New wheelset advice

[Dogtrousers]

I've decided to treat my trusty 1980s Dawes to a new pair of wheels. The ones it has at the moment are of dubious provenance (each has a long story, both are a bit crap), and I want to experiment with bigger tyres and also dabble with tubeless tyres.

Why bigger tyres? Well, I've discovered that that's what the bike likes (see herefor a load of gushing pretentious rot on the subject).
Why tubeless? I'm just curious really. If I don't like them then I can just run ordinary tyres & tubes on the same rims (that is true isn't it?)

So to the wheels. What are my requirements?

• I want to run tyres up to 32mm (I think that's as much as the frame can take). I think, from Sheldon's chart a 17mm rim would be in order.
• I want to run tubeless tyres. I'm thinking of going with 30mm Schwalbe One tubeless tyres. But that's just because Schwalbe One is the only brand of tubeless I know about.
• I'm not a performance rider and the bike in question weighs a ton (Ginormous Reynolds 500 plain guage Cro-Mo frame) so lightweight aero performance wheels aren't what I'm looking for.
• I'm a heavy rider (I'm about 92kg) my bike is quite heavy, and I carry a lot of heavy things like pork pies, tools and so on so lotsa spokes is the order of the day.
• I run an 8 speed Shimano cassette on the bike (I can only use 7 of those because it's an old frame, but that's another story).
• I may want to transfer the wheels to my best bike, which currently runs a 10 speed cassette and has 105 hubs. So I want a freehub that will handle both.
• My best bike has handbuilt wheels (Mavic Open Pro rims/105 hubs) and I've been happy with them, so I'm inclined to get a pair built, but I'm also open to buying a factory-built wheelset.
• I'm thinking, on the basis that they've never given me any problems, that 105 hubs may be the thing to go for.
• My riding is best described as long and trundly. All day rides up to and beyond 200km.
• This is likely to be my only big-ish cycling purchase for 2017, so I'm not going to be scrimping. I see that Spa charge £150-£300 for their handbuilt wheelsets (but I've no idea about the suitability of the various components they offer). I'd be happy to pay the upper end of that.
• And yes, my current wheels are 622mm rims. They aren't old 27" ones.

Questions:
Do different makes of tubeless tyres require different rims?
Any freehub compatibility problems between the 8 and 10 speed cassettes?
I'm just beginning a web search for wheels and rims, it's all a bit confusing. Any suggestions?

2017 may also be the year I attempt to cold-set the frame of my Dawes to make rear wheel replacement less of a physical battle. But that's another story entirely.

 

[Nibor]

You can get open pro on 105 from Rose for around £165 36 spokes too for the burly
https://www.rosebikes.com/article/r...c-mavic-open-pro--shimano-105-5800/aid:401809

 

[dim]

I don't know much about tubeless, however, on a Dawes, and weighing what you weigh, and the distances that you wish to cycle, I'd be careful about using tubeless (check with the guys on the Audax forums if they have tried tubeless on 200km+ rides)

What I can say though, is that I once spoke to a guy who stopped for a drink at the same place that I had stopped. He had a pair of Schwalbe 1 on his bike and I asked him of his opinion .... he did not sound very impressed with these and stated that he had a 'few' punctures

 

[Dogtrousers]

You can get open pro on 105 from Rose for around £165 36 spokes too for the burly
https://www.rosebikes.com/article/r...c-mavic-open-pro--shimano-105-5800/aid:401809

Cheers. Would they be tubeless compatible, or would I need to use a special rim tape kit?

(I'm trying to sound like I know about tubeless, but I really don't)

@dim on the plus side for tubeless, Steve Abraham used Schwalbe Ones for his year attempt last year, and there is a thread on here somewhere about tubeless. Although the big risk seems to be that if you end up with a sidewall cut or something drastic like that you could normally bodge with a park tools tyre boot (or a bit of milk carton) isn't as fixable on a tubeless tyre because of all the gunky sealant everywhere.
I recall @frank9755 had a problem with his tubeless on the Transcontinental and ended up riding at lowered pressure for quite a way.

I'm just curious about tubeless actually. I hardly ever get punctures myself. So it may just be a solution to a non-existent problem. But I can still run ordinary clinchers & tubes on my new wheels anyway, if I decide tubeless isn't for me.

A rear puncture on that bike on the road is a bit of a disaster at the moment as it takes me ages to get the wheel back in, and requires some Worlds Strongest Man frame bending antics.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Open Pro rims are not tubeless compatible unless you get the special kit. TBH unless you get tubeless specific rims I don't think it is worth the bother, especially as you do not pretend to be a performance rider. I'd stick with conventional tyres and tubes, then if you puncture and find it a bit of a faff removing a wheel you can just pull the offending bit of tube out and stick a patch on.

