Wheel Upgrade Options

cletus

Morning folks. A common theme with bicycles is that the best upgrade you can make is a new set of wheels.

With that in mind, I've come to ask the great collective consciousness for advice and suggestions.

I currently have stock SX-2 wheels on my Giant Revolt. I'm looking for something that might be considered stiffer/better/lighter or whatever else new wheel might be.

I've no real idea where to start, and I've no real idea what it might cost me. Off the top of my head I suppose I'd pay 300-400 euro. I've no idea if that will even buy me an upgrade over stock.

I do know that I don't want to spend ½ or ¾ of the price of the bike on wheels, so if I'm on a hiding to nothing here, please feel free to let me know

Seth Brundle

I bought a set of Scribe "Pace" wheels which I love, particularly the noise from the rear hub. There was a noticable improvement over the mavic ksyrium wheels that I already had - felt like great value and I see they are slightly cheaper now @ €385 (were €410 when I bought mine two years ago).

https://scribecycling.com

mr spuckler

..

magicbastarder

the revolt is a gravel bike, IIRC. bear in mind what the max tyre size recommended is for wheels; zondas are grand and tough, but intended for road mainly i would have assumed; and it seems the recommended range of tyre size is 25-28mm.

cletus

Yep, gravel bike. Should probably have said that I'm running 40's at the moment, and wouldn't want a set of road wheels on the bike

Seth Brundle

Scribe wheels, as mentioned in my earlier post, also do gravel versions for €300 which fit 35-52c tyres

Large bottle small glass

For your type of cycling I'd want something

1. Robust to take a battering; strong not shallow rim, high spoke count, conservative lacing pattern.

2. Durable easy to source bearings

3. Ditto for freehub.

4. Cheap j bend spokes.

5. No internal nipples or any other stupid sh1t

Aesthetics, 100g.here or there, freehub noise is all gimmicky horsesh1t 😀

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120630667#Comment_120630667

Yep, had a look at the website when I saw your post, and spotted those wheels. They're the right price point, and they'd make a weight saving of 500g over the stock wheels. Would they be "better" wheels than stock, or can I just assume that they'll be better because they're coming from a wheel manufacturer, rather than stock wheels from a big company

Edited to add a link to the wheels in question

https://scribecycling.com/en-eu/collections/gravel-alloy/products/gravel-wide-plus-plus-700c-alloy-wheelset

Squidgy Black

There’s also the Hunt 4 seasons Gravel, no idea what the quality difference is between Scribe and Hunt

https://eu.huntbikewheels.com/products/hunt-4-season-gravel-x-wide-wheelset

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120630862#Comment_120630862

I can only really comment on the road wheels I got but they definitley felt like an improvement over the wheels that came with the bike, even though they were a brand name.

Plus, they are based in Northern Ireland.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120630909#Comment_120630909

Not sure if there is much of a difference except, apparently the Scribe freehubs are a little bit louder

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG011LEBj_F/

cletus

Thanks for the info so far, folks. I'm leaning towards the Scribe wheels, but if anyone has any other info, please pop it up

saccades

Hope 20five with an RS4 hub.

Tough, excellent hub that is incredibly smooth and just a gentle tip, tip, tip from the freehub (buy the pro4 hub version for a horde of angry wasps), coupled to very tough rims. Hope are a quality brand and you can get spares all over Europe in any bike shop. Can switch between end caps for different bikes in 30 second.

I run them on my road bike all year around with anything from 28 to 32s.

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633104#Comment_120633104

I’ve those v2 barodeurs, they’re grand, decent replacement over most stock wheels, especially for the price. But they’re only 19mm internal width so probably not ideal for cletus if he wants to run 40mm+, I’m running 32mm Gravelking Slick tubeless on ‘em and they balloon a little bit.

Wouldn’t be an issue technically since you can run mtb tyres on 19mm, just doesn’t look great

harringtonp

Wheels are the best upgrade but the wrong tyres will kill any wheel set and I usually consider them as a pair.

What tyres do you have in mind ? Particularly on a gravel bike the question of how slick or knobbly you want to go.

