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Clearing the shed out.
Are non boost (135mm,QR) 26" wheels worth anything?
I ride 29ers these days (6'4"), and getting a 135mm OLD frame seems pretty unlikely.
These wheels (Pro2s on Mavic Xc717s) were great when I bought them, and not cheap for a lowley student. Are they worth anything?
Could cut the hubs out and build them up as clicky wheels for a gravel bike I don't yet own, I suppose.
Pro 2s can be converted pretty easily to through axles and even boost. So I'd keep the hubs as they're still totally useable.
As a pair they'd probably fetch £100+ on eBay.
The 26" rims not so much!
I reckon some people still want 26" wheels. I was actually recently thinking of building up a 26" wheel HT for pump/bmx track jumpy stuff.
But I think I'd probably cut them out and sell the hubs separately.
The Valuable bit is probably the hubs, if you're considering a gravel build there are still 100/142x12mm conversion kits for them.
Someone will almost certainly buy the Wheels off of you on eBay, it might be less bother with post though to take them apart and just flog the hubs.
Or keep them and rebuild a nicer wheelset for Road/Gravel or an older MTB frame.
Wondering similar with a ~2015 Canyon Spectral Al 7EX medium 27.5" with a Pike fork and some Rockshox rear shock or other (both recently serviced by "Slick 'n' Slide") + Reverb seat post to offload before I get my new Atherton A150.
I came on here and posted a wanted add for a pair of non boost (135mm,QR) 26" wheels last year and was surprised at the lack of responses. I have an old but good 26' wheeled bike that still gets ridden by my 21 year old daughter a few times a year, someone did eventually come up with a decent pair for about £50
These wheels (Pro2s on Mavic Xc717s) were great when I bought them, and not cheap for a lowley student. Are they worth anything?
I'd say if they were attached to a bike then the whole thing would be worth something, even if it was just a person buying a cheap runaround type bike.
But on their own, probably not...
I'd just put them on eBay and if you want to minimise hassle, specify collection only.
26" wheels are deffo in demand, if you ask in the right places. Stick them up on Retrobike and they'll sell.
I'm in the process of building up a Zaskar and an older Pantera and 2nd wheelsets here are $400+. Occasionally a deal will come up but it's less frequent. There's loads on US eBay but the cost is increased with adding on shipping, sometimes doubling the price.
I've been selling off my old 26" stuff. Didn't get as much as I had hoped for it but still better than nothing, my wheels went for just over £100 and the forks around the £80 mark.
Not a massive amount of interest though in general, the guy who bought the wheels was building up an old Orange P7.
If they are rare quality parts and in mint condition,then maybe.
A lot of the retro crowd seem to be looking for new/old stock that was lost in an attic for 30 years.
I gave most of my 26er stuff away to a local bike charity.
They build/repair old bikes and give them to refugees and people that really need cheap transport.
There are a few FB groups for buying and selling 26" bikes and parts. 26AintDead Buy Sell UK for example.
Local bike coops usually are always looking for parts too.
I gave most of my 26er stuff away to a local bike charity.
My first MTB was donated (as a full working bike) to a local kid's cycling club. They had a fleet of various MTBs from BSO-shite to actually quite decent, usually donated by some parent or a friend of the club who was upgrading their bike (which is how mine came to be given away).
Sometimes the hassle of selling stuff like that with little interest and low return is way more than just giving it away to a cycling charity and feeling good about your generosity!
Otherwise, cut the hubs out and you'll find them in a box in another 6 years and remember that you always meant to do something with them... 😉
Rim.or disc brakes? Or both? I may need a set of light 26er wheels for a kids bike in the not too distant future.....
Hope based wheels in decent condition will always sell. Agree with above, try on retrobike.
Boost convertible 26 wheels absolutely have value to the kid market. Plenty of 24/26 compatible kids bikes these days. I spent a bunch on 26" Stan's rims to build up wheel after having sold all my fancy 26" dt wheelsets before realizing they were going to be needed.for my kid builds
Plenty of people still riding old standards, I've 5 bikes, not one of them are boost & all apart from one are 135qr rear, the bikes will probably see me thru until I have to get an e-bike & by then I'll have given up caring what standards the hubs are...
Plenty of people still riding old standards,
<Looks around. Raises hand sheepishly>
I just split and sold my 26” Klein for a grand total of just under £1600. The newest parts on it were from 2008.
I genuinely want those wheels for my wife's old 26" bike. Perhaps it's old enough to be considered to be a "RestoMod"? PM me if you're interested in selling (and they're straight). Cheers.