Even better - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaadi-Dou...080750?hash=item4adfe7a76e:g:jaEAAOSwAF5UZHcO

These come in all sizes if you search.

 

[dim]

Cheers. Would they be tubeless compatible, or would I need to use a special rim tape kit?

(I'm trying to sound like I know about tubeless, but I really don't)

@dim on the plus side for tubeless, Steve Abraham used Schwalbe Ones for his year attempt last year, and there is a thread on here somewhere about tubeless. Although the big risk seems to be that if you end up with a sidewall cut or something drastic like that you could normally bodge with a park tools tyre boot (or a bit of milk carton) isn't as fixable on a tubeless tyre because of all the gunky sealant everywhere.
I recall @frank9755 had a problem with his tubeless on the Transcontinental and ended up riding at lowered pressure for quite a way.

I'm just curious about tubeless actually. I hardly ever get punctures myself. So it may just be a solution to a non-existent problem. But I can still run ordinary clinchers & tubes on my new wheels anyway, if I decide tubeless isn't for me.

A rear puncture on that bike on the road is a bit of a disaster at the moment as it takes me ages to get the wheel back in, and requires some Worlds Strongest Man frame bending antics.

Schwalbe are adamant that the way forward, is tubeless ....
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tubeless-technology.html

I'm just a bit 'old fashioned' and prefer to find out more from people who have 1st hand experience ....

so, .... you first

 

[craigwend]

Speak to a wheelbuilder ? http://www.yourspokes.co.uk/

 

[Dogtrousers]

Open Pro rims are not tubeless compatible unless you get the special kit. TBH unless you get tubeless specific rims I don't think it is worth the bother, especially as you do not pretend to be a performance rider. I'd stick with conventional tyres and tubes, then if you puncture and find it a bit of a faff removing a wheel you can just pull the offending bit of tube out and stick a patch on.

Even better - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaadi-Dou...080750?hash=item4adfe7a76e:g:jaEAAOSwAF5UZHcO

These come in all sizes if you search.

CHeers. I may just go for 17mm Open Pros, but that's the boring route! That's why I'm angling to get tubeless compatible rims. If I don't like the tyre system, nothing is lost as I can use ordinary tyres. I'm just having a bit of trouble figuring out what is and what is not compatible.

The wheel replacement thing isn't as bad as I've made out. I did once remove the wheel, replace the tube and spring the wheel back in the frame in as little as 10 hours ... or at least that's what it felt like with several other riders waiting in the pouring rain staring at me waiting for me to finish mud-wrestling with my bike.

 

[dim]

here's a link that I bookmarked a while ago, and which I thought was very good and excellent info .... (I'm also looking at upgrading some wheels in the near future):

http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/aero-in-plain-english

http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/faq

read their other links .... I found it very informative

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Have a chat with Spa regarding your requirements - other than tubeless, which I suspect they might be less than enthusiastic about, their stock in trade chimes with what you're looking for. I'm sure that you'd end up with a set of wheels that would suit you well.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Have a chat with Spa regarding your requirements - other than tubeless, which I suspect they might be less than enthusiastic about, their stock in trade chimes with what you're looking for. I'm sure that you'd end up with a set of wheels that would suit you well.

I actually emailed Spa before I posted this. I'll see what they say. They've always been really helpful to me before (I've bought a bike, and other stuff, but not wheels)

I'm imagining a Spa wheelbuilder spluttering on his tea as he reads it and saying "eee tha' doesn't want t'newfangled tubeless lad!".

 

[boydj]

Some of the wheelbuilders like DCR or Hunt have write-ups on their sites on rim selection and tubeless compatibility. I'm planning to go tubeless on the good bike this coming summer as there seem to be several advantages and the worst that can happen is having to stick a tube in to get you home.

 

[Ajax Bay]

you can just pull the offending bit of tube out and stick a patch on.

In theory this could work, but have you done this in practice? I have always just pulled the wheel out but I recognise that in some setups this is not easy. How did you know/determine where the puncture was in the tube? Pull (nearly all) the tube out, put some pressure in and put your cheek to it, with the bike unkindly turned upside down?

 

[Smokin Joe]

In theory this could work, but have you done this in practice? I have always just pulled the wheel out but I recognise that in some setups this is not easy. How did you know/determine where the puncture was in the tube? Pull (nearly all) the tube out, put some pressure in and put your cheek to it, with the bike unkindly turned upside down?

Pump some air in before you remove the tube and you'll feel where the puncture is.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I was only kidding about the wheel removal problem.

Anyway, the more I read the more confused I become over what "tubeless ready" means for rims. And Spa seem to have a mental email server that is bouncing everything back at me.