Factory vs Custom wheel sets

[Palaeodom]

Evening Hubbers,

 

Looking for some advice on a new lightweight XC wheelset.

 

Been asking around now for some time, and there a mixed opinions....as always.

 

Most advise a mixture of stans olympic rims, DT swiss spokes and a variety of Hubs,

Am i correct in assuming that there is no warranty on custom wheels?

 

Factory options are the AC MTB26, the XTR the Crank Brothers, Easton XC one. The AC is the lightest and has been recommended by the LBS and at R4000 and 1.5kgs and warranty not a bad looking option.

 

Can you build a better wheelset for under R4000?

 

 

All you comments are much appreciated...R4000 is still quite a bit of cash to spend so want to make the right choice.

[Johan Bornman]

Evening Hubbers,

 

Looking for some advice on a new lightweight XC wheelset.

 

Been asking around now for some time, and there a mixed opinions....as always.

 

Most advise a mixture of stans olympic rims, DT swiss spokes and a variety of Hubs,

Am i correct in assuming that there is no warranty on custom wheels?

 

Factory options are the AC MTB26, the XTR the Crank Brothers, Easton XC one. The AC is the lightest and has been recommended by the LBS and at R4000 and 1.5kgs and warranty not a bad looking option.

 

Can you build a better wheelset for under R4000?

 

 

All you comments are much appreciated...R4000 is still quite a bit of cash to spend so want to make the right choice.

 

Custom wheels allow you to do what the name suggests - customise your wheels to your requirements. It also allows a pick and choose approach to components as well as a mix of best-of-breed components. Custom wheel could, but usually carry no coffee shop cred.

 

They can however be repaired by anyone reasonably competent, with standard off-the-shelf componens or equivalents.

 

Custom wheels are more expensive initially than factory wheels but are almost always cheap to repair.

 

Factory wheels have been branded by the manufacturer and instantly evokes some emotion in whoever sees them - usually a false emotion. Most factory wheels have one or other design quirk such as paired spokes, spokes made from Unobtanium (aluminium with a new name using Zs and Xs), fancy spoke patterns and proprietary hubs. Tjey usually ahve no advantage over custom wheels other than they have a good resell value and lots of street cred. They are also cheap to buy and expensive to repair.

 

There is a warrantee on custom wheels. The hubs carry the manufacturers's warrantee, as does the rims. Spokes don't carry a gaurantee but some wheelbuilders offer a lifetime gaurantee on their workmanship and spokes.

 

Stan's rims are the current rage, as is Hope hubs. This will change tomorrow, so don't stare blindly against this or that brand. There are plenty of very good options out there.

 

DT Swiss spokes are no lighter than Sapim or Wheelsmith spokes - they're all made from plain old 18/8 stainless steel.

 

It is very difficult to build custom wheels lighter than the lighest factory wheels. That's because these wheels are generally under-specc'd in terms of spoke count, bearing robustsness etc.

 

Hourses for courses.

[Bat-ass]

Hi Johan

 

I'v been going back and forth debating the same thing for a set of 29er wheels.

I like the look of the American classic, 32 regular spoke config is what i like there.

I'v looked on chain reaction, and there is a set of DT swiss rims available pretty cheap, plus either XT or Hope hubs, and they can build a set for quite a bit less then a AC's. But buying a set of AC's off the shelf is boring!!

What can you offer in the way of a 29er race / odd training ride, set of wheels.

Ie. what rims/hubs do you have access to. I say have access to, because they dont seem to be easily availible?

[Johan Bornman]

Hi Johan

 

I'v been going back and forth debating the same thing for a set of 29er wheels.

I like the look of the American classic, 32 regular spoke config is what i like there.

I'v looked on chain reaction, and there is a set of DT swiss rims available pretty cheap, plus either XT or Hope hubs, and they can build a set for quite a bit less then a AC's. But buying a set of AC's off the shelf is boring!!

What can you offer in the way of a 29er race / odd training ride, set of wheels.

Ie. what rims/hubs do you have access to. I say have access to, because they dont seem to be easily availible?

 

XT hubs are nice, but not for people who don't know how to care for hubs. I'm talking going though rivers and bogs that submerge hubs, pressure washers etc etc. If you want to do that, get the Hope's instead. If you want something really nice, get Chris King. I don't have access to a cheap supply of the latter, get that somewhere online.

 

Rims....locally there are some Sun Rigle models, Velocity Blunt and of course the fashionable ZTR rims.

[Palaeodom]

Thanks Johan,

 

I'm certainly not worried about the mug and bean street cred. I am a light rider and want to find the best climbing/marathon wheels i can get, so a light XC wheel would be good. I'm happy to invest some more cash in making sure i can perhaps service them myself and slightly lower maintenance costs, and can take a bit of abuse, mud water the rest i'm taking the machine ti NZ and the UK so will need to be resistant to poor conditions.

 

Being a wheel builder, What would you recommend?

[Sharkie 2]

I have seen many customs wheels build in the past by friends and myself. Your best option to go for in my opinion which are bulletproof hubs and don't require special bearing replacement set or parts are DT Swiss hubs. These hubs are more expensive from the start but if you look at there maintanance requirements you make up that initial investment very quickly. I myself went for DT Swiss 240s hubs with ZTR Alpine Rims and DT Swiss spokes think either revelations or comps can't remember. These are easy to maintain and don't give me any hassles.

