Mountain Biking - Advice for a new wheelset.

Seeing that I'm almost done with school for this year, I've been looking over my bike almost more and more in anticipation of being able to get home to hit some trails! For this season it looks like it is going to be time for me to invest in a new wheelset, so I thought I would throw the question out to see if I could get some help and advice in what I should get.

First things first, a little about myself. I'm about 6', 155lbs and I ride all XC type trails, nothing too crazy, but I definitaly see logs, rocks, and smallish (2-3') dropoffs. Basically what I'm looking for is a good wheel that I'm not going to have to worry all that much about through the seasons. My bike is a hardtail Trek 930 with SRAM 9.0 v-brakes, so I won't be needing anything that can hadnle discs. Budget wise I've been looking at stuff around $500, of course cheaper is always better, this looked to be about the point where I could get a very nice set of wheels. Lastly I've been thinking about going with the handbuilt route (not by myself of course :D ) as from what I gather the quality is much higher than the machine built ones if it's done right.

From what I've run across on the internet (haven't had a chance to escape school and check out any LBS yet :( ) a common setup seems to be Chris King Classic hubs, DT spokes, and either Mavic 317, 517, or 519 rims. Does anybody have some experince with any of these components??

Also, what are good places on the internet to buy handbuilt wheels? or if anybody knows of a good place in either North East Ohio, or near Lansing, Michigan those would work as well.

Ok, I think that's all I have for now.

You're on the right track deciding on Chris King hubs and Mavic rims. I would note that the X317 is disc specific (not rim brake). What about tubeless? Is that something of interest to you? There is currently a great deal on a set of XT hubs laced to X3.1's for $225.

Also, think about going ahead and getting disc hubs. Why? What if you decide to run discs on this frame in a year, or "worst case" you destroy your frame and get a new bike w/discs. You'd have some disc ready hubs to easily make the change. Chris King's ISO hubs don't weight that much more and are the same hubs only disc ready.

L8R

As far as a wheel builder, there are many. Check out Gravy Wheels. Steve Graventines (sp?) is an expert wheelbuilder who builds many of the pro's wheelsets and started his own company. Do a google for the website.

My favorite set of wheels was on my last bike. XTR hubs laced to Mavic 217 wheels.. awesome wheelset. Light and stiff, and took one hell of a beating. In fact I sold them on Ebay when I went to a disc setup.. I'm sure somebody is enjoying the piss out of em just like me. Right now I'm currently running the X3.1 wheel on the XT disc hub... bought it on Jenson for like 240, but there's a sale on them now for like 225 or so.. great wheelset. Tubeless is awesome if you can afford it.

i've run Xt on 517's for over a year through many races including 2 24 hour races on of which rained the whole time and i never had a problem with it. it's now time to have the serviced but their i perfect shape.
I just recently came across a set of kings on 517's with dt 14/15 and their AWESOME! i recomend them.
mean todds price at webcyclery is exactly $500
http://www.webcyclery.com/.docs/product_id/1074/category_name/Built+Wheels/pg/product_detail.html

also check out Charles at www.hammerheadbikes.com they will be custom but he might be able to get in your price range.
t

oh i also forgot to mention this stupid crazy deal on Crossmax wheels
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product.asp?number=50050
these are XC race wheels btw.

Thanks for the feedback!

I had thought about going tubeless a bit, but once I began to look around it seemed that anybody actually selling tubless rims/tires was scarce. Kinda strange since the stuff has been around for a while and people seem to like them. But maybe if I run across some tubeless rims I'd consider them.


think about going ahead and getting disc hubs
I was just wondering, would there be clearence/fit issues with going with the dic hubs? Although this would probally be one area where I would scale back to save a few bucks. But again, if I run across a good deal....

Lastly I'm noticing a decent price difference between going with an XT hub (or similar) and the Chris King. Do you guys think the price difference is worth the upgrade?

I'm checking out the sites that you all have listed... now there's even more to sort through :D

There will be no clearance issues with disc hubs. King hubs are pretty sweet but too expensive, IMHO. Check out www.sunringle.com for some great wheelsets. No sexy designs like the Crossxxxx series from Mavic, just good solid wheels that stay true well with hubs that will last forever. I've got 3 sets, a couple other guys at our shop have another 6 sets between them and none of us have had any trouble with 'em. Oh, and it's all American made to boot.

Those crossmax wheels from Jenson are tubeless.
XT to King. For racing i think it's totally worth it BUT if you havent run XT's and are not going to race them you can get a pair from Jenson delivered on 517's for less than $200.
Also if you get king hubs and in the future you want to change to disks you can buy and new disk shell for the kings and you'll be good to go, the hubs are UPGRADEABLE where as the XT's are not.

Dave's Speed Dream:
http://www.speeddream.com/

Dave's Reviews at MTBR: http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Wheelset/product_23649.shtml

Mine were built with DT 240's, DT Spokes, and Bontrager Valiants. Weight is just under 1400 grams for the set and they are bomb proof for a rider my weight.

If you want tubeless, add a notubes kit.

This setup will be comparable in price to the Crossmax deal at Jensonusa.com. Only difference is that they are stronger, lighter, very rarely need to be trued, and use STANDARD parts.