On my revolt i went from one extreme to the other. Used the Giant P-X2 wheelset and Maxxis Rambler 45mm tyres it shipped with over the winter and the above configuration for the summer. Gives me 2 completely different bikes

cletus

The Barodeurs are certainly tempting from a price point of view. What were the issues being reported @Weepsie

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633266#Comment_120633266

I'm already running Gravelking SK's, and I'm very happy with them. Will probably continue to run them

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633267#Comment_120633267

They’re a bit heavier than the v1s, 150g or so, and they’ve a slightly lower weight limit at 110kg.

Although looking at the images of the V2s on wiggle outside of the bundle, they seem to have v2 actually printed on them and mine don’t do maybe I have the v1….

gmacww

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633267#Comment_120633267

I have a set of barodeurs v2 new from CRC. You get what you pay for. They were 218 for the tubeless bundle.

The build quality on them is shocking. I bought in March. Out of the box they were way off true. Raised with CRC and apparently it “wasn’t too bad actually”. First spin and plenty of pings as spokes set then rubbing. Rear was a mile off. I trued it myself but every spin it would go off again. Now whatever about CRC getting arsey with me I would steer well clear of prime wheels. As I said earlier you get what you pay for. That said I have gotten €120 shimano and fulcrum wheels that did the brands proud used and abused as commuter wheels. Whatever about older models the V2’s are woeful quality and I wouldn’t touch them.

vintcerf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633104#Comment_120633104

EXTRA20 will bring them to 173 delivered.

philten

I recently replaced the giant px2 wheels on a new revolt with a set of scribe carbon gravelwide and I am v happy with build quality, value for money. Fact that they are based in n Ireland was appealing too.

The hub is noisy tho...I got more grease added to quieten them a bit 🫨

I do have have a set of alloy hunt gravel wheels and are good too, although the bearings they use are not good so you would want to keep an eye on them or replace with something better.

benneca1

Why not build up a set you wont look back. Personally I love DT SWISS hubs depending on your weight choose spoke count for gravel Id go high Then match with rim of choice obviously wide for gravel. You will have a set of wheels for life. On my audac bike I have DT swiss 240 s 32 spoke and running them since 2016 all easily servicable and only had to swap out freehub when went 12 speed

cletus

Another poster here contacted me to suggest the same thing. I'm going to drop over to Lukasz in Apex Cycles and see what my budget gets me

DJB030244

I’ve a set of hunt gravel wheels with cassette and rotors I could sell. They are low miles and can include cassette tyres rotors etc . Funny enough also used on a giant revolt .

I also have a set of nearly new Fulcrum 5 with gravel king tyres ultegra cassette and rotors

id be happy to let one set go

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120648391#Comment_120648391

If you want to pm me with prices and location, we can have a chat.

Is it the Fulcrum Rapid Red 5 wheeler you have?

cletus

So, to round out this thread, I dropped into Lukasz in Apex Cycles this evening.

He can build a set of wheels with DT Swiss hubs and rims for...more than my budget.

I have decided to add some money to my budget and get him to build up a set for me 😀

wersal gummage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633266#Comment_120633266

What wheels are they Harringtonp?

I can see the scribe logo but not the model.

Also have a revolt and considering a second set of wheels for same reason, looking to be able to switch between gravel and Road wheels.

Currently looking at the Prime primavera, they were heavily reduced the last few days but less so now, assuming they drop again I might go for them, I'm interested in their use of fairly accessible parts and spares and servicing should be easy, they are advertised at under 1500gm but most reviews online say they are heavier.

Also looking at a discontinued scribe wheel on their site, more expensive than the prime and heavier at nearly 1700gm but they are rated as able to take more weight so are perhaps a stronger wheel, and I guess if warranty issues arose it might be better, I gather wiggle etc have gone to the wall.

nicksnikita

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121284197#Comment_121284197

How’s much were the Prime Primaveras reduced to?

wersal gummage

599€ the last few days for 44 disc, less reduction on the 56.

They seem to still be reduced to those levels if you select sterling, but reduction is less in euro.

