Gravel bike wheel conundrum…WWSTWD?!?

Looking for a bit of direction as I can’t quite make my mind up

Currently in the process of building up a Ragley Trig, I’ve got most parts but the wheels are causing me some inner turmoil

I have a Halo White Line rear wheel with White Line hub, this needs adaptors to make it a 12mm through axle, the wheel also needs a new rim as the existing one is split so looking at spokes and rebuild costs also

Considering getting a White Line front wheel (just to make them match) 

With about £200 in the current “wheel fund” I’m looking at a total cost of £200 – £240-ish

Started considering hunting down a used ready to go wheelset but truth be told, I don’t COMPLETELY know what I’m looking at / for

Looking for:

700c to hold 40c tyres

12mm through axle 

Ideally cartridge bearings as opposed to cup and cone

Something not made of cheese

WWSTWD? Rebuild rear wheel and buy a new front or search for a new wheelset altogether?

What (if anything) would be worth looking at on the used market for circa £200

Recommendations and thoughts greatly appreciated as always

Hope 20five ticks all those boxes. The only negative might be that they can be a pain to set up tubeless (according to some, others say they’re a piece of piss…)

Hope 20five rim badly dinged on its second ride over an innocuous trail I’d been over many times before with no issues – couldn’t recommend them based on that.

if it’s of interest, I’ve got a brand new pair of Superstar Isotope rims on V6 100×12 and 142×12 hubs butted Sapim spokes with Shimano freehub.  I’d take £120 posted  PM for more info.

Fulcrum Rapid Red?

Fulcrum Rapid Red

I’ve got some similar Fulcrum wheels and the above are £200. Mine work fine with 38-45 tyres and have been faultless, and I’m no skinny whippet – decidedly the opposite in fact.

@gotbike @kilo I had seen some of those on eBay and they had piqued my interest

@fazzini thankyou for the link and recommendation, certainly something to look into

@Blazin-saddles you have a pm, sir

DT Swiss GR1600 can be had secondhand for less than £200 but Merlin have them new in stock. 

Nice bombproof wheelset

Have some new wtb i23 700c wheels on Vitus hubs for £100 posted. Felt surprisingly sprightly on a short test considering they are a bit portly. Tough wheels too.

These any good – in budget:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/prime-orra-700c-alloy-gravel-wheelset

If you can run 650b there are the carbon versions for a bit more at £299

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/prime-orra-650b-carbon-gravel-wheelset

These are a bargain at the minute.

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Vel/23-GRL-Alloy-Gravel-Disc-Wheelset/TW4Y

Review

https://off.road.cc/content/review/wheels/vel-23-grl-alloy-gravel-disc-wheelset-review-10813

There was very little grease on the pawls on my set, after adding some they’re much quieter.

The is for all the suggestions so far, do keep them coming as I’ve got a few days (and an MOT) to get through before I can pull the trigger so happy to look at any / all suggestions

My 20fives have been faultless for quite a few years

I’ve ordered those Vel’s from sigma sports. Will let you know what they’re like when they arrive

I’ve got a brand new pair of Superstar Isotope rims on V6 100×12 and 142×12 hubs butted Sapim spokes with Shimano freehub

These are what I’m running on my Trig.

Very good wheels, rims perhaps a little narrow for my 44c Raddlers, but still ride totally fine.

Hope 20Fives here set up tubeless also with no issues

For cheap gravel wheels check out ebay for Fulcrums that have come as std on Planet X gravel bikes and people have upgraded them straight away, normally can be had for £100 or less

Lots of new options on Merlin well within £200 that look half decent. My Hope’s have been bombproof over several years – recommended if you can find any second hand.

For cheap gravel wheels check out ebay for Fulcrums that have come as std on Planet X gravel bikes and people have upgraded them straight away, normally can be had for £100 or less

They’re too finicky for tubeless IMO, based on 2 sets.