[Johan Bornman]

I have seen many customs wheels build in the past by friends and myself. Your best option to go for in my opinion which are bulletproof hubs and don't require special bearing replacement set or parts are DT Swiss hubs. These hubs are more expensive from the start but if you look at there maintanance requirements you make up that initial investment very quickly. I myself went for DT Swiss 240s hubs with ZTR Alpine Rims and DT Swiss spokes think either revelations or comps can't remember. These are easy to maintain and don't give me any hassles.

 

 

DT Swiss hubs, you say? Aren't those the hubs that need a special tool to remove the one bearing from the hub? Aren't those the hubs with crappy seals that don't work?

 

Don't those hubs require six cartridge bearings at at least R40 a piece? Aren't those the hubs without any labyrinth seals to protect the cartridge bearing seals?

 

You would have remembered if you built your wheels with Revolution spokes. Revolution spokes are not something that you casually build with and forget the experience.

 

I don't know of any spokes that require maintenance.

[Caerus]

Arent Industry nine hubs the best around at the moment?

[Sharkie 2]

DT Swiss hubs, you say? Aren't those the hubs that need a special tool to remove the one bearing from the hub? Aren't those the hubs with crappy seals that don't work?

 

Don't those hubs require six cartridge bearings at at least R40 a piece? Aren't those the hubs without any labyrinth seals to protect the cartridge bearing seals?

 

You would have remembered if you built your wheels with Revolution spokes. Revolution spokes are not something that you casually build with and forget the experience.

 

I don't know of any spokes that require maintenance.

 

Double checked with my LBS used DT Competition spokes and to date the hubs have not given me any hassles and their bearings are not that expensive. They seal very well to protect the bearings, used them on Sani2C and the Sabie Experience both muddy and wet races without a hassle. Doug from DT Swiss knows his stuff on wheels

[R3SL]

DT Swiss hubs, you say? Aren't those the hubs that need a special tool to remove the one bearing from the hub? Aren't those the hubs with crappy seals that don't work?

 

Don't those hubs require six cartridge bearings at at least R40 a piece? Aren't those the hubs without any labyrinth seals to protect the cartridge bearing seals?

 

You would have remembered if you built your wheels with Revolution spokes. Revolution spokes are not something that you casually build with and forget the experience.

 

I don't know of any spokes that require maintenance.

Hi Johan , That nightmare started allover again when you mentioned those hubs, pain in the arse.AC hubs, ZTR rims, revolution spokes, wheelsmith nipples ( choose the colour) DONE.

[swoosh1973]

Johan B my man!!! I always enjoy your posts....good on you mate.

Tell it like it is. I recently lost 6kg in 3 months. That has made one heck load of a difference in my cycling and certainly more than loosing 6kg of my bike. I have realised that I am only an above average rider and that if my bike was 6kg lighter I would barely improve my ride time by a few minutes difference! 6kg of my lard arse body has seen me improve my last race time for the lourensford Classic by more than 30 minutes. 3hours 56 minutes! versus 4 hours 28!No weight reduction on my bike of 6kg could give me those results.

 

Stuf the fancy shmancy bike crap. Go for reliabilty rather than price and branding and focus on your riding instead!

,

NOW GETTING BACK TO WHEELS.

You said that the HOPE hubs are more resistant to pressure washers, riding with hubs through rivers etc? These are all things I like to do. Yes I know I am not supose to but krums I am too nackered after every long ride to bother with soft spunges and gentle flowing water away from BB's and hubs. Spunges and soft washes are reserved for the other women in my life.

These are all things I like to do despite your advice not to. Do these HOPE hubs allow me to pressure wash and ride rivers with say once every 6 months open and regrease?

[Sharkie 2]

Johan B my man!!! I always enjoy your posts....good on you mate.

Tell it like it is. I recently lost 6kg in 3 months. That has made one heck load of a difference in my cycling and certainly more than loosing 6kg of my bike. I have realised that I am only an above average rider and that if my bike was 6kg lighter I would barely improve my ride time by a few minutes difference! 6kg of my lard arse body has seen me improve my last race time for the lourensford Classic by more than 30 minutes. 3hours 56 minutes! versus 4 hours 28!No weight reduction on my bike of 6kg could give me those results.

 

Stuf the fancy shmancy bike crap. Go for reliabilty rather than price and branding and focus on your riding instead!

,

NOW GETTING BACK TO WHEELS.

You said that the HOPE hubs are more resistant to pressure washers, riding with hubs through rivers etc? These are all things I like to do. Yes I know I am not supose to but krums I am too nackered after every long ride to bother with soft spunges and gentle flowing water away from BB's and hubs. Spunges and soft washes are reserved for the other women in my life.

These are all things I like to do despite your advice not to. Do these HOPE hubs allow me to pressure wash and ride rivers with say once every 6 months open and regrease?

 

No hub seal is designed to take the pressure from a pressure washer, if you do not directly apply pressure to the hub or BB from spraying from the side but spraying it from the top you should be fine with any hub