Hope road wheels.Opinions.??

papac

My friend just emailed me to see what I reckoned to these.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38867

Seems not bad for a general purpose/ (very) light touring wheel which is what he wants. Hope hubs should be pretty reliable one would think.

Anyone know anything about 'em.???

niceonetom

I have two sets of OpenPro rims, one fixie pair on track hubs, and one on Ultegra road hubs. I'm a big fan of those rims. They've taken a beating (the fixie ones anyway) and survived pretty well.

I know nothing about the hope hubs so can't really give an opinion. The rear hub is ~€140 on its own so getting it built on to a nice rim for 40 seems quite good. DTswiss spokes have a excellent rep too. For commuting/training/(very)light touring they would seem ideal, if the chain reaction build quality is up to snuff. Google that maybe?

I'd ring around the bike shops too, to see what the going rate is for a set of handbuilt 32 spoke OpenPros on decent hubs is. ~€300 doesn't scream BARGAIN to me, but I haven't checked in a while.

DirkVoodoo

I was looking at some hope wheels for my commuter and did some googling. A lot of good publication reviews, apparently opposite full page ads from Hope. There was a lot of mixed user opinion. Some people found them very robust, decent weight and rolled well, but a lot of people were complaining about stripped threads on the hubs after very little use.

I saw some photos and the standard of machining was pretty poor, very rough threads.

Seeing as these are freehubs though it shouldn't really matter. Try googling user reviews and see what you find, looking for commonly reported problems rather than "They is $hit, w00t!" internet fanboyism is tough at times though.

papac

€300 doesn't scream BARGAIN to me,

Me neither. Hes got a credit card burning a hole and is ordering other bits from crc anyway.

if the chain reaction build quality is up

They,re built by Hope I think. Seems they have invesated heavily in a wheel building facility. They are laced/finished by hand and the rest is done by machine apparently.

Not much specific online about them that I can find.

DirkVoodoo

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60222&view=previous

EDIT: Summary: 2 thumbs up!

papac

Cheers for that Dirk.
I was actually looking for that particular page as I had read it before but couldn't find it. (I'm knackered and my heads not great tonight.)

Hubs are ok then it seems.
Open pros and dt swiss spokes can't really be questioned I would have thought.Would hope risk their reputation building ropey wheels? Doubt it.

If I wanted a pair of wheels (of "traditional" construction) tomorrow I reckon I'd take a chance on em maybe.

blorg

Look like a decent option for light touring, overly heavy for the money for any other use IMO. Have Ultegra/Open Pros on my own tourer, they are OK, I have had a few issues that may be related to the build or may be more to do with me carrying 20kg on the back with 700x25c tyres.

papac

I'm trying to talk him into a set of handbuilts from wheelsmith or someone for a few more quid.
The "I can use em next weekend" factor seems to be winning out though.

blorg

Do you think that is the best option? Unless the light touring bit is key there are probably better factory wheels out there, for day rides, sportives or racing.

papac

Unless the light touring bit is key

Certainly an important part of the thinking. Reliability/servicability when a long way from home are important considerations.
He has racier wheels.
I am a bit of a luddite when it comes to wheels though.:) 36/32 three cross is your only man.;)

blorg

Any decent wheel will be reliabile, the distance from home doesn't affect.

If carrying a load, I agree 32 spoke advisable, TBH if going again I would take 36 on the rear, it is no penalty.

at1withmyself

They do seem on the heavy side for the price but they are a bargain for what you get - Mavic rims, DT spokes and Hope hubs. For a tourer/road bike this set should last a long time and any hope hubs I've owned always out last the rest of the wheel with very little maintenance.

Not sure what the negative review on the threading is about as the hubes I had only had 1 thread for the free hub body, which was fine and the axles where press fitted. As far as I know all Hope Hoops are 'Hand Built'.

Hope have been making mountain bike parts for over 10 years now and you won't go wrong buying any hope products from my expierence (and a lot of others judging by reviews). I also have had to deal with their customer service and they where pleasant and helpful and sorted my issue imediately.

papac

Any decent wheel will be reliabile, the distance from home doesn't affect.

Point is- I would prefer to be alone and a long way from home/help on a traditional 3 cross wheel.-I personally would take a slight weight penalty for that but it could be all in my head.

36 on the rear

"If you have the same no of spokes front and rear you either have too many on the front or not enough in the rear." - Some other Luddite.