Crikey I am sitting on a fortune! 26" wheels every where. Fox Float forks. Anyone want a Spec Enduro frame. The green one from 06?
But I think I'd probably cut them out and sell the hubs separately.
I used to do that , mainly because its easier to send through the post(cheaper too) But when you think of whats involved in cost and time building a set, i feel its just an utter waste.
Still got a nice set of Ti-Glide/Suspension disc in red on red Mavic x517's. Way too good to split up, even though i could get a fair bit for them separately.
Another set of Pro2's in gold(on DT Swiss), though this time as above, breaking them down would be a waste, and then they'd need building up which is just more expense/time.
So my advice is keep them built, and put them away somewhere. Never know when you/kid might need a 2nd set of wheels, or an upgrade, rather than the need to suddenly find a set of hubs, a pair of rims, then costs of spokes/nipples/building them back up.
At 135 its unlikely you'd be building anything other than another set of 26ers, so its just really a wasted exercise
At 135 its unlikely you'd be building anything other than another set of 26ers, so its just really a wasted exercise
Except if building a hybrid or gravel type thing from an old 26er frame.
I regularly swap an old steel Kona between 700c and 26.
This makes me think of the "you're being lied to about MTBing" thread. It's not "old" - it's still valuable stuff that's perfectly rideable!
As above, the Hope Pro 2s will be very sellable; the wheels may well sell on their own. I'm riding on Hope Pro 2s on Stans Crest rims, that I rebuilt from XC717s.
I'm seriously looking to buy some 26" Hope wheels for my 15 year old hard tail that I still ride on a regular basis but definitely needs some tlc. So yes, they're definitely worth something.
At 135 its unlikely you'd be building anything other than another set of 26ers
My 29er had 135xQR. Doesn't now due to swappable dropouts but as above isn't 142x12 still a road/gravel standard? And depending on spoke count might be buildable into a 29er wheel.
Some of us haven't yet left 26" - it's more than good enough for me, and I'm skint lol
Yes they will sell, probably for quite a bit more then you expect.
Have a look at sold prices on eBay to get a vague idea.
As someone said, best price will be as a pair to someone looing for an upgrade on an older bike, but there is also demand from people who have had one of their wheels nicked while parked up, and need to replace it.
I know this as I had to source a replacement one for my GF recently and there's a thriving, slightly dodgy market for single wheels with the tyre/disc/cassette still attached on eBay.
I sold some fairly tough Funn 26" rims to someone who needed them, there's still enough people with DH/jump/park bikes that need smaller, tougher wheels and actually get through them often enough to want new ones. Those were initially built to some hope Pro2 hubs that I sold separately.
Also sold some older hope XC/Bulb wheels for ~£100.
The Valuable bit is probably the hubs, if you're considering a gravel build there are still 100/142x12mm conversion kits for them.
That was my original plan for them.
Annoyingly only the later versions will take >10s cassettes (although there is a non-series 11-36 11s cassette that fits). IIRC the ones that came with a 42t freehub?
These days though you can buy perfectly good novatec hubs for less than a set of axle ends and a freehub from Hope. Sort of makes their upgradeability superfluous.
Every so often, I remember that I've got a Kona frame and some Totems in the garage roof. I keep meaning to try and flog them but I can't imagine they're worth much these days.
I'd have thought 26" wheels would still be desirable for dirt jump or pump track bikes?
TBH even for people who still want 26er parts, not that many will want 717s, they're in the awkward "not old enough to be retro" and "not modern enough to be especially good" area. I've still got a bike with 26 inch wheels on but I'm not a caveman, they're tubeless Rovals that are wider and lighter than 717s.
Unless they're in extremely good nick and basically as sellable as hopes-on-717s can be, I'd probably cut the rims off and keep or sell the hubs. Couldn't hurt to have a pop at selling them first, of course, but wheels are that much harder to post and to store than hubs.
I'm betting on the values of my wife's 2001 Santa Cruz Superlight, my complete Cool Tool and my 1991 Camelbak rocketing so I can fund an early retirement of riding bikes. IMO it's a sound plan.
My pal commutes on 26" so I've been donating my old 26" wheels to him, it's nice to see them used (and ridden to destruction).
That was my original plan for them.
Annoyingly only the later versions will take >10s cassettes (although there is a non-series 11-36 11s cassette that fits). IIRC the ones that came with a 42t freehub?
Is the later freehub retrofittable to the older body?
OTOH I'm running 10s on mine and with 26" wheels 1x10 is plenty!