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Just picked up some open pros and looking to stick together a light weight set of summer wheels.
Looking at trying to get a set of hubs around the 300 gram mark, and without spending a fortune novatec and bitex seem the obvious choice. Anything else I should be considering?
To add to complication the rims are 24 hole, whereas most of the aforementioned hub sets come in 20/24
Ta
disc or nondisc?
from personal experience of trying to be money savvy and getting cheap hubs, they are just not worth it, novatec are an ok pick but bitex are made from cheese, cheddar freehub and the flanges are very weak, so loose tension. get some dt swiss 350's and have them for many years, i've a set of 240's which have done 15,000miles and still on same bearings
What he said up there
Are open pros light?
the flanges are very weak, so loose tension.
Only the build is to blame, not flanges.
Open pros are 430 per rim. Built up with bitex hubs and decent spokes I can get a set of wheels weighing about 1350 grams.
Or I can just save myself the problem and get a set of hunt wheels weighing 1430 for not much more..with the aftermarket support that comes with them and possibly slightly more robust hubs
Has anyone actually built any wheels with the new Open Pros? I had my heart set on building some up with the non-existent Exalith brake track but was prepared to do same with the standard ones. Then I mentioned this to the LBS (one of the few that still exist round here!) when I was in there and he just said "I wouldn't" and reckoned that they are flexy/not at all stiff, having built with some. Maybe why they've put a very specific pressure limit on them?
I'm still open minded (no pun intended) but it's certainly made me think twice. Any experiences?
I considered them, but the thickness of the braking surface is ridiculously thin (in order to get the internal width larger). I went for DT instead.
Circus monkey hubs (the ones with the doily pattern flanges) are cheap and reasonably light. I've had them on my cx and now road wheels for over 5 years without issue.
Have a look at DCR Wheels website for a lot of information on hubs and rims.
I was going to have a set of wheels built with the exalith rims but was told the
issue with Mavic rims is the low spoke bed tension that had to be used.
I considered them, but the thickness of the braking surface is ridiculously thin (in order to get the internal width larger). I went for DT instead.I considered them, but the thickness of the braking surface is ridiculously thin
My wheel builder advised me not to go for them for the same reasons, went for DT instead, this was to rebuild a pair of DT 240’s that were originally part of a monchasseral wheelset with worn rims, the bearings were checked and didn’t need replacing despite being over 10 years old and many thousands of miles.
Buy cheap, buy twice.
Another vote for DCR Wheels. i've had a road and a mountain bike set built this year . The rims and hubs have all been DCR branded, and i cannot recommend them highly enough. Rims are tubeless and i can pump IRC RBCC tyres straight up with a small pump.
I believe that DCR's own branded hubs are based on Bitex. Mine have been excellent in 4 years of (summer) use.
The open pros will be going back as I've just been told by mavic the max pressure is 97 psi...i regularly run my tubed 23mm road tyres at that pressure
That and the comments above have put me right off.
Might be worth having a look at Hunt wheels site - they often come up light for the weight.
I went for 4seasons disc road wheels as I didn’t want to go over £300 but for £400 (in disc wheels) I think the aero went sub 1500g for the pair. If you are non disc then I suspect you’ll be able to go lighter again.
Yes - 1439g for £339:
97 is pretty high these days.
13 stone here and 75-85 (25mm admittedly)
97 is pretty high these days.
13 stone here and 75-85 (25mm admittedly)
True, but you'd like to think you had some leeway at the upper end...
Stealth adding my ass off, but I've got some brand new 28h Novatechs from an abandoned project for sale...
Front was only 6g heavier than the 240 I weighed.
Light rears are always going to be tricky.
CXP33's instead ?
I looked at those hunts and it's a toss up between them and the prime pro which are 30 quid less. I have 2 sets of prime wheels and very impressed by them . The hunts are 40 gramme lighter however (as if that makes a difference) But that may not be with rim tape.
Edging toward the primes as they are slightly narrower (I intend to run corsas in 23 mm variety), plus the decals are removable so I can go with the stealth look.
That's offset by the fact hunt apparently provide a brilliant customer service if anything goes wrong. I reckon the components of each will be much of a muchness however
One thing that did strike me as odd is that mavics rim selection is so poor for road bikes. The only rim I was interested in had a stupidly low psi rating and not available in 20 hole for the front. The rest of the range only in 32 hole..
From what I read the Hunt wheels mostly come in a fair bit over weight so I would base all your decisions on claimed weight.
I’d forgo a bit of weight to take durable hubs, DT350’s or 240’s.
The dt 240 are out my price range for a wheelset that I'm going to use only occasionally, holidays and the like. I have a set of carbon 50mm for the good bike usually, so these will be used for days out in the mountains. So durability isn't really a priority given I'd be surprised if they do more than 500 miles a year.
Chain reactions Prime RD010 Road Hubs take some beating.
I’d forgo a bit of weight to take durable hubs, DT350’s or 240’s.
Couldn't agree more... Even Hope RS4's if the budget can't stretch to DT.
I'd also be looking for something with even just a little bit of aero over and above the low profile rims being quoted. I'd take a set of 1700g wheels that were stiff and reliable over and above sub 1500g wheels that were flexy any day of the week!
Hi, check out Strada wheels, have a chat with Darren, he knows his stuff.