First trail wheelset advice

[yuley95]

Xm1700 from Germany.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/D...-Boost-Centre-Lock-Disc-27-5-Wheelset-p78714/

Good wheels but looks like about $850 plus delivery which is quite a bit more then hunt.

Are Hunts still the best best for a budget conscious trail bike?
Will be 27.5 Trailwide boost.

Was also looking at the DT swiss M1900 but no stock around in 27.5 boost as far as I can tell.

Consider enduro wide as well. Probably fine on trail wide but I managed a flat spot in the rear riding at eatons. Probably because I’m not the smoothest. Other thing you could to is contact them and see if they could do a trail wide front and enduro rear - it’s what I’m riding now and has been great!

 

[HamboCairns]

Consider this lot too - https://www.siltmtb.com

Ex Hunt guy I think?

 

[leitch]

Good wheels but looks like about $850 plus delivery which is quite a bit more then hunt.

$810 delivered for Hunt, $890ish delivered for XM1700 from Bike-Components. Even if you get stung with taxes at customs it comes out less than $200 more for the DT than the Hunts. Money well spent by my measure.

Edit: not dissing the Hunts, just not sufficiently cheaper than the DTs that are my benchmark value pick.

 

[moorey]

$810 delivered for Hunt, $890ish delivered for XM1700 from Bike-Components. Even if you get stung with taxes at customs it comes out less than $200 more for the DT than the Hunts. Money well spent by my measure.

Edit: not dissing the Hunts, just not sufficiently cheaper than the DTs that are my benchmark value pick.

It’s all Hope dollarydoos regardless.

 

[the drizzle]

You are looking a 270 for ex511 hoops of hibike and 383 for hope hubs off merlin plus spokes and nipples of course. But will be cheaper and arguably better than the suggested options if you build yourself or find someone willing.

I'm sold on this option for a new build.

Merlin use FedEx now and I got hope hubs in a week after purchasing.

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[Oddjob]

Most pre-built wheels are some sort of compromise. The DT wheels all run straightpull spokes. Hopes have so-so rims. Mavics are just proprietary awfulness.

The new Spank hex hubs have caught my eye with their 102t engagement and good local support for parts. I've found the Spank rims to be good although the oombah rim profile can make some tires a pain to fit. The Vibrocore rims have a good feel but with a bit of a weight penalty. So when I see the 350 wheels for $800 with a $50 discount on ebay essentially making postage free that seems like a pretty good deal.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SPANK-3...-/194046825244?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

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[Oddjob]

You are looking a 270 for ex511 hoops of hibike and 383 for hope hubs off merlin plus spokes and nipples of course. But will be cheaper and arguably better than the suggested options if you build yourself or find someone willing.

I'm sold on this option for a new build.

Merlin use FedEx now and I got hope hubs in a week after purchasing.

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But then you have to factor in roughly $130 for spokes and nipples plus 2 hours labour or the tools and experience to do it yourself.

For the $800 I've listed above it's pretty hard to go past the local Spank option.

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[moorey]

But then you have to factor in roughly $130 for spokes and nipples plus 2 hours labour or the tools and experience to do it yourself.

For the $800 I've listed above it's pretty hard to go past the local Spank option.

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Spank V Hope is no comparison...

 

[Oddjob]

Spank V Hope is no comparison...

True, the Spank bearings are a million times better. The rims also won't melt under a hard stare.

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[the drizzle]

Fair enough. Lucky i know a guy who both works for Apollo (the dt swiss distro) and builds amazing wheels.

Not sold on spank hubs personally, but no good reason for it.

And having ridden super high engagement hubs, i9 torch / i9 hydra I'd still prefer hope.

The hydras gave mega pedal feedback (bounce) when going uphill.

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[the drizzle]

True, the Spank bearings are a million times better. The rims also won't melt under a hard stare.

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@TheAzza care to share some photos of your massive collection of munted spank rims?

