Which new wheels?

[Brock]

I need a new pair of 700c wheels for my old tourer/commuter/hack. I'm expecting to pay in the region of a hunnerd quids for something fairly decent. Strength and reliability is probably more important than speed (I'm heavy, and I carry heavy loads), and I'd need them to accept 25 to 32 tyres.

I've been looking here but don't really know what would be best for me.
Any clues knowledgeable experienced ones?

 

[ash68]

bought a pair of endeavours on deore hubs a few years ago from Spa cycles.did general commuting,a bit touring with rear panniers etc on and off road through Kielder forrest etc.The wheels stood up really well. The only fault I had was the front hub bearings needed regreasing regularly.I don't think the deore hubs are sealed too well, I have been advised since to go for the xt hubs in future(rightly or wrongly i don't know) Looks like the sputnik rims have superceded the endeavours.I weight about 12 stones,don't know if you would class that as heavy or not.

 

[domtyler]

Just get Easton Ascents, **** the cost.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Talk to Paul Hewitt or Pete Mathews and see what they suggest.

 

[vernon]

I need a new pair of 700c wheels for my old tourer/commuter/hack. I'm expecting to pay in the region of a hunnerd quids for something fairly decent. Strength and reliability is probably more important than speed (I'm heavy, and I carry heavy loads), and I'd need them to accept 25 to 32 tyres.

I've been looking here but don't really know what would be best for me.
Any clues knowledgeable experienced ones?

Ring Spacycles and talk to them. They are very helpful and I've yet to see a poor review of their wheelsets unlike one of the other wheel builders suggested here.

 

[starseven]

Brock

I recently had a pair of 700c wheels made, they were made by my local bike shop, I imagine most "proper" bike shops have someone able to string a wheel together.
They used Deore LX disc hubs, you wouldnt need the disc type but these are a good compromise of price and quality. Simano hubs can also be tightened as they wear unlike (expensive) sealed bearing types which are shot once worn.
For rims they used Mavic A719 rims which have welded seams and are very strong. Spokes are stainless types.

All in they were about £100 maybe £120 tops, very nice wheels probably outlast me!!

 

[john59]

A good range of touring wheels can be found at 'Spa Cycles'. http://www.spacycles.co.uk

John

 

[simoncc]

I used to go to Spa cycles but I had a couple of bad experiences with them, which was a bit of a shock as they are usually very good. What I do now is look what Spa are advertising and go to my local LBS and ask for the same. I can get below Spa prices if I haggle a bit, and the more you buy from an LBS the more they let you haggle. Most LBSs can build good wheels.

 

[twowheelsgood]

Actually brock, this type of wheel is more difficult to get than you'd think. You ideally need a 17-19mm (internal) rim for those tyres and this used to be easy to get.

Nowadays, most makers, notably the ubiquitous Mavic have a huge gap between their 15mm race rim and the 20-22mm general purpose or touring rims.

I have shimano XT with mavic A719 rims. They are really too wide for 25mm tyres. They are very strong, but heavy.

The only ones I'm aware of that are ideal for you are made by an Italian company called DRC. I really wish I'd tried some instea of my mavics - I ride the same range of tyres on my commuter 25-28-32, certainly don't need to be able to fit up to 42mm tyres!!

http://withingtoncycles.co.uk/browse.php?node_id=1937

 

[Brock]

Interesting twowheelsgood, thanks for the link and advice.
So now I'm thinking XT hubs are probably a good bet and those DRC ST touring rims look ideal. I will give Spacycles a ring though, and see what they can offer me, I've been impressed with their service in the past. Care to elaborate on your bad experiences with them SimonCC? Unfortunately I don't have a lot of faith in my LBSs.

 

[twowheelsgood]

Small caveat here. I haven't actually tried these rims, they just came up when I did some research a while back. I'd love to hear peoples opinions of them.

Seems daft there is no mid-sized mavic these days.

 

[User482]

I have mavic open pros on shimano XT hubs. Built by my LBS. Survived my recent LEJOG with panniers & 28mm tyres with no problems at all - stayed absolutely true.

 

[simoncc]

Interesting twowheelsgood, thanks for the link and advice.
So now I'm thinking XT hubs are probably a good bet and those DRC ST touring rims look ideal. I will give Spacycles a ring though, and see what they can offer me, I've been impressed with their service in the past. Care to elaborate on your bad experiences with them SimonCC? Unfortunately I don't have a lot of faith in my LBSs.

Well, they fitted a bottom bracket and a chainset to a bike I bought from them and it came loose after 15 miles. Then I bought a road wheel from them that completely failed 30 miles into its second ride. I thought I'd got a puncture, but the all the spokes had beome very loose. All the touring wheels I've had from them have been good though.

 

[P.H]

So now I'm thinking XT hubs are probably a good bet and those DRC ST touring rims look ideal.

That's Paul hewitt's favourite combination for his touring bikes. It's what came on my Cheviot and they are the only wheels I've had that remained true until the rims wore out. I've had a Spa dynohub wheel which was very poorly built, broke two spokes in the first thousand miles and took several attempts to get it true.

I've yet to see a poor review of their wheelsets unlike one of the other wheel builders suggested here.

What an odd comment. If you've heard bad things about one of them, let's hear it. Your comment seems a bit unfair to the other!

 

[twowheelsgood]

Thanks P.H. only makes me wish more I didn't go with those Mavics....