Open pro? Open sport?
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Open pro? Open sport?
Looking at purchasing a wheelset for my Bianchi and I found 2 wheelset that seem to fit the bill. Both have the same hubs, same double butted spokes, but the only difference is the rim itself. One set is ~$280 and has Open Pro hoops, the other ringing in at ~$160 with Open Sports.
Any advice? Are the pros worth the extra $100?
Thanks!
Any advice? Are the pros worth the extra $100?
Thanks!
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1, 2, 3 and to the 4X
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Intended application for the bicycle these wheels would be for? I'm inclined to say just buy the Open Pro set. Markedly higher quality relative to Open Sport rims.
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Sorry I didn't specify. The bike is used mainly for a commuter (last year's tally was about 2500 miles ), Fun/fast rides with friends, century here and there and a little bit of off-road use to switch things up every now and then.
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Yea I have heard tons of good about the Open Pros, BUT are they $100 better? ( haven't used either so I am having a hard time making that decision )
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Here is a great deal on Open Pros
Mavic Open Pro Silver Rims Shimano 5800 Hubs Road Bike Wheelset 8 9 10 11 Speed | eBay
I love the set I have.
Mavic Open Pro Silver Rims Shimano 5800 Hubs Road Bike Wheelset 8 9 10 11 Speed | eBay
I love the set I have.
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I've had both. I'd put Open Sports on a commuter bike. Especially if the user is more than 175 lbs.
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
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For reference; here are the wheelsets I'm looking at. From my googling, their handbuilt wheels get pretty good reviews.
Pair Shimano 5800 Hubs - Mavic Open Sport Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 6800 Hubs - Mavic Open Pro Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 5800 Hubs - Mavic Open Sport Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 6800 Hubs - Mavic Open Pro Rims | Merlin Cycles
#10
~>~
Nothing wrong w/ 5800 & Open Sport in a proper hand built wheelset but you would be getting 6800 hubs vs. 5800 as well as the Open Pro rims.
I take the long view, having the better hubs for a re-build in future is a good investment in my book if it doesn't bust the budget.
Either way Shimano hubs and Mavic rims are well proven quality gear, not the fad du jour.
-Bandera
I take the long view, having the better hubs for a re-build in future is a good investment in my book if it doesn't bust the budget.
Either way Shimano hubs and Mavic rims are well proven quality gear, not the fad du jour.
-Bandera
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For reference; here are the wheelsets I'm looking at. From my googling, their handbuilt wheels get pretty good reviews.
Pair Shimano 5800 Hubs - Mavic Open Sport Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 6800 Hubs - Mavic Open Pro Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 5800 Hubs - Mavic Open Sport Rims | Merlin Cycles
Pair Shimano 6800 Hubs - Mavic Open Pro Rims | Merlin Cycles
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
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I would go in a different direction.
Velomine has a sweet set of H + Son TB14s with 5800 hubs at a great price.
They include the solid DT spokes and skewers for $199.
I've used Mavics on and off over the years, but after the spotty quality of the last two sets of Mavic Open Pros I had I've decided to give them a rest.
When they are good they are very good, but it's a roll of the dice.
I've been impressed with the TB14s.
Velomine has a sweet set of H + Son TB14s with 5800 hubs at a great price.
They include the solid DT spokes and skewers for $199.
I've used Mavics on and off over the years, but after the spotty quality of the last two sets of Mavic Open Pros I had I've decided to give them a rest.
When they are good they are very good, but it's a roll of the dice.
I've been impressed with the TB14s.
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I've got both rims, and I think OpenPro has tighter tolerances. One of my OpenSport rims is markedly tougher to fit the same tire. It's a small sample size, but I dread flatting on one wheel set. Other than that, the both work fine.
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I would go in a different direction.
Velomine has a sweet set of H + Son TB14s with 5800 hubs at a great price.
They include the solid DT spokes and skewers for $199.
I've used Mavics on and off over the years, but after the spotty quality of the last two sets of Mavic Open Pros I had I've decided to give them a rest.
When they are good they are very good, but it's a roll of the dice.
I've been impressed with the TB14s.
Velomine has a sweet set of H + Son TB14s with 5800 hubs at a great price.
They include the solid DT spokes and skewers for $199.
I've used Mavics on and off over the years, but after the spotty quality of the last two sets of Mavic Open Pros I had I've decided to give them a rest.
When they are good they are very good, but it's a roll of the dice.
I've been impressed with the TB14s.
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So I seriously considered these, but, as with most of the VeloMine builds they use straight gauge spokes. Is this as big of a detriment as I think it is? I have a set of cr18's that need a solid true every 750ish miles, and they have the same spokes (bought from VeloMine a year ago!)
Do you ride light or heavy?
We ended up with a set of these on a Ridley cross bike that did many distance rides on gravel last summer with the older 105 hubs.
Around 1,500 miles on a set and they were solid.
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Open Pro rims are made from a higher-performing alloy called Maxtal. So strength-to-weight ratio is better.
Open Sport rims don't use this alloy, and I don't know if they have two-story "double" eyelets to distribute spoke tension stress between the inner and outer walls of the rim.
I think of both of these rims as old-fashioned though, since riders today are preferring wider rim profiles for what I think are very good reasons.
I've built a few rear wheels for my CX bike using Open Pro rims over the last 20 years, and it's a pretty good rim imo. I did adjust my build to use thicker spokes after bending a couple of rims with very thin spokes.
The events that caused bending were slides where the tire catches traction after sliding out (700c rims can be fragile in this regard).
Open Sport rims don't use this alloy, and I don't know if they have two-story "double" eyelets to distribute spoke tension stress between the inner and outer walls of the rim.
I think of both of these rims as old-fashioned though, since riders today are preferring wider rim profiles for what I think are very good reasons.
I've built a few rear wheels for my CX bike using Open Pro rims over the last 20 years, and it's a pretty good rim imo. I did adjust my build to use thicker spokes after bending a couple of rims with very thin spokes.
The events that caused bending were slides where the tire catches traction after sliding out (700c rims can be fragile in this regard).