Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • Help me pick a lightweight, tubeless, XC 29er wheelset for under £350?
  • Northwind
    Full Member

    I’ve put together out of ebay scrapings and random spare parts a surprisingly decent XC bike… But at the moment it’s sharing wheels with my commuter and that’s just a pain in the balls,it’s fine for race days or whatever but I know from experience it’ll stop me using it day to day. So I was wondering about building or buying some light, cheap(ish), tubeless wheels for it… (29er btw). But I’ve run into a minor snag- I know ****-all about XC kit.

    So any help much appreciated! Right now, the old Stryker XC Races I’m using are about 1550g so that’s kind of the target. And let’s say £350 absolute tops but I really don’t want to spend that much if I can avoid it. (so far I have spent £147 on this bike out of pocket, obviously the £500 worth of parts in the garage don’t count)

    I like scrounging stuff together and I can build my own but tbh bikestacja has a 1505g set on Crests for £250, that’s hard to beat on value so I think the only way to beat that, is lighter. But it’s still hard.

    So I’m thinking… Spokes, I’d default to lasers, I’ve used them in much heavier use wheels. Sound OK?

    Rims… I can’t beat Stans Crest, they’re not cheap but I trust em and I can’t find anything cheaper that’s worth the tradeoff. Any other takers? Got to be “native tubeless” and not stupidly soft, this isn’t a raceday only bike. As much as I like my cheap carbonz it’s out of budget this time.

    Hubs I have no clue, usually I default to DT240S but they’re out of budget unless I can find some more cheap used ones. I can do QR only but obviously futureproof is better… I see a fair few recommends for Circus Monkey but that’s all I’ve got and they don’t seem that light… Shimano freehub, for now.

    Aaaand that’s it. Chances are you know more than me so, show off!

    Kamakazie
    Full Member

    I’ll be interested in any answers to this as I need a pair for road use on my CX but as such need hubs compatible with Shimano 11spd road cassettes which rules out the clearance superstar hubs.

    What about Spline XR1501 if you can spot a deal which pop up from time to time?

    SirHC
    Full Member

    Recently built up Crest Mk3’s on Pro 2 Evo’s, 1673g. Hubs arn’t the lightest, but they are reliable and can be serviced with a hammer and selection of sockets.

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    theocb
    Free Member

    If the bikestacja crests at £250 are on decent hubs then I would be surprised if you can get close to money/weight.

    bigjim
    Full Member

    WTB KOMs on both my 29ers, faultless, wouldn’t look at anything else, can be had cheap too. ACI spokes are my fave to build with and cheepcheep (or were) on cyclebasket. Hubs I’m a DT man now but difficult if need to swap axles.

    Hob-Nob
    Free Member

    There is someone on here selling some DT wheels – m1700’s? The hubs are lighter than a 350 but only 10g more than a 240. Straight pull, 28h. Built with a light rim, they would be in that ballpark. He wanted sub £200 for them, with the better ratchet hub too.

    I built some up recently with Arch Mk3’s and they were surprisingly light. Even managed to reuse the spokes with a 14mm nipple 🙂

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    1500g for a 29er wheelset for 250 quid, I’d bite their hand off for that

    I was looking at how to lose weight from my new build, but couldn’t find much lighter than I already have (Dt x1700 weighing in at 1650g) unless I went carbon or bling.

    Where are the Crests for £250 quid, I can’t see them on the site. Actually don’t tell me, there are far more pressing things I need to spend my cash on…

    Recently built up Crest Mk3’s on Pro 2 Evo’s, 1673g. Hubs arn’t the lightest, but they are reliable and can be serviced with a hammer and selection of sockets.

    I know Hope hubs aren’t the lightest, but they aren’t exactly ‘heavy’. This was the kind of weight I had them coming out at when I looked at a build. What hubs are on these ones you are refering to NW?

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    There is someone on here selling some DT wheels – m1700’s? The hubs are lighter than a 350 but only 10g more than a 240. Straight pull, 28h. Built with a light rim, they would be in that ballpark. He wanted sub £200 for them, with the better ratchet hub too.

    Thats the trail version of the x1700s I have. They come in at just over 1700g as I recall.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    theocb – Member

    If the bikestacja crests at £250 are on decent hubs then I would be surprised if you can get close to money/weight.

    Novatec 771 and 772s, I’ve no personal experience of ’em but they have a fair rep, I’ve had other novatec hubs before and been happy

    Hob Nob – Member

    There is someone on here selling some DT wheels – m1700’s? The hubs are lighter than a 350 but only 10g more than a 240. Straight pull, 28h. Built with a light rim, they would be in that ballpark

    That’s the sort of maneouvre I like but… **** off straightpulls. 😆

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Those Novatec hubs aren’t really light. The bite guards on them are pretty poor aswell: I snapped the rear off my freehub.

    These are quite light and cheap http://www.bitexhubs.com/htm/products_detail.php?p=568f6ee9cb13f
    http://www.bitexhubs.com/htm/products_detail.php?p=568f6f2548341

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Those Novatec hubs aren’t really light.

    Thats what I was thinking. How on earth do they come in at 1500g. Perhaps they’ve been weighed on the same scales that some folks use on here…

    or bathroom scales

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I can’t find a picture on scales but they’re about 410g claimed

    frankconway
    Full Member

    If you can overcome your aversion to straight pull I might have what you’re looking for.

