Recommend me a new set of wheels

joker77

Just the wheels - I'm looking to replace the road wheels I have that are on the way out

Something that's sturdy and can take the punishment of Dublin's roads - potholes, cobbles, speed bumps, up and down kerbs etc

So I think durability is a whole lot more important than something lightweight for racing performance.

Any thoughts?

Edit: Pricewise prob 200 or so, up to 300 or more if they're really worth it

Raam

Is it for a road bike or a hybrid? If you avoid jumping up and down curbs, they will last longer.

petethedrummer

I recently bought mavic aksiums, they are supposed to be a very good value training wheel. Mine are Silver. Black ones look nicer. Too new to tell if they stand up to my spoke breaking ways.

Raam

Sorry, meant to add... Fulcrum Racing 7s are pretty good. 150 for the pair
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=18604

Morgan

joker77 wrote: »

Something that's sturdy and can take the punishment of Dublin's roads - potholes, cobbles, speed bumps, up and down kerbs etc

So I think durability is a whole lot more important than something lightweight for racing performance.

Ultegra hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims handbuilt with double butted spokes. Will be strong, durable and easy to maintain.

joker77

Raam wrote: »

Is it for a road bike or a hybrid? If you avoid jumping up and down curbs, they will last longer.

It's a hybrid road bike - has road wheels - Dawes Giro 200
I try to take it easy on the curbs yea... but getting in / out and around town it's hard to avoid them completely

Morgan wrote: »

Ultegra hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims handbuilt with double butted spokes. Will be strong, durable and easy to maintain.

Handbuilding it may be a problem for me... do you not need a load of special tools for this?

lukester

Morgan wrote: »

Ultegra hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims handbuilt with double butted spokes. Will be strong, durable and easy to maintain.

Handbuilt? Don't they need truing more regularly, or is this an urban cycling myth?

joker77

Another quick one - my bike has 18 gears rather than 10, would this come into it when buying factory road wheels?

Morgan

joker77 wrote: »

Handbuilding it may be a problem for me... do you not need a load of special tools for this?

I'd suggest getting someone to build them for you. Cliff in Cycleogical or James from OC Tuning perhaps.

lukester wrote: »

Handbuilt? Don't they need truing more regularly, or is this an urban cycling myth?

No, if they're built properly they'll stay perfectly true.

Lumen

Cliff in Cycleogical claims to be able to build bombproof wheels. I think he charges €50 per wheel for a build, plus parts.

The location is handy if you're in town regularly - you can pop in and get him to re-true the wheels whilst you peruse the massively overpriced bike porn.

joker77

Lumen wrote: »

Cliff in Cycleogical claims to be able to build bombproof wheels. I think he charges €50 per wheel for a build, plus parts.

The location is handy if you're in town regularly - you can pop in and get him to re-true the wheels whilst you peruse the massively overpriced bike porn.

Cheers - good to know! So it'd be more cost effective to buy the rims, hubs and spokes online?

Oh yea - mistake earlier - there's 24 gears on the bike - 3 sets of 8. So what kind of rear hub are we talking about? I take it this wouldn't do - Ultegra Hub Rear 10 Speed 6600

To be honest, I wouldn't mind getting rid of the gears as well and taking it down to a 10 speed. But would it really be worth throwing that kind of money into the bike? Would I be better off bining it and buying new? Confused now!

ednwireland

not recommending anything but i bought wheels from bikedock tiagra hubs, double butted spokes, mavic open sport, 36 spokes, about £130 nothing bad happened yet, i'm 17 stone riding on donegal roads, i like askiums but getting them fixed would have been more difficult in dub, wouldnt have bothered me as much, just what i bought

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

Cheers - good to know! So it'd be more cost effective to buy the rims, hubs and spokes online?

Oh yea - mistake earlier - there's 24 gears on the bike - 3 sets of 8. So what kind of rear hub are we talking about? I take it this wouldn't do - Ultegra Hub Rear 10 Speed 6600

To be honest, I wouldn't mind getting rid of the gears as well and taking it down to a 10 speed. But would it really be worth throwing that kind of money into the bike? Would I be better off bining it and buying new? Confused now!

