Ongoing saga of wheels I’ve finally decided what I want. Both places are close on prices (Merlin being a tiny bit more expensive)

Going for XT hubs with Mavic 319 rims and silver DT comp spokes.

Who would you go for? I’m leaning towards Merlin, simply based on the fact I seem to see more people bigging them up and I’ve not really seen or heard much about CRC’s wheel building skillz.

Merlin from reputation, but can you not get a decent Shimano/Mavic build local? My lbs will get close on stuff like that as factory builds I’m guessing…

What are the prices?
Just had Hope ProII’s built onto 719’s top end spokes and nipples $200 for Rim, Spokes & Build per wheel as I supplied the hubs.

just looked at the prices there, would suggest the 719’s might be worth the extra $20 built up nice and light here and feel tough.

I’ve had a few pairs from crc with no complaints at all.

Merlin is $248 and CRC is $216

Would be an extra $40 or so for 719s. Are they that much better? What ARE the differences between the 319 and 719?

Does your 200 bucks include the price of the Pro IIs though?

I cannot get anywhere near those prices here in WA. Like for like, silly money. Even a set of Crossrides are 200.

What ARE the differences between the 319 and 719?

About 30 grammes and a little bit of strength. Personally I’d go for the heavier 719s

Bought two pairs from Meerlin and two singles from CRC. The pairs stayed tight and true way longer than the CRC built wheels.
The CRC wheels lasted about a fortnight before the spokes became alarmingly slack and the Merlin wheels never lost that much tension.
The worst offender was a shimano hub/sun rim combination

had several merlin wheels all been excellent.

This is biased as I have only had merlin wheels but after 6 years, 3 bikes and 2 different riders my 717’s on xt’s from merlin still run true, they have not had the easiest of lives either

Who buys the wheels that Raleigh make?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7PIYQSHtWI
“…over 100,000 wheels a year”
some one must be buying them.

Mavic 319 rims
http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mountain-bike/rims/TN-319-Disc#327955

http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mountain-bike/rims/XM-319-Disc#128185

Mavic 719 rims

http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mountain-bike/rims/XM-719#128183

http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mountain-bike/rims/XM-719-Disc#128182

http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mountain-bike/rims/TN-719-Disc#128184

I’ve had both custom built Merlin and CRC wheels, both have been faultless, I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

Okies. So XT hubs, 719 rims and DT Comp spokes. Sounds like a plan. Will order tonight when I get in. From Merlin.

That’s exactly the combination I had made up. Funnily enough from bike-x-perts.

Few 1000km, including a few 100km on a hardtail in the Alps, and they’re still straight as a die.

Realised I had my wallet on me so just ordered from Merlin. $287 delivered to Oz (193 quid). Not bad, not bad at all.

Why would someone in Australia buy built wheels from the UK, surely you can buy locally just as good/price?

Nope. West Oz is expensive. Cheaper to order from t’other side of the world and get them sent across. It’s actually quicker to order stuff from the UK sometimes than ordering from east coast.

200 was for build excluding hubs, but xt should be cheap as the shite/chips they are 🙂 if you want he will probably post from tas 🙂

buy either & (re)tension yourself

Cheers Mike but I’ve ordered from Merlin now. I’ve pushed the budget enough without taking on board some Hope hubs. To be fair I’ve had a Crossride on the back and a 117 with a Spesh stout hub on the front for more than 5 years, on various bikes. Never serviced them and they’ve done me fine. If the XTs and the 719s last anything like those (and I will try to service them) then I’ll be more than happy. I’m not a hard rider and the prospect of jumpping any more than a couple of feet, well, it’s not likely.