Craptacular8

So, I have a 2017 Diverge that I use for training/gravel/lite touring. Currently sporting the stock wheels. It is QR both front and back. I have a budget that I'd like to stick to of around 800 or less, but it's not particularly rigid. I'm not terribly interested in going with carbon rims at this point on this particular bike. I'm not hard on my wheels/bikes generally, though I did manage to flip a carbon road bike last season, and get the rear wheel to where it would no longer true, but that's the exception rather than the rule. I'm 150lbs, tour with approximately 20lbs of gear, and average talent/speed. My rides are typically flat, but I'm almost always riding in a 15-20mph headwind, sometimes more, but seldom less. While I do want a rim that is tubeless compatible, I'm not currently planning to go tubeless in the immediate future....I'm currently considering the following three options:

Scenario 1: H+Son Hydra rim, wheelsmith double butted spokes. wheelsmith nipples, and DT Swiss 350 centerlock hubs...approx 1623 grams for the set, and $650 roughly. This rim is 25 wide, I'd guess 19-20 internal width, and 23 deep.

Scenario 2: Same rim/spokes/nipples paired with White Industries Center lock hubs....approx 1584 grams for the set, and $800.

Scenario 3: November FSW3 wheelset using Kinlin rims, Sapim CX-ray bladed spokes, and WI hubs....approx 1700 grams for the set, $790. This rim is 24 wide, 19 internal width, and 32 deep.

Our lbs is a fan of the H+Son rims for the applications we're looking at using them for, and are fans of the DTSwiss hubs....they are luke warm on the WI, and seem to prefer Industry Nine/Chris King if I don't choose to go with DTSwiss...No idea what they think of Hope, etc for other choices. Is there a noticeable performance difference between the DTSwiss and WI? Same question as it comes to rim depth...32mm deep on the Kinlin rim, ...not sure if there is any aero/performance advantage, or am I just taking on more rim weight for grits and shins?

I know that the Hunt gravel wheelset is frequently recommended, but since they use bitex hubs, I have them off the table for now. If you have other suggestions I should consider, I'd love to hear it.

Cyclist0108

Scenario 3a or 3b: November wheels, WI hubs (good choice because you can easily convert at least the front hub to thru axle for free), same spokes, but with either (a) HED Belgium Plus Al rims or (b) November's own new carbon rim. WI makes a good hub (as do I9 and CK). I have a November wheel-set corresponding to (a), and a second one with the only difference being CK hubs (and made by CK). Both are great.

noodle soup

You really can't go wrong with Wi or DT Swiss. I9 is nice too, but if the pawls get damaged, you'll be better off just replacing the freehub body.

I like WI hubs best, because of the titanium freehub body.

Bah Humbug

I'd rather have Belgium+ rims; they're more widely available, will be available for roughly forever, and have an outstanding record of durability. The price and weight differential for anything else is inadequate IMO.

Hub-wise, DT has soft freehub splines and will get chewed up, CK is expensive and has iffy customer service, so I'd go with i9 or WI. WI has the Ti freehub body, but if your LBS prefers i9 and will be doing the build, that's the way I'd go.

November Dave

We've recently started using Aivee MP2 in lieu of Bitex for the base model FSW3 Disc set, which are the best "low cost boutique" or "high end inexpensive" hubs we've yet seen. A more complete take on them is here. We also do HED, Boyd, Easton, and Astral disc wheel builds with them. Very good, very reasonably priced hubs.

The weights given for the WI/Hydra build seem off. A set of WI CLDs is only about 20-25g less than DT350, though I would propose the WI as a substantially better hub, and though I think 20g of +/- weight in a set of wheels has no effect on anything (but it will make the decision for some people).

Most importantly, where is this magical place of constant strong headwinds? I'd like to never go there (except for a windsurfing trip), if possible.

Abe_Froman

Craptacular8

North Dakota/western Minnesota. I’ll start a ride a ride thinking I have a head wind starting....sure that I’ll have a tailwind on the return, only to realize that I can often manage to have a headwind both directions!