Wheel upgrade for Trek 4300?
 

Hello all,

I have a Trek 4300, and I'm thinking about upgrading to higher quality wheels and tires. I've read that this is one of the best upgrades you can do to reduce weight. Can you all recommend some wheels and/or tires that are light weight and reasonably priced?

well, for the price of a light wheelset, you could get a much lighter frame than the 4300. granted, if you got the frame, you would have to dish out more money to have it reassembled, so that might not be the way to go. as far as wheelsets go, you can find some decently light mavic rims laced to shimano (lx, xt) hubs for a fair price

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I would get lighter tires and possibly tubes, forget the wheels. I would upgrade the stem and handle bars if I was you, I lost a ton of weight off my front end. Stock bars and stem, around 750 grams, Titec stem and Kore Easton Elite flat bar = around 275 grams for both, down to 250grams now with Ti bolts, all for $28 at Bikesource.com. I would spring for a new shock too. Also you can lose major weight from the 4300 by getting a better crankset, clearly I didn't get a top-of-the-line crankset here (cheap FSA) but it is still lighter then the Suntour crap they have on from the factory. Mine has Mavic 317Disc rims laced to XT disc hubs, I honestly can't tell the difference between the stock wheelset and this one, but I'm getting some Kevlar bead tires soon, so that may change a bit. Also the 4300 frame is pretty light, with the BB and headset cups in mine weighed a little over 4lbs and that is for the 18" frame. It's actually a nice frame that Trek ruined with crappy components.

Wow, that's an incredible 4300 you got there. I agree with you totally, the frame is nice, but the components and wheels suck. Thanks for the reply, I have inspiration now that my 4300 can actually be a decent mountain bike :o

LX orXT hubs to a suitable Rim of your choice, but built by a good wheelbuilder. I take it you are XC so Rims to choose are Mavic 517's or their latest incarnation of this, along with Double butted spokes. Tyre choice is up to you, but Choose from IRC, Michelins, Panaracer. All make good tyres, all can be reasonably light, and all work.