Evening,

pondering a wheel upgrade for my Latitude (26″ wheel), but haven’t got loads of cash to spare – I’ve seen them on CRC at decent price.

The stock wheels are Alex rims on Deore hubs.

Would the MT55 wheels be a worthwhile upgrade?

They look like they have straight pull spokes – are these an issue when it comes to getting spares?
Are they stronger than traditional j-bend spokes?

cheers

Personally I would say no.

You might save a few grams but you’ve still got a set of wheels with cup and cone bearings. Which means regular servicing otherwise they fall to bits. Despite what a few people still say this is a hassle and spares aren’t cost effective once the cones go.

The strength of straight pull versus normal spokes are not worth considering so long as both wheels are built properly. Straight pull are harder to find in an emergency as they less common.

Another thing to factor in is whether you need to buy new discs/adapters. The Shimano wheels have lock ring discs mounts. If you currently have the 6 bolts on your discs then that will add to the cost.

Personally I would only buy hubs with cartridge bearings now.
Cue the arguements!

I have a set of 29er MT55s on my CX. They’re perfectly alright, but as an upgrade to what you have I’d say only very slightly. I’d save a bit longer and get some that would be a bigger difference.

The thing is, if you stay on top of the servicing then cup and cone basically lasts forever. If the cups go, you didn’t service them often enough. It happens.

The newer Shimano hubs are very well sealed so service basically amounts to tweak the ends with a cone spanner when they start to wobble a little.

The cartridge bearing approach is to live with a heavier hub for the convenience of never caring for it until the bearings kark it, then replacing them and repeating.

I do own a bunch of cartridge wheels as I like interchangeable axles.

I did put my money where my mouth was though with a set of Flows on Deore 525 from Merlin at about £95 for my CX though. They’re 6 bolt hubs, by the way. Most Shimano hubs come with a choice.

Depends on budget, really. The MT55’s look nice and have been on my list of things to look closely at before now…

Cheers all.

Cup and cone doesn’t bother me and I prefer the centre lock discs over 6bolt rotors.

Will have a look to see what else is available for a bit more cash…

You might save a few grams but you’ve still got a set of wheels with cup and cone bearings. Which means regular servicing otherwise they fall to bits. Despite what a few people still say this is a hassle and spares aren’t cost effective once the cones go

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/grease-nipple-mod-for-shimano-cup-and-cone-hubs-never-rebuild-again

Have a look at the Fulcrum (Campagnolo) Red Power range. I picked up a pair of the top end ones for about £150 from Bike Discount a few summers back. Handbuilt in Italy, cartridge bearings, straight pull spokes, interchangeable end caps and pretty light for the price.

LINK

With the euro exchange rate they’re about the same price now. Great wheels.

I’ve had a set of mt55’s for a couple of years, now running tubeless on my rigid bike. They been subjected to a lot of seawater and sand, but bearings still good, only been cleaned out once.