Which new wheels?

[Brock]

Following the helpful advice on this thread I've just ordered the DRC ST touring / Shimano XT build from Mr Hewitt. Just what I wanted from a reputable wheel builder. Thanks folks, although I know who you are if they taco when I do the weekend offlicense pannier run.

 

[friedel]

I would definitely consider a hand built wheel if you plan to do any amount of touring with any amount of load. We are not travelling light and yet our wheels have yet to break a spoke and as far as we can tell they still run true after 17000km. When we meet other tourers on the road the most common complaint seems to be broken spokes, even more than flat tyres.

Our bikes and wheels were built by Robin Mather. He's a really nice guy so I am sure you could give him a ring just to see what he says. Google for his site.... robinmathercycles.co.uk or something like that

 

[twowheelsgood]

Hi Brock, let us know how you get on.

One word of warning though. I found when my XT/Mavic wheels were brand-new that they felt VERY slow at first but loosened-up over a couple 100kms.

Now all wheels have bearings that "bed in" over a bit but these were something else. My best guess it that the XT hubs, even for MTB-specific hubs are very well sealed, which of course is also excellent news for touring. I believe it's this seal that causes this to start with until it wears in nicely.

 

[User482]

Hi Brock, let us know how you get on.

One word of warning though. I found when my XT/Mavic wheels were brand-new that they felt VERY slow at first but loosened-up over a couple 100kms.

Now all wheels have bearings that "bed in" over a bit but these were something else. My best guess it that the XT hubs, even for MTB-specific hubs are very well sealed, which of course is also excellent news for touring. I believe it's this seal that causes this to start with until it wears in nicely.

The seals on XT hubs are much better than Deore, in my experience. Well worth the extra dosh.

 

[Brock]

Hi Brock, let us know how you get on.

One word of warning though. I found when my XT/Mavic wheels were brand-new that they felt VERY slow at first but loosened-up over a couple 100kms.

Wheels came, and very smart they are too. They don't seem to be suffering the slowness you describe, both run beautifully.
Was a little disappointed that I had to provide my own rim tape, Kind of assumed they'd fit that before sending them out... Maybe I should've asked.
For some reason it's pretty hard to get the rear to slot into the dropouts, very tight fit.. Perhaps I should polish some of the rust off or something.
So far so good though, lighter, faster, safer and cleaner than my old ones.

 

[Kirstie]

Just had an interesting experience with Spa Cycles. I ordered some Rigida Chrina on XT in July. They eventually turned up after the delivery company made several attempts to deliver them, but when I got them out of the box they were far from true. I think this is probably because the delivery company mishandled them.

Anyway, on contacting Spa Cycles, they said they'd ring me back to arrange a pick up time and send me a new set of wheels. They never rang back. When I rang again to remind them they once more promised to ring back to pick up the wheels and then once again didn't call back.

So I thought 'sod it' and took my wheels to my LBS who trued them up in no time. I paid about 15 quid for them to be trued. I was a little miffed, but the wheels are bombproof and work fine now, and I accepted that they probably got mashed up on their way to me from Spa Cycles. This all happened in July/August.

About three weeks ago the phone rang, and it was Spa Cycles, saying that they had a spare set of wheels for me and when would I like them delivered. I told them I'd had the original wheels fixed two months previously. They immediately offered to pay for the cost of having them trued, but as I couldn't find the receipt, they sent me a load of inner tubes instead. This is fair enough IMO.

So, I don't think that Spa Cycles are bad quality wise, but they're not very organized!

 

[Brock]

Well it's always nice to get things sorted to your satisfaction, even if it's no more than you should expect.
I wonder about the wheels arriving out of true though, surely they'd have to be pretty seriously mistreated by the couriers for a properly built wheel to come out of the box warped?