Can't find anything either way, most retailers say they don't come with rim strips but that doesn't really answer it. Just wondering if I'm going to have an extra expense here… Anyone know for sure?

I'm kind of assuming they don't come with the valves?

Cheers

they come with normal rim tape, not yellow stuff

Oh well. Thanks for clearing that up!

If you get them from wheelpro they come with an extra QC check, yellow tape fitted and the valves

Just use a few wraps of insulation tape instead

Mine did not although 'Cycle Sports UK' sent me some velox anyway.

I believe WheelPro are the only seller to chuck in the Stans yellow strip, which to say it costs a tenner on it's own is pretty good value imo.

Bough mine from wheelpro. Came complete, great service.

hope will sell you a kit with roll of yellow tape/valves/2 small bottles of jizz

Fackit, Wheelpro "throw in" the tape and valve for £9 an end. I was considering wheelpro but it adds about £30 to the cost inc postage, and though I like the idea of their wheel check nobody seems to have any complaints about the regular Hope build so i think I'll go for the cheaper option 😉 Which I think is Winstanleys for the front, Noah's for the rear, wiggle for the rest.

Cheers folks.

The valves, rim strip and a bottle of gunk comes to £32 on Chain Reaction, so the extra £27 from Wheelpro for fitting and posting more than pays for that.

Having had Hope Hoops a few years ago and not been too impressed with the build I was more than happy to get my set of Flows from Roger a few weeks ago; checked, tweaked and all set up and ready to go.

Maybe it does make sense. The saving buying the wheels seperate is only about £20 now since the cheaper rear wheels have gone out of stock while I was prevaricating 😛 I don't think getting Wheelpro to fit the kits is much of a selling point, £18 vs £21 to buy the parts seperately (and have spare tape) but it's pretty price neutral.

The question I suppose is whether the Wheelpro service is really adding any value- he could easily just throw them in a box and charge extra without even looking at them and I'd never know after all.

Cheers folks! Need to give this another think now.

(Oh, Adam, that's not a sensible comparison, the equivalent parts cost £10 less than you quoted)

This is the first set if Hope Hoops I bought three and a half years ago – DT 5.1d rims…

… after a slow speed sideways-type tumble. Wasn't too impressed that they folded so easily; they'd always needed the spoke tension looking at.

After that I decided to learn to build my own wheels, which I did using Roger Musson's PDF book. I only bought the Flow Hope Hoops from him because it's cheaper to buy from him than buy the bits separately, and I trust his wheel building knowledge and ability.

Worth it, IMHO.

I like that, it's got a really attractive curve to it, way better than boring round wheels.

Oh sod it, why spent brainpower over a £20 saving, I'll go to Wheelpro, it's not like I've never wasted £20 before in my life and that's the worst that can happen after all.

It did have a certain abstract beauty… a bit Salvador Dali perhaps?

(But it didn't turn in the front forks; had to remove the tyre and ride back to the car (Cambusbarrron/North Third) on the rim!)

I think Winstanleys is the cheapest place for Hope Hoops at the moment:
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/24181/Hope_Pro_2_Standard_Stans_355_Rear_Wheel
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/24176/Hope_Pro_2_Standard_Stans_355_Rear_Wheel

Keep your eyes open, the new Stans "Alpine" (Olympic replacement) and "Crest" (Flow replacement) are supposed to be coming out on Hope Hoops in the next 4-6 weeks…

I e-mailed Hope this Friday asking when they were chnging to the Crest/Alpine and they replied saying mid summer.

Is the Crest really supposed to be a Flow replacement? Seems really very light for that sort of job.

Oh, Duckers, Winstanleys are out of stock on the rears Flows and that, with them, could mean anything 🙁 Otherwise I'd have been ordering from them but I don't trust them to get the rear in stock any time soon tbh.

I thought the Crest was the 355 replacement? Isn't it basically the 355 with smaller sidewalls as it is not v brake compatible?

You're right adam, there's no way that a 340g rim replaces a 470g one. Both Alpine and Crest are disc only 355s.

HOPE always seem to be out of stock of the Flow rims.

Northwind

You don't trust me when I say I adjust them. You don't seem to think installing the yellow tape (and giving you the spare) is a worthwhile service. It's only because the others are out of stock. Please don't get in touch.

Hi Roger, we actually spoke this afternoon and I ordered a set of Flows based off the recommendations on here! I hope that's OK.

Apologies if I've given offence, it certainly wasn't intended! It's not a question of not trusting you personally- quite the opposite, I wasn't familiar with your name or reputation, so I was looking for advice. There's plenty of cowboys out there in wheelbuilding or in the bike industry in general as I'm sure you know so I don't do blind trust, but neither do I do blind mistrust- I just ask and trust other people's opinions.

Anyway- I hope you understand where I'm coming from, no offence intended at all but I'm still sorry if I caused it. If you're still unhappy you can cancel the order (I'm Andrew Cunningham) and I can go elsewhere but I'd sooner get them from you.

FWIW it might be worth mentioning on the website that you include the spare tape, if I'd know that I'd not have questioned whether it was worthwhile, other buyers might find that useful too? When I said it doesn't add much value, I was looking at it only from my own point of view, I've fitted yellow tape and valves before so it'd be easy for me to do it again.

Wheels arrived today, cheers! But why don't you advertise that you include sealant too? Very nice touch and makes the tubeless kit a fantastic deal.

Want cream with the humble-pie Northwind…?

Not really… Though I do like cream I don't have any pie to put it on. Roger partly seemed to be upset that I didn't think the tubeless kit was good value, but if he made this info available in the first place I'd never have doubted it, so I can't say as I feel bad about that…

For the rest of it, I don't like to see people offended for no reason so it's only right to clear up the misunderstanding, I'm assuming he understands where I was coming from now though with no response so I don't know for sure. Hope so though.

Quite frankly, I can't see how you can deny that you did belittle and doubt his services – and all the information you claim isn't available is clearly stated on Wheelpro's website…

You don't trust me when I say I adjust them. You don't seem to think installing the yellow tape (and giving you the spare) is a worthwhile service. It's only because the others are out of stock. Please don't get in touch.

Bit touchy aren't we?

It does say on the Wheelpro site that you get the spare tape and a bottle of sealant

Wheelpro Website says:

Install Stans tubeless kit

£9 per wheel

Install Stans Yellow sealing tape, a Stans tubeless valve and a bottle of Stans sealing fluid. When ordering a pair of wheels you get the remainder of the unused yellow tape, enough to tape up a couple more wheels.

Just ordered a set of 355's from Roger :D, so looking forward to them arriving!

Hmm. I'm so surprised by that, I assumed at first it must have been changed but actually it's probably just the case I was wrong. So yep, some humble pie actually is due on that one. Can I have my cream now or has it gone off? Apologies to you Roger for the error.

But no, Househusband, I wasn't belittling his service at all, just asking questions. The bottom line is I actually bought the wheels, because after getting more info they were a better option than I'd thought they were- it was actually you that convinced me of that. I think that proves I wasn't just out to belittle him don't you?

So yeah, my bad on the sealant etc, and thanks for your help with the recommendation, it did seal the deal. I'm certainly happy with the end result and I assume Roger is too since he was happy to take the order despite his post.

Maybe, maybe not; but you did sound a bit dismissive in one or two comments – anyway, all is well that ends well. Came very close to ordering another set of Flows from him, but don't need another set of such wide rims – however at 15st plus I don't think I'd trust 355's long term. Will probably spend as much building XM819's on Pro II's anyway… but building them up will be fun.

Yeah, I think that's the trouble with text sometimes, it's easy to give a wrong impression. Ah well.