Wheelset recommendations
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Wheelset recommendations
A buddy of mine needs a new wheelset. City riding, streets and paved MUPs, 11-15 mph. Want a set of bomb proof wheels, 170 pound rider. Bike is a Cannondale Synapse. Budget ~ $400
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First up, learn how to build wheels.
Get 36 hole hubs that are compatible with the Synapse. Get a set of good strong rims from Velocity or Mavic. Buy the spokes and nipples, and have at it. You should be able to do this for well under $400.
Get 36 hole hubs that are compatible with the Synapse. Get a set of good strong rims from Velocity or Mavic. Buy the spokes and nipples, and have at it. You should be able to do this for well under $400.
#5
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Vuelta Corsa SLX
If you watch, these can be had for $250 (now $315). I have put about 2,500 road miles and 500 gravel road miles on these. I am a 210lb rider.
https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_597566_-1___204727
https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_597566_-1___204727
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Velocity A23. Velomine sells them laced 32 spokes to 105 hubs for around half your budget. I'm 190# and have abused mine for 2 years in the city and racing CX. Recommended.
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velomine.com
- h plus son archetype laced to a 36h shimano 5800 105 hub with butted spokes. $220.
- velocity a23 laced to same hubs. i think similar cost too. last i saw, didnt have butted spokes.
nashbar.com
- vuelta corsa hd laced to a 36h noname hub. hand built. $115-150 depending on day of the week and sale.
I have the h plus son wheels on a gravel bike and the vuelta corsa hd wheels on a road bike.
Got 60# on your buddy. Both wheelsets have been excellent for the 1000-2000mi ive used them so far.
Neither are lightweight, but you want 'bombproof' so weight really shouldnt even factor into the decision.
Either one could break a spoke and you would be fine to keep riding.
- h plus son archetype laced to a 36h shimano 5800 105 hub with butted spokes. $220.
- velocity a23 laced to same hubs. i think similar cost too. last i saw, didnt have butted spokes.
nashbar.com
- vuelta corsa hd laced to a 36h noname hub. hand built. $115-150 depending on day of the week and sale.
I have the h plus son wheels on a gravel bike and the vuelta corsa hd wheels on a road bike.
Got 60# on your buddy. Both wheelsets have been excellent for the 1000-2000mi ive used them so far.
Neither are lightweight, but you want 'bombproof' so weight really shouldnt even factor into the decision.
Either one could break a spoke and you would be fine to keep riding.
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If you watch, these can be had for $250 (now $315). I have put about 2,500 road miles and 500 gravel road miles on these. I am a 210lb rider.
Vuelta Corsa SLX 700c Disc Wheelset
Vuelta Corsa SLX 700c Disc Wheelset
#10
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#13
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Frankly that sounds like a relatively light rider in pretty gentle conditions. Are they insanely hard on wheels? Really almost anything decent should be reliable under those conditions. That said, if they're not chasing marginal replacement gains, the best reliability would be from some wheels built very conventionally--32 spokes, normal J bend spokes (preferably butted), decent rims, nice, unexotic hubs. Quality of build has a pretty major impact. Aforementioned A23 build sounds great.
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Lacing and truing wheels is not that hard to learn, and I would encourage everyone not to be intimidated by it. If nothing else, it's a skill that makes it easier to take care of your bike if a wheel gets out of true or breaks a spoke.
#15
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#16
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the machine tensions all the spokes simultaneously, the bike shop you order the wheels thru, will hand check the truing .
Like factory wheels, the spoke nipple threads will not have any grease/anti seize / special spoke prep , hand built wheels can.
Like factory wheels, the spoke nipple threads will not have any grease/anti seize / special spoke prep , hand built wheels can.
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That said, people always make the mistake of concentrating on the wrong component in a bicycle wheel system for strength. Look at all the advice above and everyone is telling you, in essence, to get "the strongest rim you can find". The rim isn't the problem nor the solution to making your wheels stronger and more durable.
Those same people will tell you to use just any old spoke while not recognizing that all the strength of the wheel...okay 99%...comes from the spokes. Light, poorly tensioned spokes will make for a wheel that even that ballerina would have trouble riding and not breaking it. This article tells you why we should all be using a spoke that is called a "triple butted spoke" if we want strong, light wheels.
If you were to rebuild the Cannondale's current wheels and replace just the spokes with a triple butted spoke, you could do it for less than the $400 and have something far better. Wheel Fanatyk has you covered for building as well. This article links to a build method that I've been using 30 years. It's not hard to learn how to build wheels. I learned from that article and a few hard knocks. You can make a good first wheel using the technique and, if you do it enough, your 10th or 20th wheel will be fantastic.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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Actually, you'd be paying for a machine to build those wheels at that price.
Lacing and truing wheels is not that hard to learn, and I would encourage everyone not to be intimidated by it. If nothing else, it's a skill that makes it easier to take care of your bike if a wheel gets out of true or breaks a spoke.
Lacing and truing wheels is not that hard to learn, and I would encourage everyone not to be intimidated by it. If nothing else, it's a skill that makes it easier to take care of your bike if a wheel gets out of true or breaks a spoke.
Very true this. I built a wheelset with DT Swiss R460 rims ($31 each), 105 hubs ($22 front, $41 rear), and DT Swiss Competition spokes and nipples ($65). So under $200 in materials. Nothing top end, but all good and appropriate to my bike (Felt Z100). I bought a used Minoura truing stand on eBay for $8. I downloaded Roger Musson's wheelbuilding book for $12, followed the directions, trued and tensioned the wheels. I took them to my LBS as a final check. One of the wheels was slightly under tensioned and the other had a little bit of hop. He fixed them up for $10 each. So for $230 I had a wheelset that the owner of the shop said would probably retail for $350-400. Building the wheels was much less intimidating than I thought it would be, I have a new skill, I saved a few bucks, and dare I say, it was kind of fun. I'd recommend it to anybody.
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By the time I could learn to build acceptable wheels, my 68 yr old friend will be in assisted living. Plus I've got better things to do, like ride.
#20
Banned
Turning off the computer and going down to your local bike shop too direct an approach, so the internet is better?
(i'm 69)
(i'm 69)
#21
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Came across these.. I'd consider these on my CX bike I have adapted for commuting.
I'm not familiar with the brand (Hunt), but I'd still consider them.
https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Hu...-Wheelset/FVOW
I'm not familiar with the brand (Hunt), but I'd still consider them.
https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Hu...-Wheelset/FVOW