Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Best place to buy *CHEAP* 700c wheelsets?

I am going to be rolling out a few community bike polo beater bikes this coming month. Old beater frames aren't a problem, but finding wheelsets suitable for polo is a bit more difficult.

What I am looking for:

- Fixed wheels. Our group's preference for polo.
- 700c ... or 27", but most 27" wheels I've found would require us to run suicide hubs. But I guess I could use a little JB Weld and we will be running brakes anyhow, so it really doesn't matter?
- Front machined if possible.
- Durable ... doesn't have to be lightweight OR pretty.
- Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.

Okay, I am fully aware that what I am looking for probably does not exist. So I will probably be spending a lot of time at my local bike co-op sifting through wheels to find suitable ones. But on the off chance that such a thing does exist, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. And if such a thing does exist, do they come with cog/lock as well?

I think it's a great idea that you a making community bikes, that's awesome. How about you ask around your community and see if you can come up with some extra wheels? I would donate.

I saw somewhere selling new fixed wheelsets for like $70 that were super generic but were 36 hole 3x and came with cog and ring. maybe an ebay seller? I dont remember, but I know they are out there

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't given up hope yet. Reason I am looking for cheap cheap is because I figure these are likely to get taco'ed pretty fast.

I asked some of my local Bike Polo comrades and some are willing to donate or lend a hand if they can't afford to ... so there is good support.

What sparked this idea is because a lot of us ride fairly nice bikes which serve as our daily drivers and we would rather not wreck them playing polo. :D

Since these are for polo, dropping the cash on new, fixed-specific wheels sound like overkill. I'd just find old wheels and run suicide hubs, which really aren't at all "suicidal" in the application you mention. There are scads of 36-spoke wheels with box section rims out there, and those should be plenty tough. As you mention, the whole point is to ride stuff cheap stuff you don't mind trashing, so why not just go as cheap as possible?

Since these are for polo, dropping the cash on new, fixed-specific wheels sound like overkill. I'd just find old wheels and run suicide hubs, which really aren't at all "suicidal" in the application you mention. There are scads of 36-spoke wheels with box section rims out there, and those should be plenty tough. As you mention, the whole point is to ride stuff cheap stuff you don't mind trashing, so why not just go as cheap as possible?

I totally agree with this. Polo bikes don't need no lockring. Just throw some JB Weld on there. It isn't like you're regularly gonna be bombing hills on these things.

Ya, I went to the shop the other day to work on a personal conversion project of mine and look for beater frames, and I found a lot of 27" wheels. I could use those but on the off chance someone knew where I could get cheap wheelsets in the 60 dollar range, I honestly wouldn't mind dropping $200 for three wheelsets at those specs. I'd feel really bad if the JB Weld failed and someone got hurt. Although I've never had it fail for me before. But I won't be the only one riding these bikes.

if you have access to a torch you could always braze some cheapo lockrings on the old 27" inchers. safer then JB weld and if you needed to you could always just heat up and unbraze

Didn't Niagara have some wheels (Alex) for really cheap????

I agree with everyone else, for the application, you can just use whatever is lying around and throw some JB Weld on it, then run them into the ground. If you're absolutely set on newish wheels though, I would try to find some auctions on ebay for the cheap alex wheelsets that come off the kilos, I'll bet most people are willing to let those go cheap just to get rid of them.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I will ask some of the players if they have had any experience brazing. Like I said before, I trust JB Weld ... but I want to keep all the players safe, especially since we have such a range of skill level.

http://prollyisnotprobably.com/BigRim.jpg

yep thats just what he needs, expensive and fragile.

i have never played bike polo, but wouldnt 46 (i think velocity makes them) spoke count be wayyy better than a regular 36?


im young, bare with me

stronger, but parts get destroyed in polo pretty quickly no matter how strong so cheap is the way to go.

46 isn't a spoke count that exists. Your thinking 48 hole, and yes velocity makes a few rims with that drilling. But now you are talking expensive, not cheap.

I would just post a few ads on local craigslist looking for cheap wheel and keep checking ebay for deals.

Have you looked on EBay, or Craigslist yet? People are selling used bikes and parts all the time.

If you have a local bike shop that fixes up used bikes for sale and/or takes trade-ins, they probably have a pile of 27" steel rimmed wheels they're not using. Check around.