Are cheap wheels bad?
 

Hi,

I need to replace the front wheel of my 700c bike. I can get a an Atlus wheel for about $25 but I'm worried about quality. Are cheap wheels bad? Will tensioning help with quality issues?

You're going to get what you pay for. Crappy hubs, crappy braking surface, crappy spokes, and a crappy rim. If there's one thing on a bike you should maybe invest in, is a wheelset. Only reason to buy a cheap wheel is if you barely ride your bike.

I mostly use my bike to commute but the roads are pretty rough. I'm concerned about spokes breaking/wheel failing. I was under the impression that a properly tensioned wheel will make even a cheap wheel respectable. Are there any recommendations for good front wheels for at most $60?

The parts still make up the whole- Altus hub is OK- it's low-end mountain bike stuff so it's probably durable- but the spokes may be cheap enough and the wheel may be built badly enough that you could be breaking spokes in the future. Also, a weak rim can blow out the side, the braking surface may be crummy, the build may be bad. It will cost another 25 bux at least to have it tensioned and trued properly, then you'll still have a crummy wheel. Go to Performance and get the ultegra/mavic wheel for 100 bux-

Alex 300s. Great inexpensive set of wheels. Good for commuters and training. I use them in crits where there is a higher probablity of bike carnage. Bad enough crashing, but having to replace a pair of Zipps ain't fun.

Proper tension is all but one of the things that make a wheel good. If the parts suck the durability and quality will reflect that. I'm going to assume this $25 is probably going to be on some single wall pos rim with ****acular joytech quality hub.

I spent $25 on 2 drinks at the pub last night. If you like your bike you'd spend more than that for a front wheel.

I second that. Alex wheels are not the lightest or sexiest, but they offer excellent service for the buck.

Drinks cost ten bucks in Toronto these days?! Yikes!

Operator is right on (and a good tipper, it sounds like), cheap wheels aren't worth the trouble. Look for something with a double walled rim and Shimano hub (best value hand down, I'd say. Even the lower end Shimano hubs are better than most alternatives).

Here's a good question that goes along with the OP's though.... at what point is it that you reach $ for a solid durable wheel versus paying $$ for bling/weight weenie status? When comparing a $300 wheelset versus a $800 wheelset what part of that $500 delta is performance versus penile size?

It's hard to pin down precicely where that point lies, but it certainly does exist. For most of us not interested in status or style points, boutique wheels offer zero benefit.

When a major manufacturer of bikes was asked why they were now putting these 20-spoke radial wheels on their mid-range cost bicycles, the reply was: "Because they look cool!" And the marketing departments of the bike-makers did their best to convince us - the consumers - that we wanted 'cool.' Never mind that these wheels are cheaper to manufacture and inherently weaker than a good 3X 32-spoke wheel. They're COOL, Dude!

I tossed mine in a free-pile and built a nice set of 3X 32-spoke wheels.

Ahem, where is said Free pile or can I pay you shipping...?

Thanks for the feedback. It's really helpful.

3rd or 4th the Alex 300's. I have the front wheel, and they're cheap and fine.

In my experiance, cheap, but still LBS grade bike components are fine. IMO.

"Think Globally - Act Locally."

It is difficult yes, but you should be able to purchase a fairly decent front wheel. For example a shimano entry level hub (sora even) on a basic quality Alex road rim for about $100 if not much less. This wheel would be good for example for road training or basic use. It'll be fine if a decent mechanic goes over it and retensions + trues.

A handbuilt say tiagra hub on a good rim like a alex da28 would probably run you under $150 for straight gauage spokes. This wheel would not be particular light but very durable.

Correct.

Why did Masi spec their wheels with AL nipples and crappy rims with canyons at the rim seam? Because they look cool. What happened 3 months after someones been riding it regularly? Broken nipples.

Well, for my bling bike I built up a Phil Wood hubset with nice parts - Velocity rims, Panaracer/Rivendell tires, DT spokes - and it ran around US$750. A friend is contemplating building a new wheelset for his trusty old steel bike, and I quickly looked up some respectable components for it, and the parts would run to about $250-$300. So those numbers you cited are pretty good benchmarks in my view.

I'd say most of the $500 is penile, though the money definitely gets you nicer fit and finish. Sun CR-18s, part of the hypothetical wheelset for my friend, have given me serious trouble in the past with being too tight for the tire bead, something I've never seen in a more expensive Velocity rim.

Tiagra hubs (friend's hypothetical wheelset) vs. Phil Wood hubs (my bling bike)...well, most of the $500 is penile. I'm sure that Tiagra hubs are just fine. I swear by my Phil hubs, though.

To the OP: Drop $100 on a front. I think that's about right for a decent wheel that will stay true, not break spokes, keep happy sidewalls, etc.

I agree with whomever said not to skimp on wheels. Cheap wheels are the suck.

+2 :thumb:

That about sums it up. The only thing I can think to add would be to suggest you learn about wheels - how they work, spokes, rims, hubs, etc. And study how to build them yourself.

Maybe here:

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

The BIG problem with nice wheels is that they are instantly habit forming. Once you've had nice wheels, you are no longer interested in cheap ones. Like getting your first car with air conditioning. After that, you're stuck. Go with the $25.00 wheels. If it fails, you can get another one and still be way ahead. bk

For my MTBs, I usually wait for one of the vendors with "hand-built" (whatever that means in this case) RhinoLyte rims w/XT hubs and DT spokes to have a sale and/or free shipping for a final wheelset price of less than $150.

Cheap choices seem to be scarcer among 700c wheels, but this current deal looks decent: http://www.amazon.com/Dimension-Fron.../dp/B001C6C1WQ

I'd also consider checking craigslist -- you may be able to find a "donor" bike with decent wheels for a cheap price.

That Amazon wheel looks good and a good deal, even though I can't tell what rim it has. DT spokes are excellent.

are cheap wheels bad? not always but, bad wheels are usually cheap.
open pro/ ultegra. solid dependable smooth. whats not to love?

You can get really good deals on machine-built wheels made from good parts that might need a little bit of retensioning.

I got a new wheelset from Rocky Mountain Cycles, XT centerlock hubs laced to Mavic A319 machined rims with DT spokes, $100 shipped. The wheels were just a shade out of true, but a little time with a spoke wrench fixed that and now they're great.