[bURKeNSTiEN]

Hey all,

what's everyones preference for wheelsets?

Prebuilt I'm talking Mavic Crossmax, Rolf, Spinergy....
Custom I'm talking say King hubs on Mavic rims...


I need a new set of wheels for trail riding / XC racing and am considering the same thing.

My choices would be
- 2003 Crossmax XL's
- 2003 '959' Shimano XTR wheelset
- 2003 Spinergy Xyclones

Or

King Hubs, DT Revo's (28front, 32rear) & Mavic X3.1's / 618's

Both have their pro's & cons, but the custom built I can see will be easier to fix should anything go wrong (ie broken spokes). That said I have never broken a spoke in my life, mtb or road.
I also hear negatives about Mavic's spoke wrench being less than durable..


what you reckon?

cheers

 

[NRSracer]

Originally posted by bURKeNSTiEN
Hey all,

what's everyones preference for wheelsets?

Prebuilt I'm talking Mavic Crossmax, Rolf, Spinergy....
Custom I'm talking say King hubs on Mavic rims...


I need a new set of wheels for trail riding / XC racing and am considering the same thing.

My choices would be
- 2003 Crossmax XL's
- 2003 '959' Shimano XTR wheelset
- 2003 Spinergy Xyclones

Or

King Hubs, DT Revo's (28front, 32rear) & Mavic X3.1's / 618's

Both have their pro's & cons, but the custom built I can see will be easier to fix should anything go wrong (ie broken spokes). That said I have never broken a spoke in my life, mtb or road.
I also hear negatives about Mavic's spoke wrench being less than durable..


what you reckon?

cheers

I can't really help with wheelbuilding advice seeing as i havn't really ever had a custom built set, but i will tell you that i went tubeless and i love it.

 

[dhmtbj]

If a skilled wheelbuilder builds up a custom set, it will be a better and most likely cheaper wheelset. My vote is for the custom. The King/Mavic combo should make or a great wheelset.

 

[Captain Cogset]

I am running Chris King hubs on Bontrager Valiant rims and recommend these over any pre-built wheels. Chris King hubs are not only the best XC hubs period, but they are one of the lightest and their customer service is excellent.

Don't get the Spinergy wheels, everyone I know that has or had them doesn't like them. The Shimano wheels are on the heavy side compared to the other wheels you are considering. The Crossmax wheels are good, but they are expensive, hard to tune and hell if you brake a spoke.

 

[Motionboy2]

I say custom! You will have a more durable wheel, weight will be similar and it will be less expensive.

I would recomend from your build discription that you do the Revo's everywhere but the drive side in the rear. If you do the 14-15g spokes drive side rear it will be much more durable.

drop me a line if you have more questions
josh@excelsports.com

 

[JohnMc]

I've got a set of Spinergy Xyclone (for disc) on my Ellsworth, and previously had a set of Spinergy Spox on my Cannondale. Both have withstood lots and lots of miles of hard use without ever needing a single truing. My theory is the spokes have a tiny bit of spring to them - so when you whack somthing hard they can sort of spring to releive the stress and then rebound back into the original shape - where metal spokes would stretch slightly and remain that way. They are quite light and not the stiffest wheels around, although the Xyclones are using a newer spoke material and seem to be laced a bit tighter. Over about 3500 combined miles between the two sets of wheels I've had only 1 spoke fail - due to being cut by a rock. The thick plastic coatings protect the structural fibers very well. My only beef - I've had the freehub fail twice on the Xyclone (the ratchet locks up after torquing it hard in a low gear - and I'm no Nelson Vails). Both times it was fixed for free under warranty, but the second time they kept the wheel for almost 3 months before admitting they lost it somewhere and sending me a new one. They claim the new one has an improved design and I've used it hard without a failure. Oh yes - and when new we couldn't get an XT cassette to seat properly (it would rock even when tightened down) so I had to use an LX.

The Spinergy Spox wheels are still in great shape but were taken off the Cannondale to make way for a set of Crossmax UST rims. While there was no weight benefit (actually - I think the Crossmax/UST tire weighs a bit more than the Spox with a light tire/tube) the bike does feel livlier somehow. I'm not sure if it is the stiffer rim or the tubeless tire that makes it feel like it rolls faster and easier. I initially had an issue with the rear rim failing to hold air - and the bubbles coming from the valve stem area caused me to concentrate on that. Eventually I realized air was leaking into the center of the rim, then out through another path - and that the bubbles were not a good indication of where the real leak was coming from (I realized this after actually getting the outside of the stem to seal - only to see bubbles start coming out of a spoke hole nearby!). The problem turned out to be the sealing at the rim joint opposite the valve stem - and a smear of silicone sealer cured it. I've put about 1000 miles on them so far without a single falt, all on the original set of Hutchinson Pythons. The front rim went slightly out of true - but only after a big stick jumped between a spoke and jammed against the fork. It re-trued very nicely. Other than that I haven't had the slightest problems with the wheels and would recoommend them to anyone who asks.

My experience with custom built wheels has been checkered. It has everything to do with who builds the wheels. I had one wheel built (reusing my original hub) that lasted for a long time with out ever going out of true (except for when the aluminum nips started to fail about 1 1/2 years later...). I've had another built from scratch that continually suffers from spokes that loosen and a tendency to go out of true every few weeks. However, with good components and a good builder a custom wheel should last and perform every bit as well as a high end pre-built wheelset. And be more attuned to your particular needs.

 

[Echo]

As long as you get them built by someone who knows what they are doing and will take the time to make sure they are done right, the handbuilt wheels will be best IMO.

I build my own wheels, and there's definitely something to be said about a wheel that you know was done right, from the ground up, with the parts you want, tensioned and trued perfectly by your own hands. You want your wheels built by someone who feels that way about their work.

 

[Jesse B]

I've had wheels built by Mike Garcia from http://oddsandendos.com/
and by Joe Young from http://www.youngwheels.com/

I highly recomend either one of these guys, they're wheel building masters. Only problems Ive had are 3 broken nipples on the Mike Garcia wheel, but it hasn't gone out of true yet.

 

[LostBoyScout]

Handbuilt is definitely the way to go!!

My ideal wheelset:

-Chris King hubset (light, strong, beautiful, engagement)
-DT Competition spokes
-Brass nipples
-Tioga Factory DH rims (light and wide.. strong enough for me)

On a budget, Atomlab makes cool ass wheels.

 

[bURKeNSTiEN]

I'm torn between the crossmax xl & the king customs...
I love the look of both, both will be very cool.
Crossmax will probably work out a little cheaper for me in Aust as Mavic are sold in far greater quantity than King, but that's a moot point.

Choices choices... dammit