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Wheel buying question - what would you get.
Right, considering a new set of wheels. Currently use a set of 3 year old 717s on XT hubs built by Merlin. Have bent the front wheel in a crash and the back wheel has seen better days. On a hardtail. Hubs have been fine but I want stronger rims.
Hubs - XT or Pro 2.
Pro 2 are bling, but do I really need to spend the extra, my XT hubs are 3 years old having had one bearing and freewheel replacement recently. They have lots of life left in them, I'd say another couple of years maybe. The only downside is that the front hub is not interchangeable between axles. It seems at some point I may want a 15mm or 20mm front hub with them becoming more common.
I'm leaning towards the XT as they will outlive the rest of the wheel build by my current experiences. Is there any reason to get the Pro2. The offchance that I may want a set of non qr forks in the next few years isn't really enough to sway me.
Rims - more tricky.
Originally wanted Stan's arch rims but the prices of builds are very high! 819's seem good and cheaper. I know the stan's will work with a non UST tyre but will the 819's without any extra bits needed? If extra stuff is needed for the 819 then I may consider getting the 719 and going ghetto. Also if I need to run UST tyres that's quite a lot of extra money going through 2 or 3 pairs of
So PAy for Stan's, GO for 819's or go 719's and ghetto/rimstrip option.
I'm not really that bothered about the weight. With two equally priced durable products I'd pick the lighter but I'm riding a 456 built with fairly middle of the range components so I'm not scared of adding a few gramms to save money.
The diffence in price between 719's on XT and Stan's Arch on Pro 2 is huge! I could by 2 pairs of the former for the price of the later.
So what do you think I should go for.
Hope Hoops are now doing Mavic rims IIRC. Could be worth looking into..
the axle swapability does it for me
i love my pro2s 🙂
819's are great but not light (I don't know about arch's) - are they much cheaper than stans though?
Hope hubs - likely to outlast xt but if you service xt they will lsat. Am with you on the front buh choice for versatility.
I have run non-ust tyres on 819's - can be trickier to inflate (same for stans). Try some door-frame seal in the rim well.
Hope Hopes are also doing Stans rims now. Check out Roger Musson www.wheelpro.co.uk. Prices are good too!
I would love to know what "light XC use only" really means. Make them sound like if you ride across anything more lumpy than a horse bitten trail they bounce you off the bike and go all egg shaped.
Until I get some feedback I can't say what they are capable of. I'm talking here about the ZTR355 which Hope have used for their Pro3 straight pull Hoops in a custom [b]24[/b] hole drilling. Previously I built the 355 with 32 spokes and they worked great. The other Hoop 355 option is based on their Pro2 hub with 32 normal spokes.
Any eary adopters of 24 spoked ZTR355 Hope Hoop wheels out there? Feedback welcomed.
Roger
Don't think there's much difference in price for a front hub between XT and Hope (£20 maybe) but a big jump for the rear.
How about a compromise - XT rear and treat yourself to a Hope front so you have the 20mm option if requred?
A Hope Pro3 hub last weekend... (not the only one I know of either)
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That's a bit worrying. I've just ordered a set of hope pro3/ztr355's. Presumably it'll be covered under hope warranty?
I agree with the XT rear ProII front combo..
Presumably it'll be covered under hope warranty?
Presumably, but you won't get anything to compensate you for the lost ride when a hub breaks, or the faff of a warranty claim, or sending the wheel/hub off, or being without the wheel you paid for and maybe not being able to ride your bike until it's sorted etc etc
A good warranty is a nice thing to have, but (to state the bleeding obvious) it's not as good as the thing not breaking.
Tricky
It's waranted by me as well as Hope so you have nothing to worry about. However, I've never experienced any wheel with a Hope hub that I supplied ever failing.
Roger
Cheers roger. Arrived this morning. Feel light and look great 🙂 Can't wait to try them out.
Orr.... Pro 2 new wheel on the front, s/h Hope XC on the rear?