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[the drizzle]

Have you considered the sun ringle SD37 wheels from the cycling deal store? Closer to the 400 mark for a wheelset with both HG and XD drivers. Reasonable claimed engagement and the SD (super durable) rims are thicker than the standard duroc rims

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[moorey]

True, the Spank bearings are a million times better. The rims also won't melt under a hard stare.

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YMMV. My mate in LBS will disagree though.

 

[leitch]

To summarise this thread:

Buy whichever option confirms your biases and existing brand preferences.

 

[moorey]

To summarise this thread:

Buy whichever rim confirms your biases and existing brand preferences as long as it’s on Hope hubs.

Nailed it. Thread closed.

 

[Chriso_29er]

You are looking a 270 for ex511 hoops of hibike and 383 for hope hubs off merlin plus spokes and nipples of course. But will be cheaper and arguably better than the suggested options if you build yourself or find someone willing.

I'm sold on this option for a new build.

Merlin use FedEx now and I got hope hubs in a week after purchasing.

Sent from my Mi 9T using Tapatalk

Would love to do something like this, but just don't have the time or patience to get it all together. Therefore just taking the easy way out and buy off the shelf. Even that seems to be a bit of a struggle at the moment!
Other thing is I want to try not over capitalise on this bike, as next one is likely to grow in wheel size.

 

[Oddjob]

Fair enough. Lucky i know a guy who both works for Apollo (the dt swiss distro) and builds amazing wheels.

Not sold on spank hubs personally, but no good reason for it.

And having ridden super high engagement hubs, i9 torch / i9 hydra I'd still prefer hope.

The hydras gave mega pedal feedback (bounce) when going uphill.

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I still regard the I9 Torch as the benchmark hub. I haven't spent a lot of time on the Hydras but they seemed too fast to me too. Which brings me to the I9 101 hub, but they are still exy ($750 a set) compared to other hubs with ~100t engagement.

Out of the other hubs with ~100t engagement the ones that seem to be ok are the Spank Hex and the Halo MT. They both use a 6 pawl system with multiple teeth and leaf springs for solid reliable lock up. Both rear hubs come in at around the $350 mark and have local support for parts.

Compared to Hope hubs I honestly can't compare the longevity but what I can say for sure are that the Hope oem bearings are shit. So you need to factor in an extra $20 bucks or so to replace the inboard freehub bearing with something decent like a Enduro, SKF, FAG or NTN.

As for rims, the DT Ex and Fr series are the benchmark (I also really like the Mavic 8 and 7 series). Some Spanks are ok not great but I've found the Hope ones too soft.

So for $800 you have to cut corners somewhere and I would rather a good j-spoke hub with high engagement, local support and ok rims. As mentioned, the DT wheels are straight pull and I find the Hope rims are too soft.

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[Chriso_29er]

Have you considered the sun ringle SD37 wheels from the cycling deal store? Closer to the 400 mark for a wheelset with both HG and XD drivers. Reasonable claimed engagement and the SD (super durable) rims are thicker than the standard duroc rims

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Thanks for this, hadn't seen those before.
Looks like the standard duroc 35 would probably do the job for me, $450 bucks and are in stock in my size.

 

[Litenbror]

Would love to do something like this, but just don't have the time or patience to get it all together. Therefore just taking the easy way out and buy off the shelf. Even that seems to be a bit of a struggle at the moment!
Other thing is I want to try not over capitalise on this bike, as next one is likely to grow in wheel size.

FBook seem to have some wheel sets going, there is someone in Sydney that's been building DT Swiss wheel sets for a reasonable price and selling them on the MTB pages.

 

[the drizzle]

Thanks for this, hadn't seen those before.
Looks like the standard duroc 35 would probably do the job for me, $450 bucks and are in stock in my size.

You should be able to save some dollarydoos by purchasing each wheel individually off their eBay store using a discount code each time.

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