Wheels

[Mike T]

Hi all

 

I'm old roadie vet but got bored with the road - rappidly getting into the MTB scene but the more you get into it the more high tech it becomes! Road bikes are so simple - get a light frame and wheels, pump the tyres hard, slip stream as much as possible in a race and you do just fine. Now I'm faced with words like hardtail, full sussers, sag, rebound not to mention how much tyre pressure or what  tyres to use! 

All very confusing, but what I want some advice on are wheels: I thought Mavic was good (I have a set on my road bike and they are oh so smooth) but I hear some muttering about c**p Crossmax freewheel bodies. I also had a lok at Shimano (M965) but they seem to have too few spokes for offroad and I note that they have spoked their new 07 wheels with more spokes. Also had a look at DT swiss - look very good but frustratingly are not set up (out of the box) for tubeless.

So whatsa best??? Budget around R5 - R6 k

Also: can one run normal Maxxis tyres eg Maxlite as tubeless?

  

[stringbean]

Chainreactioncycles.Get them to build you a set of wheels.Got dt 240 hubs on mavic 819 rims(tubless)for under 6k.Have a couple of wheels by them,they know what they are doing.

 

[Mike T]

Thanks for the advice. Thought of the custom route via CRC but not sure of the final weight of the wheels - would that combo of hub and rim be nice and light? What spokes does one use?

[Zaskar]

i got the Easton XC Ones, in Jan, and i love them!!

they are light, 1590g, damn strong, and the bearings and free hub are as smooth as my zipps!

 

you should be able to get them for around 5k. the only negative is that are not tubeless. but nothing a stans kit cant solve.

[Thug]

For the budget you have, you should (through CRC) be able to get a complete DT Swiss wheelset.

 

 

[Mike T]

Yep, can get a good one: DT XR1540 for just over R5 k but only drawback is that they have to be converted to tubeless with a kit. Where can one buy Stan's kit from? CRC do not appear to have in stock.

[RodTi]

Mike - Stan's you can get just about at any bike store.

There are a couple of tubless conversion kits about these days - even saw a DT Swiss conversion kit a while back - which might solve some concerns for you? Apparently it's quite good...

[Thug]

Yep, DT make their own tubeless conversion kit.

[Mike T]

Can get CRC to make up a custom pair using DT 240 hubs laced to Mavic 819 rims - using DT's claculator a pair could be below 1500g. Only problem is that they do not have stock of DT 240 hubs!

[TitusTi]

That spoke calculator is wildly inaccurate as far as weights go, it's designed to calculate spoke lengths. As to the wheels, don't get crossmax (I've said this before but I'm gonna say it again) get DT Swiss hubs or even the Ringle Dirty Flea, also pretty good, if that fails get plain old XTR hubs (M970). Build this up using one of the many Stans rims (I would recomend the ZTR355) and lace them with DT Super Comp or Comp's, if you've got the cash and wanna splash lace them using the Sapim CX Ray's. There you have my not so humble opinion.

[Mike T]

Thanks for the advice Titusti.

Buying road wheels is fairly easy but we all know that MTB wheels get a lot more abuse so when you spenda the bucks you want to do it right first time balancing reliabilty with weight.

Definitely like the DT hubs - look like real quality and have good write-ups on the net but again probably can't go wrong with good old XTR. Customizing seems to be a good way to get what you want.

[TitusTi]

Alas, customising is the only way to get what you want.

[OcTaLL]

Get yourself some Mavic Crossmax's, for that price you have many to choose from

[ChrisH]

What about these, on 'special' from BikeHut. Are they worth a look for a spare set of wheels?

 

Azonic Outlaw Wheelset

Light enough for the Cross Country trail rider and strong enough to take the biggest drops. Hubs convert easily from Quick Release to 20mm Bolt-Thru axels. 36 spokes, cartridge sealed bearings. Available for FR/DH frames requiring 135mm or 150mm wide spacing <?:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /> Comes with axel conversion kit. Front QR / 20mm Rear QR / 12mm Specify 135mm or 150mm Spacing White rims with black hubs & spokes

Only R2995 per set

[MintSauce]

Go on....spoil yourself!

 

 

www.chrisking.com

 

 

 

 

 

MintSauce2007-04-02 12:03:14

[stringbean]

Don't waste your time with conversion kits,they are a waste of time.If you want tubeless by proper tubeless.My dt240's on mavic 819 with dt 1.8/1.5/1.8 spokes weigh 90g more than crossmax sl,cost me R1500 less and i would have saved even more if i did not DHL them to SA.The dt hubs are also way better than the mavics.CRC doesn't take long to get more stock in.The other choice is to go for a cheaper mavic wheel.Just make sure it is tubeless.