nick_the_wheelbuilder

Thought I'd share my Cotic Simple SS in current form. What a pleasure to be able to ride it along the beach at low tide. Oval 34t with a 19t at the rear. The Stan's Arch Mk4 rims are super and the Cure hubs have been faultless. I'm running Vittoria Agarro front and Barzo rear and liking them a lot. Just bought a KMC 9-speed e-bike chain to try out and hope it lasts a bit more than 1500km - singlespeeds go through chains at a high rate!

Get the best rims you can afford in the 25-30mm range, if you're using 2.25" tyres. Stan's Arch or Flow Mk4 rims, DT Swiss XM481, Raceface ARC Offset, Lyne etc are all good options. Have the wheels rebuilt by someone who knows what they're doing.

They're not worth much unfortunately... keep them as a spare set.

I can get you anything Spank, as long as the importer has stock - get in touch if you need anything.

Tubeless setups with non-tubeless tyres and non-tubeless rims make me very nervous. The stuff I've seen.... The rims pictured by the OP do look like they're designed to work in a tubeless fashion, which is good though. For proper road use, (25-30c tyres) make sure they're tubeless ready, and the rims too.

In the interest of helping everyone out there choose suitable rims when it comes time for an upgrade, I wrote this article. What rims are available now (June 2022) Reference weights Suitable use cases based on bike and riding style I have focused only on what is currently available. I hope this helps. https://wheelbuilder.co.za/upgrading-your-alloy-rims/

Thanks for all the kind words guys

I'd love to weigh in. For me, as a wheel builder, it's important that the tape goes on easily and comes off without leaving any yucky residue. I've found that tape like Stan's yellow tape is best, and some other fibre-based tapes are ok, if the glue is nice and thin. For road tubeless, and other carbon rims, very thin tape is required to prevent the tyre from compressing the rim and affecting spoke tensions. This is why South Industries has a certain requirement to use thin smooth tape. Duct tape and gorilla tape are a definite no from me, as well as the other silver rim tapes sold under various brands. It's thick and leaves a horrible residue behind when removed. One way around this is to lay a layer of electrical tape on the rim first, which will prevent the sticky glue from the duct tape sticking to the rim. Electrical tape is thin enough not to make a meaningful difference on alloy MTB rims.

The Alpine double butted spokes are fine, perhaps not as slick a finish as DT or Pillar, but quality-wise they're fine. As mentioned above - the care exercised in the build process is far more important than the choice of componentry.

2 problems based on the original post: 1. The alloy nipples have corroded and are breaking, meaning they all need to be replaced. 2nd problem is that the spokes seem too short, giving the nipple heads no internal support, allowing them to break too easily. As Dave has mentioned above, take the wheel to a good wheel builder and have it sorted properly. Yes it'll cost some money, but rather that than have an unpleasant experience while out riding.

Haha I'm sure Jake appreciated the reminder

Some glamor shots to make this thread more appealing

I can gladly give you some options and prices. Nextie rims are great value and quality, but take 6 weeks to arrive. 3 year warranty, plenty of weight and width options. South Industries are locally made and are incredible rims - my first choice for carbon MTB wheels. Very good value and lifetime warranty, and available immediately. Hubs from Hope or DT Swiss are best combination of price, value, reliability and weight. More affordable options from Lyne or Cure are great value and decent quality. Boutique options like i9 or Tune can also be had at a premium price. Get in touch if you need more info.

Yup, these were designed for the new generation of high torque e-bikes. The standard star-ratchet freehubs don't have issues with regards to durability, and the 4-pawl, 40T ratchet of Hope hubs is just as robust, if not more so.

The Flow Mk4 rims are superb, and available, and won't break the bank. Hope hubs are indestructible, as are DT 350. Ping me for a quote and / or to discuss options.

I can get the 2.6" Agarro and Barzo for you. Get in touch if you need.

There are quite a few rims I'd rather put on a gravel bike, if Crests aren't your cup of tea. For one thing, many gravel bikes are more road focused, and you may want to use the 24h hubs that come with them. In this case, opt for the DT Swiss GR531 - heavier than the Crests but rock solid.

Ain't she pretty?

I managed to get my grubby mits on a set of new Stan's Arch Mk4 rims - here are my first impressions: https://wheelbuilder.co.za/arch-mk4-impressions/

Rims that crack are due to either, or combination of, material defect, over tensioned spokes or some heavy hits while riding. Most brands cover this kind of thing as a regular warranty claim. I've helped customers with Spank, Raceface and Stan's claims lately. You can't always control the quality of the parts, but you can invest in the services of a good wheel builder

The WTB KOM Tough i30 or the DT EX511 are great, as are the Spank 359 or Spike Race 33. Not easy to find any of the above in SA though at the moment.

So sad that some bikes come with poor quality wheels, when the rest of the bike is pretty awesome - I guess they have to reach their price point somehow. The best thing you can do is have a new set of wheels built. You can get wheels that are stronger than stock, most likely lighter too, and with parts that are a lot more serviceable. The sealed bearing hubs from Rapide, Lyne, Hope, DT Swiss, Novatec, Bitex etc are all good options and all decent value for money. I'd advise stay away from anything that uses non-standard or proprietary spokes or nipples. This will be a huge headache in a few years when they need maintenance. Right now, alloy rims are like hens teeth in SA, with almost no 29er alloy rims available from any of the normal brands. Spank 350 rims in 28h are available though, today, in limited quantities. No DT Swiss, WTB or Raceface currently available, and I see cSixx, Rapide's and Lyne's rims are out of stock too. The cool thing about a set of custom built wheels, especially if your bike is BOOST compatible, is that you'll be able to move the wheels to a new bike when you upgrade at some point - you are able to future-proof your investment.

Throw the round straight pull spokes in the bin and replace with bladed spokes, which you can hold with a slotted tool. Every single Roval wheel I rebuild.

Hope Pro4 and DT Swiss 350 are the same price and are both awesome. Forced to choose, I'd go for Hope for the different colours available. The freehub mechanisms are different, but both are simple and reliable. Hope has 40t standard and DT 350 18t (when the new 2021 models become available they'll have 36t ratchets installed) Buy which ever one you like the look of best, or whichever one you find cheaper, or at all. The DT is also available in straight-pull, if that's your cup of tea. Cost, quality and reliability are on par. Rims are tricky due to availability issues, but Spank 350/359 are great, as are the Raceface and DT Swiss options and the new Mk4 rims from Stans will be available soon.