My whyte t129 came with raceface AR27 rims on whyte-badged hubs. I’ve just had the superstar Christmas email which puts Flow rims on v6 hubs under £300 (from £450.) This is <i>almost</i> an acceptable cost for me- am I likely to notice a difference if I fork out?
Have you been smashing the Race Face rims up?
New wheels likely to be heavier but burlier, I'd expect.
Likely to be very similar weight I reckon, the AR27 rims are sleeved, so a little heavier than the ARC27 - which would make them probably identical to Flow Mk3 rims. Flows are 2mm wider, but to be honest I prefer slightly narrower rims on anything 2.5 or lower - but you're not gonna notice the difference.
If you're spending £300 on some wheels, I'd look to spend a bit more than get something built that suits your riding with some decent hubs. For less than £400 I can build myself some Hope Pro4s on Stans Arch Mk3 rims, with Sapim D-light spokes. You'll need to add on the cost of someone doing the build for you.
i didn't know AR and ARC rims are different, so Rickon's probably given you a better answer there!
I picked up a set of crest mk3’s on stans hubs for not much more than that recently. At 1550g or so you should notice the difference.
The V6 hubs could be really good, but at the moment they’re so new you won’t have any reviews commenting on longevity.
Given the rrp of the hubs and that they’re U.K. made, that price for fully built wheels with decent rims and spokes seems pretty good. I paid more than that for the component parts for Hope hubs / Dt Swiss xm481 rims / Dt Swiss competition spokes and built them myself.
So wait, £300 for a 1550g wheelset? 29er? Sounds good...!
I think Crests might be a little light for my clumsy Lake District riding?
1550g wheelset is for set of Crests with stans hubs. Take that weight with pinch of salt nearer 1600g running 28h rims!
Superstar new V6 hubs weigh 520g!!!! A Pair..... A set of 29er Flows on V6 will be 1990g with Sapim Race spokes
I’m in Cumbria and probably 100kg kitted up. No problem so far but your not going to get away with any really bad landings I suspect
I wouldn't be buying Crests, unless I was riding XC. They're pretty soft, and they're very narrow for the type of tyres you'll want to be running in the Lakes.
Flow Mk3s aren't a bad shout if you're riding in the mountains all the time, I'm just not sure what the benefit over your current wheelset is though.
To upgrade, I'd be looking for something nicer, rather than on-par with what you've got. It might save you £100 over a nicer wheelset, but it feels like throwing away money for no benefit.
A set of Hope wheels, on Flow rims won't save you much weight, but they'll last you a long time. Same goes for DT Swiss 350 hubs.
In fairness to Superstar I’d have thought their V6 hubs are nicer than whyte branded hubs which are likely Formula or Novatec. Aren’t the v6’s roughly on a level with the Pro4’s?
Looks like I’ll wait until I either bend what I’ve got or a flash set appear in the classifieds. £300 wheels made a big difference to my £1200 road bike, but it would seem I won’t see a notable change on my MTB. Cheers all.