I'm assuming it'll yo yo up and down over next while, if the website stays open

JMcL

Despite the fact they appear to be very fine wheels, I'd be very wary of buying anything at the minute from Wiggle/CRC. I'd certainly make sure of choosing a payment method that was most likely to reimburse be

harringtonp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121284197#Comment_121284197

AW 50-D Carbon Wheelset (1,438g) -- 20% off (Discontinued) × 1

Scribe have had so many wheelsets but basically slightly narrower (by scribe standards), 50mm deep toroidal shaped carbon hoops. Great set of wheels, no problems after a full summer/autumn of use. I wanted something that would also fit on a disc frame race bike with narrower clearance.

Changed the 1x chainring from 40 to 46 too and 46-10 gives plenty of top end speed, cadence felt comfortable on faster sections of club league races

wersal gummage

Thanks Harrington P

I'm weighing up between the cheaper scribe /prime wheels for around 6/700, or else go for the zipp 303 firecrest, the hunt or scribes for about a thousand are too close to the price of the Zipps for me, but could probably make do with the compromises involved in the cheaper wheels given the significant price difference.

JMcL

I posted this in the bargain alerts thread a day or two ago - Hunt have fairly decent discounts on their wheels at the minute https://eu.huntbikewheels.com/, though they're still mostly up the grand mark

CramCycle

Love my Hunts, anyone I know with Scribe are very happy. I'd certainly pick either over Wiggle both in the current climate and in general. All have parts that are easier to service and replace than many cheaper wheelsets I have had the false economy of buying.

harringtonp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314585#Comment_121314585

Have never owned the likes of Zipps but would love to know what exactly the difference between them and Scribe is.

Only other wheels I got at this level was a set of carbonals from

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166012470809?hash=item26a71d4619:g:P-AAAOSwE-lZ8u-D

in 2017 when the UK was a much more attractive option for purchases. 6 years on they still work great, I was also never able to figure the difference between these and the more expensive Zipps.

Scribe often sell older carbon models for 800 (reduced from 1000) so if you are prepared to wait you will eventually pick up something. And worth noting that you get all the bits and pieces with the wheelset too.

wersal gummage

My comment re zipp etc isn't really based on much, some thoughts which I'm not suggesting are valid or good ones, just my thinking :

Scribe /prime /hunt : not really wheel makers as such, out source production, possibly out source elements of design, varying degrees of R&D etc, prob varying degrees of big marketing spend to generate brand, probably limited difference to many unbranded wheels,

Would I buy them? Yes, no problem.

Do I think they'd be noticeably different to a more expensive wheel, no, certainly not for me anyway

My comment was simply when I get into the thousand euro range, I'm within (what I regard) as touching distance to a set of zipps (or dt Swiss or campagnolo etc),

Are those better wheels? I don't know, maybe not. But they are designed by companies who actually build wheels and hubs etc (eg what hubs are in scribe /hunt /prime?). OK they also put source production most likely too, but they have a history and what not as making, designing wheels and parts are likely widely available.

At 600 /800 quid absolutely I'd buy the hunt or prime wheels no question and would be happy with them.

That is all no doubt full of holes, not meant to be any kind of convincing argument, just my own thoughts so not really looking to get into a back and forth on it, just elaborating slightly on what I meant by buying the more expensive wheel (eg the zipp firecrest 303 are under 1400gms, very highly rated and are 1299 delivered with a lifetime warranty which they seem to honour better than other companies).

wersal gummage

Ps, I had a set of zipp 404 back over a decade ago, maybe 15, years ago, can't say there was anything special I noticed about them, nice wheels and they worked, not qualified to compare them to anything else

Mr. Cats

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121331535#Comment_121331535

I saw this explanation of differences between manufacturers & made a lot of sense to me.

https://intheknowcycling.com/best-wheelset-for-the-money/

The article goes through the business model of each of the above categories, showing that Hunt, Prime etc focus on price and service but, as you say, not innovation or design, whilst Zipp etc focus on innovation and service, but not price, and ICAN etc on price but not service or innovation.

Its probably something similar in lots of industries I guess but was new to me.