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are custom handbuilt wheels a thing of the past?

J

jutny

Monkey
Jan 15, 2009
306
0
Montclair, NJ
I hope not as I just placed an order for NoTubes Arch's on Pewter colored Kings for my upcoming Spitfire. Wasn't going to go with the King's but I already own Profiles and Hadleys so i'd like to feel the difference for myself.

honestly it seemed like a great balance between weight/strength/availability of parts. Not too crazy about the price but i'm getting a discount which takes some of the hurt off the wallet.

also what was in stock had a little to do with it too :)
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,499
1,719
Warsaw :/
iRider said:
Is this the wheelset you say has 2100 g? Sounds really light for 823s.
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This is my front 823/revo/deetrax wheel. The front hub weights 168g(not sure if the hub wasn't modified by the previous owner to make it lighter but it takes abuse very well). The rear is the same but with hope 150mm. I calculated the rear instead of weighting it but I assume the sicklines weight is accurate and the rear 823 and revo spokes weight the same. The rear is 299 so 1900 + 131g for the difference in front/rear hub weight. TBH I was also very suprised.
 
bullcrew

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
Dec 8, 2004
9,329
3,058
I'm dude playing dude pretending to b another dude
4xBoy said:
Dammit, if I had known, I would have ordered one of those over the Hadley. :rant:
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Wouldnt kick yourself. Hadleys are solid i finally tried some and dropped off another blue set last night to rob along with hoops fresh from the powdercoater and white dt spokes?
Like my i9s but cant really feel a difference between them (engagement) when riding. The i9s do feel a bit stiffer laterally but not enough to choose em over hadleys and with all the long term riders on hadley it made sense.
My cost between the i9 and my hadley build is the same with the pc rims and white spokes ceramic bearings so either way would have worked for me.

Prefer custom you can choose your set up but prebuilt i9s are solid?
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,145
26,487
media blackout
P

Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
Question: I am getting a set of mavic 721's on Hope's DB 2 -1.8 competition spokes from CRC. I know they are going to be finiky and require constant TLC. I am planning on buying the Park tool spoke tensioner but am wondering what values I should be looking for or if I just check them when I get them and make sure they are all similar? I know there is a bit of an art to this and have been researching a little bit, but any experience from people who know what they are doing would be appreciated.
 
iRider

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,672
3,124
norbar said:
TBH I was also very suprised.
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Sounds legit. Do you have by any chance some of the old 823's that were lighter than the current ones? Just wondering, because sets of Hopes + 823 + DT Comps weigh approx. 300 g more (at least the ones I built).
 
Metal Dude

Metal Dude

Turbo Monkey
Apr 7, 2006
1,139
0
Smackdonough, GA
jonKranked said:
its finally out eh? I remember a year (maybe two?) ago they introduced it for bmx racing and said a 9spd mtb version was in the works. correct me if i'm wrong but the pawls mount in the hub shell correct?


edit: WOW pricey :shocked:
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The hubs are great and are competitive with Chris Kings, I9's etc. and Profile builds stuff for dependability! It's solid! at a reasonably light weight And has the most points of engagement on the market? at 204.
Profile waited til they could have solid feedback with the bmx version to get them perfected in a single speed hub before moving on to the mtb hub with the new design. They are avail. in a single speed mtb rear hub, and a 135mm rear 8-10spd. hub at this point. I think you can get them both w/ or wo/ disc tabs. 20mm and quickrelease frnt. hubs. Hopefully they will see more DH riders responding to the lack of a 150mm rear hub in the line up and promptly produce them. They produced some 150mm hubs a few years ago in their original Profile hub design. I don't think they had many sales with them so they are only producing the 135mm unless there is a demand? Termite came back to Profile this year and is heading up some new mtb stuff to get them back up to date in mountain biking. Rumors of the new Profile Cranks are super hot! They look similar to Shimano Dx or Saint cranks in shape. I think it may also have a new bb system with a larger hollow Ti spindle and outer cups. The cranks and bb are said to weigh in the 800 grams range while still using a similar chromo tubing. It would be nice to see them back in mtb strong again.
 
fluider

fluider

Monkey
Jun 25, 2008
440
9
Bratislava, Slovakia
Sooou, ok, I will always prefer hand built wheelset from that manufactured one. I bought mine am/fr wheelset from superstar and had have no complaint about that. Some guys of my crew bytch about !muddy! rim but having two fatal flats in 5 minutes makes any rim ... well ... center of your world, so I dont listen to them.
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,499
1,719
Warsaw :/
iRider said:
Sounds legit. Do you have by any chance some of the old 823's that were lighter than the current ones? Just wondering, because sets of Hopes + 823 + DT Comps weigh approx. 300 g more (at least the ones I built).
Click to expand...
Hmm they were? That would explain A LOT as the stickers on them are the old ones.
What's the weight differance?
 