Either you're very confused or I've misunderstood. A ten speed hub is part of a 20 or 30 speed geared groupset. "Getting rid of the gears" would mean running singlespeed, which is a whole different thing.

Re: Cliff, dunno whether you can buy parts and give them to him - normally he gets them in for you. When I supplied the hub he charged me €50 for double butted spokes, rim tape and an Open Pro rim (+€50 for the build), which seems cheap enough.

joker77

Lumen wrote: »

Either you're very confused or I've misunderstood. A ten speed hub is part of a 20 or 30 speed geared groupset. "Getting rid of the gears" would mean running singlespeed, which is a whole different thing.

Re: Cliff, dunno whether you can buy parts and give them to him - normally he gets them in for you. When I supplied the hub he charged me €50 for double butted spokes, rim tape and an Open Pro rim (+€50 for the build), which seems cheap enough.

Yea sorry not very well explained. If I was to replace the gears I'd get rid of the 3 ring chainring at the pedals and get a 2 ring one. Again, apologies for not being up on the terminology

How much would Cliff charge for both wheels built, all in with those parts mentioned above.

Again, would it be worth replacing the wheels and gears on this bike, not so sure

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

Yea sorry not very well explained. If I was to replace the gears I'd get rid of the 3 ring chainring at the pedals and get a 2 ring one. Again, apologies for not being up on the terminology

How much would Cliff charge for both wheels built, all in with those parts mentioned above.

Again, would it be worth replacing the wheels and gears on this bike, not so sure

Ah, you're talking about changing from a triple chainset to a double. Not sure I'd bother (although I have in the past, it wasn't really cost effective).

Dunno about complete wheel costs, give them a call.

For me the jury is still out on handbuilt vs factory. I have to use handbuilt at the moment, and they seem fine.

blorg

Generally you would buy the components from the wheelbuilder but it can depend- ask first. A "10 speed" hub will take an 8 speed cassette. Shimano prices are way up in the UK so may not even be any cheaper online.

Why would you want to change your triple out for a double, especially on a hybrid? Expensive and all you are doing is removing gears.

To be honest though I would be slow to throw that sort of money at a flat bar Giro 200.

joker77

The reason I was contemplating changing from a triple to a double, is that I never use the lowest gears, and after 3+ years of commuting and not really doing enough maintenance... they're fairly wrecked.

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

The reason I was contemplating changing from a triple to a double, is that I never use the lowest gears, and after 3+ years of commuting and not really doing enough maintenance... they're fairly wrecked.

Can't you just replace the chainrings?

lukester

Lumen wrote: »

Cliff in Cycleogical claims to be able to build bombproof wheels. I think he charges €50 per wheel for a build, plus parts.

The location is handy if you're in town regularly - you can pop in and get him to re-true the wheels whilst you peruse the massively overpriced bike porn.

I had a chat with Cliff last year when I was considering getting him to build a fixed rear for an old frame I had an option on.

Then the Bowery came along :pac:

joker77

Would I not need a new derailler system if I replace the chainring?

Bowery eh? been toying with the idea of a fixie for quite a while now.

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

Would I not need a new derailler system if I replace the chainring?

Bowery eh? been toying with the idea of a fixie for quite a while now.

Not sure what you mean by "a new derailler system". You mean the front mech?

What exactly is worn out? Or are you just looking to justify a new bike?

joker77

Lumen wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by "a new derailler system". You mean the front mech?

Yes

Lumen wrote: »

What exactly is worn out?

Back derailler

Lumen wrote: »

Or are you just looking to justify a new bike?

No

lukester

Just treat yourself to a new bike.

You're worth it, and you'll be aiding economic recovery. :pac:

blorg

Generally the chainrings and cogs wear out well before the derailleurs do, what sort of problems are you seeing on the bike?

joker77

The gears don't run as smoothly as they should, although maybe that's just the age and lack of care...