    QR at both ends; Stan’s ZTR Crest 29er on Hope Pro2 evo straight pull, 32h, 6 bolt, running Maxxis Ikon 2.2” with good tread, 11sp freehub fitted; checked by Cytech level 3 mechanic and trued – everything works as it should, hubs run well, some minor scuffs on rims; not used since being checked.

    £250 plus postage.

    If you’re interested drop me an email – address in profile – or PM.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    I know **** all about it, but I’m in:
    (weight unknown)

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    CRC custom by scaredypants, on Flickr[/img]

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Orrrr perhaps I’ll just buy a set of Superstar wheels with BOR rims for £125 😯 God knows how much they’ll weigh, the website claimed weights suggest the fuel front hub is a monster. But £125!

    cp
    Full Member

    I was just going to suggest a set of those – that’s a brilliant price. I’m very tempted….

    woodster
    Full Member

    Given my Flow EX build on the same hubs and spokes is a touch over 2100g I doubt they’ll be featherweight

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Aye, it’s a terrible spec of wheel tbh, I assume just clearing out Fuels. But it’s also a parts kit.

    mb51
    Free Member

    Hi. Go on eBay.uk put in DT SWISS wheels new. Should come up with a polish company selling dt Swiss wheelsets and other stuff, all new , very good deals. Don’t be put off buy buying from Poland, I’ve purchased 2 wheelsets in last 1¾ years for 26″E2200 and 650b” WTB FREQUENCY TEAM i25 on DT SWISS 350 hubs, both very good wheelsets. Quick and trackable delivery, and both were very well packed.hope this helps

    woodster
    Full Member

    Aye, it’s a terrible spec of wheel tbh, I assume just clearing out Fuels. But it’s also a parts kit.

    Definitely a bargain as parts. Wonder why Superstar even bother offering fancier than rebadged Novatecs, as hubs since they always seem to have issues.

    I bought mine as spares and they’re even quite nicely built, but if the hubs are crap I’ll just swap them.

    hughjayteens
    Free Member

    If a pair of Easton ARC24 rims might be of interest, my LBS is selling some built up onto i9 Torch Boost hubs going cheap. I want the hubs but have no need for the rims so might work out OK?

    HoratioHufnagel
    Free Member

    Hi. Go on eBay.uk put in DT SWISS wheels new. Should come up with a polish company

    You mean bikestacja that the OP mentioned in the first post? 🙂

    I have some of his wheels, DT M442 on DT 350 and they’ve been great over the last 18 months. Still straight, running tubeless without a problem.

    vincienup
    Free Member

    What sort of weight are you looking for? My first (and only) 29er wheel set was a pair of Frequency i25 teams with DT Comps, brass nips and Hope pro2evo 40t’s. Never weighed them but they didn’t feel overly heavy. IIRC the DT calc when I fed it claimed weights estimated something like 2100g which isn’t featherweight but I find quite acceptable for a big, strong set of wheels…

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Cheers hughjayteens, sorted for rims though.

    @vincienup, I’ve got something almost exactly like that for the big bike (in fact they’re in the bike right now to mock it up) but this is an XC bike, so light is good. These wheels I’ve bought I’m guessing at… Oooh, 1800g, if the claimed weights are true. Heavier than I want. But the rims are damn light and I can work on all that and have other useful bits.

    It’s a pretty long road for a shortcut tbh 😆

    granny_ring
    Full Member

    What did you buy in the end?

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Oh, I thought I’d said but I never really explicitly did 😳 I got the Superstar/BOR ones, more or less as stage 1. I think longterm I’ll probably only use the rims on this bike but all the bits’ll find some use and it means I can take my time finding the right hubs (well, I know the right hubs, it’s more about the right price 😉 )

    vincienup
    Free Member

    If you already have the rims, then any saving is going to be in the hubs, spoke weight savings will be marginal relatively.

    American Classic 225’s or DT 240’s would drop about 100g of the rear vs Pro4, I don’t think Superstar have anything noticeably lighter than a Pro4. Chris King stuff all seems to be in the ballpark of Pro4s or slightly heavier. i9’s seem to be around 50g under Pro4. Not sure what to suggest if you wanted to drop much more weight, tbh. If you already have the rims I think you’re limited to knocking a couple of hundred grams off with some relatively spendy hubs. Any weight saving in wheels is a good thing, but the rim and tyre are going to make their presence felt most.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Longterm I want DT240S tbh, in the past I’ve done well picking them up (or wheelsets with them in) for cheap but I haven’t found any lately. And laser spokes, if I change those. And then I can do something else with these hubs and spokes, it’s the circle of life.

    But that’ll all wait.

    vincienup
    Free Member

    Yep! The Pro2’s I mentioned above are in their second wheel set since I bought them, and they’d previously been in someone’s spare CX wheel set with the 11sp road free hub fitted. I got the pair for £100 posted off that eBay. The vendor apparently tended to break his race kit at the end of each season and had access to post room of a bike shop with an online presence … 😆

    Northwind
    Full Member

    <buys scabby front wheel with DT240S hub in for £40>

    That was quicker than I expected 😆

    granny_ring
    Full Member

    Blinding, good result!!

    vincienup
    Free Member

    Rejoicing!

    One of these days people selling knackered wheels in unfashionable sizes will realise we only want them for the hubs and begin pricing accordingly… 😯

Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)

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