A

armada

Monkey
Aug 27, 2010
196
0
i am building a new rear whell and cant decide betwen a hope pro 2 and a hadley 72? i know the hope is a bit lighter and comes in shiny collors but whitch one is better? i get the hope for 50$ and the hadley for 100$ so there should be some good reason for going hadley over hope
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,145
26,487
media blackout
Metal Dude said:
The hubs are great and are competitive with Chris Kings, I9's etc. and Profile builds stuff for dependability! It's solid! at a reasonably light weight And has the most points of engagement on the market? at 204.
Profile waited til they could have solid feedback with the bmx version to get them perfected in a single speed hub before moving on to the mtb hub with the new design. They are avail. in a single speed mtb rear hub, and a 135mm rear 8-10spd. hub at this point. I think you can get them both w/ or wo/ disc tabs. 20mm and quickrelease frnt. hubs. Hopefully they will see more DH riders responding to the lack of a 150mm rear hub in the line up and promptly produce them. They produced some 150mm hubs a few years ago in their original Profile hub design. I don't think they had many sales with them so they are only producing the 135mm unless there is a demand? Termite came back to Profile this year and is heading up some new mtb stuff to get them back up to date in mountain biking. Rumors of the new Profile Cranks are super hot! They look similar to Shimano Dx or Saint cranks in shape. I think it may also have a new bb system with a larger hollow Ti spindle and outer cups. The cranks and bb are said to weigh in the 800 grams range while still using a similar chromo tubing. It would be nice to see them back in mtb strong again.
Click to expand...
yea i've got a profile hub. I really dig it. Their axle system (at least the old one, not sure if/how its been revised over the years) wasn't as good as hadley's, but overall its a great hub.

i'm really intrigued by this new one. just as expensive as a stealth though.
 
ZoRo

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
toodles said:
Some of the new factory wheels are bloody impressive, but I'm still not keen on those wheels that require proprietry spokes, hubs and nipples. If you travel with your bike much, finding odd-sized parts can be a pain and carrying a spare of everything usually blows out your packing list and weight allowance pretty quickly.

Handbuilt traditional wheels for me at least until the other stuff gets more popular.
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What he just said!
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,586
2,018
Seattle
SuspectDevice said:
Because many people, informed by a rational cost benefit analysis and experience value the longevity, serviceability, cup and cone bearings and aesthetics of a "proper" wheelset.
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I've been banging on about this forever. Cup and cone bearings are awesome. I'm running Saint hubs on 823 rear/ DT 5.1 front on my DH bike and they've been stellar.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,752
5,554
Ottawa, Canada
I gotta ask you guys what you have against King hubs? Is it just that there's too many around and they're not unique enough? When I was shopping around for a new rear hub for my trail bike and decided I would invest in quality this time around. My main concern was with pawls.

I'd only ever ridden Shimano hubs and I was going through a set of pawls a season. I got tired of replacing those (but mostly having them blow up on me on the trail in the middle of a steep climb), and my main concern after that was a stronger drive system, not the number of engagement points.

I settled on the King system because of the ring drive. It seems much more durable than anything with pawls. And that it's light and pretty doesn't hurt either. All the other hubs discussed here are pawls systems aren't they?
 
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leprechaun

leprechaun

Turbo Monkey
Apr 17, 2004
1,009
0
SLC,Ut
I only use King hubs. I think some people have a stigma with Kings that they're just bike jewelry and for hippies that get off on their recycling of metal chips and compacting them to squeeze out the oil. Anyone who has had a ring drive apart should know that there is nothing else like them. Their bearings really do last 5_10 years under abusive conditions. Their customer service is.incredible and yes they do come in many fancy colors too.
 
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