I have a set of the below Superstar wheels, brand new never used, still in box, looking for ~£120:

Arc ULTRA DISC V6 Wheelset – UK Made Hubs

<ul style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;”>
<li style=”margin-left: 15px; list-style: none; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 16px;”>Wheels Arc ULTRA DISC V6 x 1

Black Hub – Black Rim

<li style=”margin-left: 15px; list-style: none; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 16px;”>V-Hub Front Adaptors x 1

12mm Adaptor (Road)

<li style=”margin-left: 15px; list-style: none; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 16px;”>V-Hub Rear Adaptors x 1

142*12mm Adaptor – SHIMANO FREEHUB

<li style=”margin-left: 15px; list-style: none; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 16px;”>V6 Freehub Body x 1

Shimano 11 Speed

Definitely liking the look of the superstar wheels as a quick / cheap solution to get this bike up and running. As a fan of Halo Supadrive hubs I have to admit, quite like the noise of the superstar v6’s too (yup I can be THAT shallow)

Liking the Hope 20fives too but can’t seem to find any used within current budget

will have a scour through Merlin and see what they have currently

Cheers @monkeysfeet bargain! I need 148×12 and 110×12 which are seemingly hard to come by so perfect! 

DT Swiss GR1600 can be had secondhand for less than £200 but Merlin have them new in stock.

I was looking on Merlin a while back for gravel wheels for a Trig (ended up with G1800s from Wiggle). The only GR1600s Merlin have are boost, so not useable on the Trig (I assume that they’re not convertible).

I don’t think they are convertible and in fact you can only use an XDR freehub/driver on them (cassette will fall off if you put an XD freehub/driver on). However if you search on DT Swiss website the boost version isn’t an option. It’s so hard trying to find the right size hubs out of all the million possible wheel combinations and even harder when the manufacturer’s own website doesn’t list them. The set I ordered in arrive tomorrow, though I’m half expecting them to be some odd combination … 🤷‍♂️😎.

I bought some second hand hope hubs and built them with a carbon rim from eBay.

Other than being fussy about which gromit went on the inside of the rim the were super for 2000 miles of gravel and commuting.

So that is what I’d do.

I’m sure it’s not very helpful

The seller I bought them from seems to have stopped doing rims.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276279851822?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=78auDSzORBm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=a9M6NJdMTVq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

@cerrado-tu-ruido

I’ve seen VEL have dropped the price of the carbon wheelsets this time around, but the noise is putting me off buying a pair. How much quieter did they get after greasing? Also, the branding, is it paint, stickers or something else? £100 difference for the white version, would be nice if it could be debadged.

Cheers.

@midlifecrashes

Hard to tell what the branding is, see pic below. There is a slight lip but I couldn’t lift an edge. They were very quiet after adding grease. After about 300 miles they are louder but not as loud as originally. They will probably quieten down once the pawls/ratchet wear down a bit and new grease is added. I think they are the same as spank hex hubs, see the video below for the hub sound. After adding grease they were much quieter than this.

CRC also have some carbon gravel wheels at £449 – they are 36t ratchet. They should come 12mm & QR front/rear end caps, together with 15mm front end caps. Vels only come with 12mm front & rear.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/prime-orra-700c-carbon-gravel-wheelset

Thank you for getting back to me and taking pics. I don’t think I could live with the noise, I love a silent bike and wafting along river banks without the wildlife scattering while I’m still a quarter of a mile away. I think I’ll stick with my stock Shimano until the spring and maybe buy some nicer carbon rims and build on Ultegra or XT. I’m itching to have a dynohub at the front too. Decisions, decisions, and the garage is full already, I need to have a clearout.

The GR1600 Splines I ordered from Merlin have arrived – they’ve clearly been taken off a built bike (or they are used). The XDR freehub has paint missing from the threads and there is an amount of grime on the rims in a couple of places – shop soiling type of thing. They didn’t come in DT Swiss boxes with any of the DT Swiss paperwork either. 🙄

The Vel alloys have arrived today. I’ve re-greased the hub and whilst it’s a lot quieter, it’s still fairly buzzy. I don’t mind this, but not for anyone wanting a quiet bike.

They look nice and stealthy