Maybe yea, it's the back cassette / cogs rather than the derailler itself. Any tips on how to tell which parts need replacing? i.e. which just look a little worn but are ok.

Lumen

If something at the rear is worn out, why are you talking about changing your crankset?

joker77

Lumen wrote: »

If something at the rear is worn out, why are you talking about changing your crankset?

What part of maybe don't you understand?

joker77

Alright, forget about the chainrings / crankset / cogs / derailler / cassette / front mech discussion.

I'll go and show it to a mechanic and ask him for advice, rather than trying to explain it here.

Back on topic, the wheels

penexpers

People are only trying to help here. "Gears not running smoothly" is a pretty vague term. TBH, if you haven't changed your cassette/chain since you got the bike there's a good chance you need to change them now and that could solve all your problems. The indications that you need a new cassette would be worn down sprockets and a skipping chain, I think.

blorg

@joker77- to be honest (and I'm not having a go at you here) it doesn't really sound like you know what you are doing, I think you would be best off taking it to a local bike shop. Would probably work out cheaper. You could spend a fortune on parts off the internet that didn't actually address the problems you are having with the bike.

It can be hard to diagnose problems over the internet.

Try to get a mechanic who will go through with you what is wrong if you want to get into a position where you can fix things yourself. Most are happy to do this and explain how they diagnosed the problem. There is at least one guy on Boards, maybe Mr Skeffington, who will fix things and give lessons for a reasonable hourly rate.

Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance is a great book. The Park Tool website is also very useful.

Similarly with your wheels, what is wrong with them- it is very possible they can be fixed rather than your needing new wheels.

joker77

I take both of those on board, sorry I didn't meant to get all antsy, was just frustrating me trying to explain things when I obviously can't get my point across correctly.

The main issue with the bike is spokes breaking. Regularly. The wheel has been rebuilt already.

blorg

If the wheel has been well rebuilt, the spokes breaking could be more down to how you use the bike, e.g. dropping it off kerbs, into potholes etc. Generally with a bike like that and skinny tyres you should not be doing that.

On the other hand it is a cheap enough bike and at that price point they could just be crap wheels, I have one set of wheels that I had a few spokes break on and this does not happen with my other wheelsets. Once fixed up first by one and then another bike shop I trust a bit more however they were fine.

As to addressing the problem, a well built set of Open Pros on Ultegra could be good but I would reckon Aksiums should also do the job for less money (I have had both wheelsets.) The Open Pros might be a bit easier to fix if they went wrong. If you really want to take it a bit rough with pot holes and kerbs your best bet would be to get wider tyres, as wide as will fit on (the limitation here is your brakes and frame/fork rather than the wheelset) - this will provide shock absorption to minor impacts and will protect the wheel as well as improving comfort.

To mount the new wheels to your bike you will need a chain whip and a cassette lockring tool. You could transfer the cassette from the old rear wheel but it sounds like you probably need a new cassette and chain. Mounting a cassette is not that difficult a job. If replacing the chain you will also need a chain tool to break the chain.

petethedrummer

Buddy of mine got mavic aksiums for around 170 with a new 9-speed cassette from Wheelworx. Seems like a decent deal to me.

joker77

petethedrummer wrote: »

I recently bought mavic aksiums, they are supposed to be a very good value training wheel. Mine are Silver. Black ones look nicer. Too new to tell if they stand up to my spoke breaking ways.

Just got the new set of aksiums - 150 for the pair in Cycleogical and they switched the cassette from my old rear wheel. Looking forward to trying them out tonight!

petethedrummer

joker77 wrote: »

Just got the new set of aksiums - 150 for the pair in Cycleogical and they switched the cassette from my old rear wheel. Looking forward to trying them out tonight!

I like mine; no broken spokes, perfectly true and seem to roll better than the last set I had.

DirkVoodoo

petethedrummer wrote: »

I like mine; no broken spokes, perfectly true and seem to roll better than the last set I had.

Yeah my aksiums have been bomb proof so far. No broken spokes or going out of true either. A little heavy but they roll pretty nice.