Cyclocross - Looks like i need a new wheel (set)!!

Today i took my cross bike out for a little single track, and had a blast on the poto trail in lower Michigan. It was my first trail ride, and I didn't really know what I was doing, but feel i did pretty well. I lost it on one decent and the bike and I hit the dirt/roots/rocks. Fortunately i was unhurt, and the bike looked ok. 6 or 7 miles later, on my ride home from the trail I looked back and noticed that the rear wheel had a nice wobble. It wasn't bad enough that I noticed it right a way, and I can't feel anything wrong, but it is visible when the wheel is spinning.

I took it into the LBS and the mechanic is going to true up the wheel as best he can, but he thinks the wheel will never be totally true again, and he will have to loosen/tension spokes to pull it back into "true" which will make it more susceptible to future issues.

Any recommendations for a good (cheap) strong wheel or wheel set to get me going again. I don't race, but plan on giving it a shot this fall when the season starts up again.

hard to go wrong with a set Mavic Open Pros with whatever hub you want laced into it. I have a set with Ultegra hubs that I got for around $300 from Bicycle Wheel Warehouse...

If you want to use the bike on trails, I would consider 29er wheels.

Michael

hard to go wrong with a set Mavic Open Pros with whatever hub you want laced into it. I have a set with Ultegra hubs that I got for around $300 from Bicycle Wheel Warehouse...

+1 to both Ultegra/Open Pros and Bicycle Wheel Warehouse. I've gotten two sets of wheels from them and I've been very happy with both.

i liked bicycle wheel warehouse. i got my fixed/ss cross bike wheels there. consider the hefty 29er rims laced to a road hub if you can, will put up with a lot more abuse than any narrow road rim ever will.

also, the sun cr-18 rim or salsa delgado cross rims are noted to be quite durable, and the sun is pretty cheap and more available with road hubs.

I use the ceramic open pros, I really love the extra braking power that I get, though finding brake pads can be a hassle. I am also a big fan lately of the DT Swiss RR1.2 rims. I've built 3 wheelsets with them for customers at the shop I work at and they have come out true, stiff, and strong and the slightly deeper profile is nice for muddier conditions. They are heavier, but I think they are far superior to Velocity Deep V's, to which I would compare them to.

If you want to go the pre-built route, the 09 Mavic Ksyrium Elites are great for cross.

Thanks for the suggestions.. My budget is really less than $250. I have not been expecting to need to buy wheels :)

Sounds like I might want to reconsider doing singletrack in the future.

My frame has mounts for disc brakes, do i need special hubs to work with possible future discs? This seems like a great opportunity to make sure i have the right hubs.

My LBS is recommending a set of mavic Aksiums for about $200. Thoughts?

You do need special hubs to run disc brakes and you can expect them to be heavy.

As was said above, you'll need disc-specific hubs if you want to run disc brakes. A set of "29'er" wheels would work well for that... The only limitations are that you'll need 135mm spacing at the rear dropouts - and that many "off-road" rims specify a minimum 700x28 tire size.

Here's a link. Scroll down for the wheelsets:

http://www.pricepoint.com/thumb.htm?dept_id=3&deptName=Parts&sub_id=429&subName=29er%20Parts&category=&sort=styleName

Those are all factory-built. I recommend you purchase a hand-built set - or have a knowledgeable buddy de-stress and re-tension them when they arrive.

I have Avid BB-7 road disc on my CX bike and love their performance.

Thanks for the suggestions.. My budget is really less than $250. I have not been expecting to need to buy wheels :)

Sounds like I might want to reconsider doing singletrack in the future.

My frame has mounts for disc brakes, do i need special hubs to work with possible future discs? This seems like a great opportunity to make sure i have the right hubs.

My LBS is recommending a set of mavic Aksiums for about $200. Thoughts?

I would just replace the rear for now. $200 will provide a nice disc ready wheel that can take CX tires, you can upgrade to disc brakes later.

Michael