I have a GT Grade AL 105 which I use 95% of the time as a road bike as it is easy on the back for long rides and soaks up the appalling roads where I live. Occasional short use on trails.

The stock Alex Rims are shocking and I keep popping spokes so as I’m looking to get a turbo trainer for the winter I’m going to also replace the wheels for something stronger and put training rubber on the old rear wheel.

I’m not fussed about weight, I should shave a few stone myself before worrying about a few grams on the wheels, but stronger is a must.

Now my stupid question – I’ve been basing my search on the current Thru Axle but I assume it doesn’t matter as long as ay new ones match the hubs on the new wheels?

Budget is £200-£250 if anyone has a suggestion also.

Cheers

I have the exact same bike and had the exact same problems with the wheels so I’ve tried a few different sets in mine. Not sure why you’re mentioning thru-axles though, mines QR front and back. I also only tend to use mine for road riding (commuting specifically) so I’d say we’re pretty similar

Stock wheels – the build is rubbish, I’ve broken a lot of spokes although I think they loosened before they snapped so one option is to either have the orginal wheels rebuilt with new spokes, or have the existing rims built onto new hubs such as a Pro4 or similar.

Original rims built onto a set of Hope Pro’s – I already had the hubs and did the build myself so proved a cheap way to go. Not especially light but 32 spokes laced 3x were super strong. However a bit overkill for road riding.

Mavic Ksyrium disc – I think these were around £350 from merlin. Good stiff wheel and relatively light. Quite narrow rims though. I did around 2.5k miles before they started needed some serious work and even then they feel a bit ropey compared to how they were when new.

Hunt 4 seasons – these are the £450 ones but they do a cheaper version that just uses a cheaper rim. They’re a lot lighter than the ksyriums, seem pretty stiff and I’ve not had to touch them yet. Only got about 1000 miles on them so far but they’re still spinning nicely. Also look pimp. Run GP4000’s in 28mm which are my favourite tyre.

King hubs on mavic something or other – bought these second hand off here, lovely wheel if a little weighty. I have these set up with Challenge 32mm Stradas and they roll forever. However I keep them as a second set for touring as they’re a bit too nice to use for commuting and the tyres do seem to cut up easily compared to the conti GP4000’s.

All those mentioned above can run thru-axle if that’s what you have. For your budget and if you’re a big lad, I’d say lace the old rims on to new hubs. And get some 28mm GP4000’s, they’re mega!

Not sure if I can link from LFGSS but below should be a pic of my Grade. Only original bits are the frame and fork…

I have a carbon GT Grade that has a 15mm front thru-axle. I broke spokes in the DT Swiss/Stans Grail wheels very soon after I got the bike and after some negotiation with the suplier ended up rebuilding both wheels myself with Sapim Race spokes that have held up well in the subsequent 2 years. I couldn’t even identify who made the original crap spokes.

I’ve just bought some Novatec hubs from eBay to build myself another set of spare wheels for the bike all of which doesn’t help you much.

I would advise contacting Malcolm at The Cycle Clinic. He is a great wheelbuilder and showed me how to build and true wheels. He could probably do you a nice set of wheels for maybe just above your budget if you could stretch but he does guarantee his work.

I’ve got the 105 Carbon it came with the Stans ZTR Grail rims 28 spoke.

I’ve just replaced the wheel set with the same but 32 hole ZTR Grails.

I’m about to list the originals in the classifieds. Dunno if they are stronger than yours.

RIMS/HUBS Stan’s NoTubes Grail Disc specific Road 28h,
Formula 4 bearing sealed, centerlock 15mm thru-axle 28h,
Formula 4 bearing sealed, centerlock, 135mm spacing standard QR

Not disputing anything here,but I ran those ATD470 rims on my gravel bike for two years and gave them a total hammering with no issues. Maybe it’s the quality of the wheel build that’s causing problems?

Edit: my build was on SS switch ultra lite hubs with sapim CX ray spokes

I’m just following up on this thread because I have a 2016 GT Grade Alloy X, and I’d really like to put a pair of 650b wheels with 45-47mm tires…

My LBS told me there wouldn’t be enough clearance, but I’m pretty sure they’d fit. Curious if anyone on this thread has tried that setup?

The GT Grade facebook group has some useful info & pics on this subject. Best to join up, but a quick resume of what I found:

True 42mm width 650b tyre = 7mm clearance either side at the back / 5mm at front on alloy frame / carbon fork.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1520981758229045/permalink/1913299015663982/

Clearance is tighter on the Carbon models though…

Some other useful posts:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1520981758229045/permalink/2254368608223686/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1520981758229045/permalink/1977698515890698/

I have Prime Peloton’s on mine… not light but they are strong and the build was good so they are an improvement on the originals, and they are cheap*!

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-peloton-v2-disc-road-wheelset/

* I work for Wiggle so I get them cheaper… but as budget wheels for commuting and road riding go I think they are great.