Hope Hoops help

I am planning on buying a set of Hope hoops soon, been looking at Winstanleys at the straight pull hubs, or Wheelpro with the standard hubs. Is there any advantage with the SP hubs? I understand that Wheelpro check the wheels/spoke tension before they are sent out, and they work out a bit cheaper by the time you add the rim tape and valves on, so is this worth it over the SP wheels?

Also, want to get Stans rims, but not sure whether to get the 355 or the Flow. I only weight 10.5 stone, bike is an Orange 5, currently with 2.35 High Rollers. Current rims are 2006 WTB Speeddisc, which have been fine, are these nearer the 355's or the Flow's?

A friend of mine had an SP build and had nothing but problems. Spokes pinging right left and centre. Of course this could be a one-off but I'd go for the Pro 2s.

I 'upgraded' to Pro SP-AMs with DT EX500 rims and they are seriously stiff mate.

they just can't be knocked off line.

Besides that, they look better and you rarely seem em about.

They are dearer, but you pay for performance and if you see them as an investment, you should be able to get over the price dif.

Only thing I would say is go for the Pro2 SPs rather than the Pro3 SPs like I because of rotor availibility.

SP all the way, you won't regret it 🙂

I don't know how they compare to the WTBs, but I think you should be fine on the 355s. I weigh 5 stone more than you and haven't knocked mine out of true yet.

I agree with Fackit i have the EX500 and they are still nice and true, and i don't really pick my line if it's in the way i hit it, can't fault them.

I'm with mrgreedy and would say the 355s would do the job particular given you're fairly lightish. I run 2.35 HR on my 355s with no problem and they've taken all I can throw at them so much so I haven't even dug out the Hope Hoops with Flow I also have.

Sorry to hijack a bit but…

Does anyone know if Hope are gonna change the 355 Hoops for Crests? I can't see a reason why they wouldn't change to a lighter, wider rim but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere either.

I used to have pro3-sp xc's, worked fine on Ti hardtail for 6 months, switched them to a carbon full sus & they just kept on snapping spokes! sent them back to Hope a couple times they faffed a bit but could'nt find anything wrong. got rid of them in the end now have pro 2 hubs with stans ztr flow rims, heavier than sp xc's but still reletivly light, much stronger & excellent tyre profile on the wider rims.

At your weight I'd be inclined to go for the 355 or the Arch if you wanted a bit more stiffness (assuming Hope do a wheel with the Arch); the Flow is what I use for (very) aggressive trail riding and some light DH and I weigh in at 16.5 stone.

Have the standard xm317's on the bike at the moment and was looking to replace with something a little wider.(usually run 2.35 HR) XM719's are the obvious choice but now looking at Stans. Flows look ideal but a touch heavy, guessing 355's equivalent to xc717's ? so Arch seems to fit the bill, think they are a touch wider than the 719's too & about the same weight I think.

See wheelpro only do 355's or Flow, Merlin do the Arch as well

Flows look ideal but a touch heavy,

According to their respective websites, the Flow rim is only 10g heavier than the xm719

I weighed my Hope Hoops with Flows and they came in at…
Hope Pro2 with Flow Front: 876g
Hope Pro2 with Flow Rear: 998g (1874g Both)
…which I think is pretty close to the stated weights on the Hope website

I had the Flow rim down as 525g & the xm719 as 460g & the Arch at 420g, see your quoting weights for a full wheel though.

If there's is only 10g difference then Flows it will be. Mainly for Lakes/Peak riding with the odd trip to the Alps (where I'd like to put a 2.5 HR on)

I think the Flow comes in at 470g.

Stans list weight for a flow rim is 470g.

Ah my bad, wrote down the weight of a 29'er rim! , yep it's 470g for the 'normal' sized one. Will go with the Flow then.

With 719/819's while the rims are not too heavy, its the spokes/nipples/gizmos that seem to add weight. Unless you want specifically to use UST, go Stans.

I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago about the Pro 2 SP's vs Pro 2's, didn't really get any negatives either.

It's the extra width of the Rim, as well as a dabble in tubeless that's attractive. Not had any issues with Pro 2's but heard spokes are harder to source for the Pro 2 SP's ?? not sure if this is still the case though.

Smeg, Mavic quote their rim weight without the spoke eyelets, so you need to add 30-50g to the quoted weights to do a direct comparison.

My Pro 2 SPs with 355 rims where faultless on first ride in Peaks on Saturday, and that included hammering down Lockerbrook and Hagg farm descents
355 rims will be more than adequate for you (Im just shy of 13 stone and have Olympics on the HT and 355's on the full suss)

I couldnt believe the weight (1600g F&R and thats 12mm maxle rear – although measured without athe maxle) of the wheels, a full pound and a half lighter than what they replaced

You get 2 spare spokes with the Hoops anyway (so 4 if you get front and back wheels)
I dont imagine spokes will be any harder to come by as the wheels become more common

Flows would give a better tyre profile for grip if you are going to run 2.35 High Rollers 😉

Currently running two sets of Hoops, one set on 5.1's and another on Flows. I did have a set on 4.2's, which I put 2.25 Racing Ralphs from my 5.1's on, they were a lot more skittish in bends, just from the more rounded tyre profile (now sold because of that reason)

I've used Pro 2 Hope Hoops and Pro 3 SP Hope Hoops, both with Maxxis HR 2.35's and 160mm Hope Floating Rotors, SP set-up is much stiffer in my experience, seems to accelerate faster when you put the power down, and is less-easily knocked off-line.

Not used Stan's rims, but have found both DT 4.2D's and Mavic 717's to be very good for XC/Trail.

Thanks for the replies, my current rims aren't all that wide, I don't think, so think I might go for the 355's. I'm not sure if I'm a good enough rider to feel the difference between the SP and standard hubs, the main reason I was looking at the SP hubs was because I preferred the look of them!
Getting the SP wheels, including all the rim tape, valves and sealant from Winstanleys is about £25 more than Wheelpro, and Wheelpro wheels will come with the the rim strip and valves fitted, plus the sealant, axle swap, and a spoke tension check as well. Still wondering if this is a better idea than the Winstanleys deal. Decisions, decisions!!

I used Wheelpro's book to get myself wheelbuilding and have built wheels for most of the family bikes, but recently bought a front Hope hoop from Winstanleys because I could get it for half the price of the hub, rim and spokes bought separately. I didn't buy from Wheelpro because he is now only doing Flows and I had a mavic on the rear wheel and wanted to match.

When I got the hoop I checked it out and the spoke tensions were all over the place. Took me half an hour of fettling to even things up and get rid of 2 potentially loose spokes. Moral of the story therefore is that if you aren't happy with your wheelbuilding skills and you are happy with the flows then having Roger Musson check them over is probably an advantage, and you save some money. If you are happy with your wheelbuilding skills and happy to sort out the SP hubs/rims then it's only the money/bling/are they reliable? equation to sort out.

Wheelpro site says they sell both the 355's and the Flow's now.

adam1330 – the wheels you are torn between are so good in there own right, then it's bound to come down to how they look mate.

And for that reason, I agree the SPs are the more attractive, undoubtedly stiffer (imo) and rarer which is always a plus.

For that reason go with the SPs… And no i'm not on commission 😀

If you need spares, SP are going to be harder to find- easy enough to order but not so easy to just walk into a shop and buy. As I found when I broke one of mine in Fort William 🙁