tmh657

I am looking at the one for about $325. XR22T Wheelset Kit (SL79/SL210 Hubs + CXRay Spokes) - $324.95

Comes to around 1400 gram wheel set without rim tape or skewers. Are the hubs decent quality? I would go with 20/24.

Looigi

I have built wheels from components from BHS, but not from a kit. I like the SL210 rear and SLF85W front hubs. The 85s are significantly more robust (bigger bearings and wider flange spacing) than the 79s for very little weight gain.

rpenmanparker 

No kit, but all my wheel parts have been from BHS for several years. Good stuff. I can't imagine buying the high price spread.

Mumonkan

+1 on the hubs, i have the 210/79 combo on my trek now with a couple thousand abusive miles on them now and theyre great quality. 650b wheels with pacenti sl23's and db14 spokes came to 1334. i cant remember if that includes their 43g Ti skewers

total cost was <$300

my only beef is that the rear needs a good amount of dish, highly recommend

rpenmanparker 

That is why I buy the 8/16 drilling.

Mumonkan

yeah lesson learned there, didnt think about things like that on my first wheel build

rpenmanparker 

It is not without compromise (lower stiffness), but is very effective for solving the dish issue.

Lazyass

BDop also has some good built kits. I'm going to get their alloy tubuar kit. Only $240 with Novatech hubs and Sapim race spokes.

Nephtys

I have bought a kit from them and it worked perfectly (not the kit you are looking at). I have a few thousand miles on the hubs with no issues and ride it in all weather. I would buy one again in a heartbeat. I have since bought many things from BHS and will continue to do so as they are great to work with. They are very quick to ship and responsive to emails.

Mumonkan

novatec hubs from bdop are of comparable quality (ive only used track hubs from them however)

the set on my track bike has about 5000 miles on them in all kinds of weather and theyre still as smooth as the day i got them

tmh657

Please expound on why it's an "issue" to need a lot of dish in the wheel. Is it just a pain or require a lot more effort to get it right? Thanks for all of your comments. BTW I am 170 pounds so I am going for light wheels but probably want the slightly wider rims that seem to be the norm nowadays.

BoSoxYacht

Uneven spoke tension is the issue. Low NDS spoke tension results in flexing spokes that won't stay tight, or spokes that are fatigued and breaking. Triplet lacing(8:16) gets around low NDS tension by using half as many spokes as the drive side. The problem with triplet lacing is that the wheel loses lateral stiffness.

I no longer use BHS hubs because of this, and would rather use Novatec hubs like the ones in BDop DIY kits.

Mumonkan

dish is never a "need", its only a problem when you have a lot of it

one side has high tension and the other side has very low tension, its harder to keep a balance between the two while keeping the rim centered

rpenmanparker 

Dish is determined by the spacing of each hub flange from the center. The older models of BHS hubs have a particularly high ratio of the non-drive side width to the drive side width. The ratio of spoke tensions on the two sides will be approximately the same as the inverse of the ratio of the widths to the center from the flanges. So if the NDS : DS width ratio is 2.2:1, the tension ratio will be about 0.45:1. If you don't want to go above 130 kgF tension on the DS to avoid damaging your rim (and I prefer to stop at 120), then you are limited to under 60 kgF on the NDS. That just isn't enough tension to stretch the spokes sufficiently and protect against slackening as the wheel flexes. Using half the number of spokes on the NDS as the DS doubles the tension ratio to about 0.9:1 which is nearly ideal.

I should mention that the latest models in the BHS lineup do have a better NDS : DS flange spacing, more like Novatecs so the problem is not as acute.

tmh657

Very good information and my questions have been answered. Thanks again.

BoSoxYacht

This is the kit I would buy

DIY Alloy Road Wheel Kit

It's a little less expensive, and includes a few pieces that BHS does not(and I prefer the BDop nipples).

Sy Reene

Looking now at XC279 options from both BDop and BHS. BHS I have to assemble the parts myself into the shopping cart, while BDop offers a better price for everything already kitted (Road Wheel kit #1 ). Then again BHS offers wheelbuilding service ($59/wheel).. nice convenience. Has anyone had BHS build their wheels -- I assume no issues?

I haven't asked BHS yet, but do you think they'd substitute rims in their kits? Eg. their X31T kit is a great price. Building identical kit for XC279 rim is quite a bit more expensive even thought the XC279 rim is about 30% cheaper than the 31T.

noodle soup

why would you prefer the XC279 hoop over the 31t?

$59 per wheel is pretty steep for wheel building.

Sy Reene

I don't want the extra width of the x31. I realize it isn't much. Going rate for wheel build in NYC is about the same but this way I have a single vendor/receipt/warranty if there's any issue.

rpenmanparker 

For USA buyers making a return to BHS in the USA would be a lot easier.