Wheels?

[lulubel]

I'd like to get an extra wheelset for my Surly Crosscheck that will take up to 40mm tyres without risking damage to the rims, so an inside rim width of 19/20mm. I'm finding the whole thing very confusing, so can anyone suggest anything? I don't want to spend a fortune - up to £250, preferably less - and strength is more important than weight, although strong and light would obviously be a bonus!

I can build my own wheels, but I'm struggling for time at the moment, so I'd rather buy them ready made unless I can get the components for an amazing price if I build myself.

 

[VamP]

Velocity rims are really highly rated by the CX community, I am assuming you are looking for clincher rather than tubular? The A23 clincher or Major Tom tub (same wide 23mm profile) are the ones most people would use - do they appeal?

You can buy them as made up wheelset from people like Strada, although I am not sure what the shipping implications would be for you. Is this for road or off road use?

 

[lulubel]

A bit of a mixture of surfaces really - we have quite a lot of "roads" round here that are just hardcore that's smoothed off and flattened down once a year, and you need to run a wider, softer tyre to get any grip on it - but nothing really rocky or uneven because I've got the MTB for that.

The Surly is also going to become my workhorse bike, since I haven't got room to store 3 bikes, so they'll be used for shopping trips, and I also hope to use them as my touring wheels in the future. I don't think the need to carry more weight should make a great deal of difference to how tough they need to be, though, since I only weigh 7st 7lb to start with!

I've sent Strada a message and told them all that, so I'll see what they think about it. The price of the wheels looks reasonable for handbuilts, so I'll just have to see what the shipping cost would be.

 

[Howard]

Do you really need 40mm tyers? If you can go to 35mm any old Mavic Open Pro wheelset will do.
Otherwise I'd imagine 700c touring wheels would be more suitable than 'cross racing wheels. Mavic 719s laced to Shimano XT hubs?

 

[lulubel]

You can buy them as made up wheelset from people like Strada, although I am not sure what the shipping implications would be for you. Is this for road or off road use?

Have you used Strada before? I'm just wondering what their service is like because I sent them a message through their contact form yesterday morning, and haven't heard back yet.

Do you really need 40mm tyers? If you can go to 35mm any old Mavic Open Pro wheelset will do.
Otherwise I'd imagine 700c touring wheels would be more suitable than 'cross racing wheels. Mavic 719s laced to Shimano XT hubs?

I'd have wider if I could fit them on the bike. I need grip on loose, dry surfaces, so I need them wide and I need to be able to run them soft.

I'm not looking at touring wheels because I don't need that kind of strength, and it seems stupid to haul the extra weight around when I don't need it. I know at least one member of this forum uses wheels with 19mm inside rims for cross, so I figured this was the place to ask.

 

[VamP]

Friends have and found them excellent. Not sure how good their website is.

I was going to get them to build me a couple of Uncle Tom's wheelsets last year but ultimately that plan foundered on finances. Ended up shipping a cheap pair of tub sets from Czech Republic of all places.

 

[Howard]

I'm not looking at touring wheels because I don't need that kind of strength, and it seems stupid to haul the extra weight around when I don't need it.

You may appreciate the extra spoke count though if you intend on touring them. A 28 spoke count wheel will likely pringle if you pop a spoke with a touring load - with a 36 you'll make it to the LBS.Yes - you can get a major tom /a23 in 32 spoke but honestly at that point the weight saving will be so minimal (100g per rim) you might as well go for an A719.

Also I'd imagine there would be greater availability and lower price would be appealing too.You can get a pair on ebay for about £230. And everyone carries spares for shimano hubs etc...

 

[lulubel]

Friends have and found them excellent. Not sure how good their website is.

I'll give them until tomorrow, and then chase them up. I'd rather communicate through free emails than pay for phone calls.

You may appreciate the extra spoke count though if you intend on touring them. A 28 spoke count wheel will likely pringle if you pop a spoke with a touring load - with a 36 you'll make it to the LBS.Yes - you can get a major tom /a23 in 32 spoke but honestly at that point the weight saving will be so minimal (100g per rim) you might as well go for an A719.

