Got the BMC Teammachine ALR 1 and it came with robust Shimano WH-RS170 24mm disc only wheels, solid wheelset only a bit heavy at 2.1kg and nearly silent which isn't a good feature riding in the city.
Any upgrade options that are in order of importance:
1. Under £400
2. Robust (leaves out carbon rims at this price point? we discussed this to some extent already https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/which-chinese-carbon-29-tubeless-disc-50-88-mm-aero-wheelset-around-300/page/2/)
3. Louder (not a good option to degrease shimano freehub bodies?)
4. Faster (more aero, know it will be quite marginal gains unless you go full on 60 mm or tri spoke.. front and disc wheel rear - but deep section at least looks nice :p)
5. Lighter (flat here, but I guess it might matter a tiny bit during acceleration, not a big factor)
Wheelproject has this:
DT Swiss RR521 32 mm Disc / DT Swiss 350 Centerlock Straightpull wheelset approx. 1650g on the lightest spokes for £330 built, add £40 for the 54t ratchet.
The only thing it's not is aero, but I guess if you really wanted aero you could get a disc cover for the rear wheel from australia..:D
Alex ALX440 around 1560g for the set, tubeless ready and £300-ish
Thanks! Not disc though? Not black.
Again?
What was wrong with the other lengthy thread?
It was about cheap carbon deep section wheels, but they might not be good all rounders if they're as prone to cracking as some say.
I am waiting on delivery of a set of ARC road wheels from Superstar, they were £150 with a 50% off code last week. I wanted a 2nd set for my PX London road for faster road tyres (handbuilt, disc, 1650g, QR, hopefully clicky) which seems too good to be true, but we'll see,. Finger crossed theyll be here by the weekend. Not sure if the offer is still running but the code was ROAD50 I think on all their road wheels.
Have a look at Hunt wheels perhaps - I’ve got the Mason X Hunt 4 Seasons and they are pretty light for the cash and the rear hub is a fair bit louder than my Hope Pro4’s. You don’t need a bell to warn pedestrians on shared tracks that you are coming - just freewheel!
I think you said in one of your previous threads that all the roads are smooth new you so the 4 seasons would be pretty good. If you go another £100 up there’s the slightly lighter aero light version - although neither are ‘aero’ as such.
I don’t think deep rimmed alloy wheels are a great thing vs carbon as you can add quite a lot of weight that makes them feel more sluggish.
Realistically I’d go for light wheels so the bike feels like it accelerates quicker - and work on your body position on the bike for more aerodynamic gains as that makes more more difference than the wheels.
So far the DT Swiss RR521 32 mm Disc / DT Swiss 350 Centerlock Straightpull wheelset get my pick, deeper than Hunt, prefer DT hubs to Novatecs. 1650g £330 built. Don't really get why anyone would pick hunts over full DT wheelsets that often comes out cheaper apart from aesthetics.
sillyoldman
Hunt are a triumph of marketing over content. Made up from parts you would be highly unlikely to select yourself with the original brand names on them.
If I were in your position, I’d get a custom built set from a quality wheel builder or a factory set from a brand that actually makes stuff. Build quality is at least as important as component quality...
DT wheels are built in their own factory in Poland from components they’ve designed and made rather than picked from a catalogue.
Not saying Hunt wheels are bad, they seem fine and look great, just that DT seems like clearly better value. I don't think the DT logos are easy to remove though, read about people soaking them in toluene?!
Photographic evidence of actual bike purchase by @yohandsome is needed!
Those wheels are basically the DT Swiss endurance 1600 (I think). £330 is cheap compared to the ~£500 RRP of the DT complete wheelset.
32mm depth will get you some aero advantage over old box-sections.
Ive just picked up a used bike with a set of these fitted : https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/wheels/cero-ard23-disc-brake-wheels
Dont know if they are still available new but they seem pretty decent and the noise from the freehub is like a hope hub !!
The DT 1600 32 edurance wheels (hubs allegedly a lightened DT350, but white why the hell :|) for just £306, you do get DT aero spokes. 1767 grams according to DT so a bit heavier due to to heavier spokes used (wheelproject weight is with the lightest spokes).
I agree that the choice of white hubs is, err, mysterious.
THe 1650 weight is with the lightest spokes (the CX Rays that cost 50 euro extra).
I'd be surprised if they're 1650. I have some DT350 CL hubs with the DT RR 421 rim which are supposedly 90g lighter per piece. These, built up with 28/28 D Light spokes, were approximately 1660g for the pair.
I have the PR1600 disc wheels. Shod with 28mm GP5000 TL they are lovely. I didn't buy them for aero benefits though.
I agree that the choice of white hubs is, err, mysterious.
They're grey
Just to explain why our road wheels are so cheap currently in response to Tom. we are clearing everything (800+ wheelsets unless we find more rims) as we are launching a new range of hubs in spring now they are 2 years old. Just want to make them lighter and better, but don’t worry as we make them in-house we will be supporting them for the next decade! Actually most of the parts are retro compatible where possible so it’s not an issue.
Currently struggling for stock of 24 hole disc but the next batch of metal will be on the cnc next week
Makes me chuckle seeing the same rims on basic novatec hubs for £400+.
Any questions fire them over
Neil SuperstarComponents
Hi superstar! Can you make a 50 mm alu disc wheelset under 1800 grams? ;p
I've been running an older set of Kinesis Crosslight wheels for a while - assume hubs in now mark 5 are same ? then make enough noise to get attention on shared trails for that tiny minority not plugged into something Black under GBP400 and around 1750g a pair only downer (at least for me) is centrelock I just irrationally prefer 6 bolt
https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Wheels/Cyclocross/CX-DISC-v5
Really need some sort of standard for hub noise level even if just a 0 to 4 scale
For commuting I would be tempted to stick with those Shimano wheels. When they get stolen from outside your work, you won't feel quite so sad (you'll still feel sad).
No reason you can't have a second set of wheels and swap them over at the weekend.
Apologies I missed the disc bit in my enthusiasm. You'll be needing the CDX4 from Alex then. Just about to fit a pair to the winter nail to replace the pig iron that Claud Butler fit to their bikes and charge a fortune for. (They also do a 6 bolt pattern wheel too if you don't currently have centrelock).
Scribe are another alternative, been very happy with mine?
https://scribecycling.co.uk/collections/alloy-disc-brake
Scribe's are interesting, almost the exact same wheelset and price as the DT Swiss 1600 with a 54t sprocket, similar marketing jizz as Hunt, but without the reputation DT has (and DT makes their OWN wheels, spokes, nipples and rums) why risk it?
Personally i'd be looking at something with a kinlin Xr31 rim, which did really rather well in the wind tunnel
https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/wind-tunnel-testing-the-al33-xr31tfsw3-and-other-alloys
as an example...
<edited my example out because it's discs not rim brakes>