Hmm. I’ve been holding off for a good offer on a wheelset with Crests, but a few places are now doing MT65 wheelsets for big reductions.

I can get Superstar Switch Evo + Crest for £220 (plus £18 delivery plus about £20 for valves and yellow tape)

I can get MT65 (6-bolt version) delivered for £160, including QRs and valves!

I like quiet hubs. I want one set of wheels to do everything: rocky XC, no big drops, 70kg rider. I like tubeless. I’m fine with cup & cone bearings.

Help me.

Are Stans rims really that much better than Shimano UST for tubeless?
Am I really going to notice 150g difference (mostly in the hubs)?

I’m not sure how much help this will be but here goes.

At the start of the year I was looking for new wheels with a convertable front hub and was all set for the Switch/Crest combo until a better offer came up for Pro2/Crest which I went for instead.

A friend of mine has had the Switch/Crests on his bike (Trek Fuel FWIW) for about a year now and has had no issues with them. This includes doing the SDW and a couple of weekends in Wales.

His rear huib is considerably quieter then my Hope but obviuosly louder then the near silent XT hubs. If your happy enough with cup and cone and can save £60, are you going to notice 150grams?

HTH

Links to cheap MT65’S please!

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1000,2,140,17;product=12400

(6€ shipping I think)

and

http://www.alltricks.fr/vtt/roues-jantes/roues-26-/shimano-2012-slx-mt65-paire-de-roues-6-trous-26–9-mm-serrages-178-65968.html

(13.90€ shipping but free in France)

Don’t buy them all – I haven’t made up my mind yet!

Hi Timb34, I’m looking for a set of crests, where have you seen them for £220?…
also interested in the MT65 deal that you have found

Thanks Timn34 – that sure is a good deal!

Unfortunately I need the 15mm thru-bolt front wheel version, and those are QR only 🙁

Well, just in case anyone was wondering, I ordered the 199,99 € MT65 wheelset from Alltricks.fr.

I got e-mails from the shop everytime the online tracking was updated. The wheels turned up really nicely boxed in one big carton, with bubblewrap, polystrene sheets and brown paper. This contrasts strongly with a recent delivery I saw from Actionsports, who had stuffed a pair of Dura-ace road wheels into boxes sized for 26″ mtb wheels with no added padding!

Put them on my bike last night : Specialized Captain and Fast Trak LK tyres (both 2Bliss Control 26×2.00 versions) mounted easily with just a track pump and satisfying pop noises.

I also finally weighed my old stock wheels without cassette or rotors : Alex RHD rims on Specialized hubs. Front 950g, back 1200g. I didn’t weigh the MT65s but if the official weight of 1796 g is about right then I’ve dropped about 350g.

The only bad thing is that alltricks have just put up a reduction code that would’ve saved another 6%. Oh well.