That's true, but the consensus on the touring forum seems to be that most people don't need 36 spokes unless they're doing "heavy" tours, which I wouldn't be, and at my weight, even with 40lb of stuff, the total load on the bike would still be less than a lot of people weigh before they add a load. And if I break a spoke, I'll replace it and re-true the wheel. That's far quicker and easier than limping to an lbs and waiting (and paying) for someone else to do it.

 

[Howard]

Aaaaaaanyway - just ordered some racing wheels - Major Toms on Novatec disc hubs - from Strada - let's see how they got on!

 

[Christopher]

re the OP, how about Shimano Sora/Tiagra on Mavic A319s? 32 hole SS DB spokes. Assuming you have Shimano or Sram that is. Those rims & spoke count will be strong enough, they are for me and I am almost twice your weight. Wide rims, should take 40s okay, they certainly take 32s in style.

I can't seem to find Shimano-pattern hubs that are light for less than ££££ - Hope Monos are over £100 for just the rear hub for example. Spa Cycles do Ambrosio Zenith hubs at £77 the pair that collectively weigh 382g http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s117p2005 according to them, that's lighter than a Shimano Ultegra 6500 rear hub by itself BUT I have no idea how good a hub it is. Point I am making is that it is very difficult to build your own strong light wheels in Shimano pattern without spending a fortune. CRC have a Sun-Ringle road hub for about £77 as well but I bought a Eco II hub off them and either it is missing parts or is extremely poorly designed so I can't recommend anything by Sun.

Spa will build those Ambrosio hubs into a wheelset. They do other combinations as well of course. I do not know how good Spa are at wheels or whether they will ship to Spain. Good luck!

 

[PpPete]

Point I am making is that it is very difficult to build your own strong light wheels in Shimano pattern without spending a fortune.

Sorry but that is nonsense.
Tiagra hubs on Chrina - or on of the slightly wider Rigida rims (either from Spa, or home built) would come in at just over half your budget.
Another place I'd be looking for ready made wheels is Rose in Germany.

Or if you can spare the time to build... The Hope Pro 3 hubs are utterly brilliant.... put most of the budget there and buy cheapish rims.
Oh yes, and you might not "need" 36 spokes but they won't hurt you either.
I think I might be looking at Rose's R-490 rim next time (looks like the DT Swiss RR465 but 36 hole)
That would take a Schwalbe CX Pro 700c x 30 quite well, which is man enough for most purposes

 

[VamP]

Aaaaaaanyway - just ordered some racing wheels - Major Toms on Novatec disc hubs - from Strada - let's see how they got on!

Jeez moving to discs too. Worth a thread in it's own right detailing your experiences. Should be great wheels.

 

[Christopher]

Sorry but that is nonsense.
[snip]

It isn't. Weights: Tiagra rear hub 348g, 105 same weight (2004 model), Ultegra 2007 410g. For Campag rear : Centuar 260g, Mirage 2007 303g, Record 231g. To beat the weight of the Record in Shimano pattern you'd have to spend serious cash on a DT Swiss, American Classic, or Tune hub. Only economic hub that I know of that is even close is the Ambrosio one above. Depends on your definition of 'light' I guess. Less than 1kg for a rear wheel is mine (does not include skewer, tube or tyre though).

Anyway I agree with everything else you say. Only drawback is don't Hope rear hubs make a very loud noise when freewheeling? The OP might not mind that though.

 

[VamP]

It isn't. Weights: Tiagra rear hub 348g, 105 same weight (2004 model), Ultegra 2007 410g. For Campag rear : Centuar 260g, Mirage 2007 303g, Record 231g. To beat the weight of the Record in Shimano pattern you'd have to spend serious cash on a DT Swiss, American Classic, or Tune hub. Only economic hub that I know of that is even close is the Ambrosio one above. Depends on your definition of 'light' I guess. Less than 1kg for a rear wheel is mine (does not include skewer, tube or tyre though).

Anyway I agree with everything else you say. Only drawback is don't Hope rear hubs make a very loud noise when freewheeling? The OP might not mind that though.

...or cassette I hope.

 

[Howard]

Jeez moving to discs too. Worth a thread in it's own right detailing your experiences. Should be great wheels.

That's a good idea. I already run a couple of disc wheelsets but with a canti brake on the back. I'll probably go for a full disc frame next year. Van Dessel is the only contender so far that ticks all the boxes; Disc & Canti + BB30.