Looks like my new road bike will be arriving a little sooner than expected. Short list is the wide Scribe 50/60, Ribble 56db. The Scribes offer just that little bit better specs than the Ribble for a £100odd quid. The Ribble wheels do offer Hope hubs which should be better than the Scribe ones though the Scribe hubs are interesting with the leaf spring ratchet. The Scribes just seem to nudge Hunts out too. Also considered the Winspace wheels and the budget Zipps and the LB and Yeoleo ones(when it’s came to getting the cash out I’d rather deal with a UK vendor).

Any opinions on the above two? Or anything else I should have a look at?

I’m aware of the possible Scribe recent forum bust and that the hubs may be Bitex(not seeing much wrong with Bitex hubs out there).

I’m wanting to run 25-28mm tyres probably mostly 28’s. They are going on a Ribble endurance sl disc. Upgrading at point of purchase was a bit of a loss, upgrade was the same price as the actual wheels.

Can’t advise on upgrade of wheels as I ordered my endurance with the standard Askium, my bike is due in about a fortnight so will see how it runs with these before thinking about a change.

Have some scribes (40d+) and some LB 56mm jobs. The scribes are a nicer quality wheel but they are very, very loud.

If you can get some hope RS4s built onto nice rims then I’d go for that. The hubs are lovely and make a very pleasant tick, as opposed to the mega CLACK that my scribe hubs make. They should last for ever too.

If you’re going to buy rebranded Chinese carbon, why not just get said open mould carbon made up to your own specs for much less money?

Or buy zipp 303s’s, not because they’re intuitively better but because – unlike cheap ones – they’ll probably still be worth most of their as-new price in a year.

White101 that was my plan also. As the due date gets closer I’ve brought forward my plans for the fancy wheels.

Cakeandcheese I’m all for a loud freehub, too loud though might be tiresome, I’ll have I’ll have a look for some vids.

Continuity, I’ve read some of your posts before and agree to an extent. That was up until I had to spring the cash. I’m not seeing massive savings on LB for instance. Still around 800-900 dollars before shipping.

Zipps maybe still in the running, the hookless design has me holding back. Resale isn’t a concern as I never sell anything.

If you’ve looked at winspace then id also look at light bicycle and Nextie – I’ve a set of Nextie wave rims on tube hubs that cost me around £800 which are excellent. But between the scribe and Ribble’s id go with scribe.

Spend some time swatting up on Caden wheels from Australia. They have a European distributor who holds stock.

Pretty special wheels and great real-world results.

I spent a good month researching every option from cheapest to most expensive and ended up with a 49mm pair of these.

I am about to list a set of DT Swiss ARC1400 in the classifieds. Centrelock, tubeless, choice of XDR or HG freehub, GP5000TL 38mm tyres.

Lovely wheels with super reliable DT240 internals. Barely used (maybe 300 miles max). I just sold the bike they were on but the buyer didn’t want the wheels.

£750

Apologies for the stealth ad, but thought they might fit the bill.

The Ribble wheels do offer Hope hubs which should be better than the Scribe ones though the Scribe hubs are interesting with the leaf spring ratchet.

Are Hope hubs REALLY all that though? Mine were only ever draggy and prone to ditching their guts on the garage floor/car park as the freehub would pop off if there was any sideways pull applied on the cassette (e.g. when putting a wheel in or out).

Not really knocking them but I wouldn’t NOT buy another brand on the basis of the hubs.

Ran hope hubs for years and never had these issues 13thFM. They’re easy to service and get bits for, which I like. Plus Hope’s back up and warranty is first class.

https://www.parcours.cc/products/grimpeur-disc

Are Hope hubs REALLY all that though?

I’m with you on Pro4s – had them, but wouldn’t choose them again. In fact I’ve not, and gone for superstar V6 most recently as they’re similarly priced and just something different.

RS4s on the other hand are a different matter. The small changes they’ve made to the ratchet and seal make a huge difference and result in a hub I’d take over a DT 240 any day.

I went for justridingalong MAP Supalites. Not the deep section that you’re looking at, but based on the hubs(bitex?????) and the build quality, I’d highly recommend having a look at them for their carbon deep sections

If your interested in the winspace wheels then watch tree YouTube videos like trace Velo etc as they usually have discount codes at the end of the videos.

Any reason why I shouldn’t go for UST rims rather than ones with spoke holes on some of these builds?

I sold my 3 year old rovals (for a good price as they appear to be a fashionable brand at the moment) because the bead didn’t lock into the rim and if there was a sudden total loss of pressure the bead would pop off which I was never happy with. Bought the new version of mavic kysrium sl becuase of the bead/rim interface standard they are pushing and the UST rim. It seems that most of the tubeless related problems on here are tape related and for me, taping has always seemed a bit of bodged engineering solution

Zipp 303s. Used to love my 404s and these are just as awesome!

Just ordered a set of AR46 rims from Light Bicycle to build up on a Hope Pro 4 front and DT 350 rear hub for the gravel bike. £297 for the rims delivered with tax pre paid, picked up the hope hub on eBay for £50 and the rear 350 from CRC for £90 brand new. With spokes and nipples they should come in under £500 with me building them myself.

FWIW give building some wheels a go, its not as hard as people make out and I quite enjoy it.