IIRC?
Starting out from scratch, the kit to build has cost me:
£70 truing stand
£22 nipple driver
£22 bolt through adapter (not needed for QR)
£8 spoke key
So for me that is just £8 for the spoke key then as the rest of the stuff has never been required in any of the 20+ wheels I have built.
As for the wheels, I would just get a geared hub and spacers. Specific single speed only disc hubs are pretty hard to find and even the expensive Hope trials hub still needs quite a few spacers.
Thanks very much everyone, I appreciate it.
I'll be honest, building my own wheels fills me with dread. I'll do possibly everything else, but I think that I've read that wheelbuilding is a dark art so many times I'm immediately shut off by the idea.
It hadn't occurred to buy a geared wheelset and use a single speed kit. Are there any downsides? I guess with my EBB I wouldn't need a tensioner?
I would also just go with a geared hub. No need for a tensioner if you have an EBB, just a spacer kit, get one with more smaller spacers rather than larger spacers so you can adjust chain line.
If you fancy having a go at wheel building, Ali Clarkson has a couple of excellent videos explaining it all. And you can build/true in the frame, just makes it a lot easier with a truing stand.
Geared hub Vs SS is just a wider freehub, so you need more spacers. The only downside is that SS hubs tend to have equally spaced spoke flanges so build a stronger wheel.
For me, I quite enjoy building a wheel every now and again. Think I've only done 4 or 5 in my life but aside from one that got a nasty dent on a too light for the purpose rim, they remain strong and true, in one case 8/9 years later. So personally I think the view that it's a "dark art" is unfortunate if it puts perfectly capable folk off a pleasing job they could do well. The downside for me is more that with trade prices some wheelbuilders might build you the wheel for no/little more than the price of the parts bought yourself.
Second Ali Clarkson's video.
Geared hub Vs SS is just a wider freehub, so you need more spacers. The only downside is that SS hubs tend to have equally spaced spoke flanges so build a stronger wheel.
While that is true the fact that geared riders wheels are not falling apart and breaking all over the place means that any additional strength is not a major requirement.
So personally I think the view that it’s a “dark art” is unfortunate if it puts perfectly capable folk off a pleasing job they could do well.
I've just finished building my 2 wheels, honest it was pretty simple. Scariest bit was doing his stressing method. I now have 2 properly dish, true to within a mm, wheels.
I'd laced and relaced the wheels a few times so can probably lace a set without his video now though... 😁
It's really not a dark art at all.
Side note, if anyone needs some 278mm and 277mm Sapim race DB black spokes (34 of each), let me know 😉 will be in the classifieds soon.