Dump Jalco GX460 or replace the spokes and keep them?
 

Looking at old posts, it's pretty clear that most people agree that Jalcos are lousy wheels and that a lot of people have had issues with this particular wheelset. I have a 2007 Allez Elite that lasted a couple years with them without problems, but the rear wheel has had an annoying spoke rub issue for a while now that I've decided to buckle down and fix.

The spokes (two of them) are rubbing because they are seized and will not tighten all the way, and for some reason the two LBS that I visited both failed to ever come up with the proper spokes to replace them for me after telling me they would order them. I've decided I'll have to do it myself, which is annoying because I think it means I have to buy a whole box of spokes. Most of the complaints that I hear about this wheel center on the quality of the spokes and their installation, so I am leaning toward doing this. Of course, I don't want to throw good money after bad, which leads me to my question.

Once I've replaced all the spokes on one of these wheels, will I notice a quality difference between them and another set of low-end wheels with a better reputation like, say, the Mavic CPX22s that I know Specialized now puts on this bike? Or are the rims about the same and likely to put in years of quality service with a better set of spokes?

If I had the budget to buy the nice wheels that I'm sure my loyal bike deserves, obviously there would be no question, but I'm unsure whether another budget set would be much better than these. I appreciate your opinions.

After doing a real quick google search I find you aren't the only rider who has issues with this wheelset. Rebuilding the rear wheel with all new spokes might solve your problem, but I doubt it. If it was my bike I'd cut my losses and replace the rear wheel.

Thanks for the opinion. I finally found some disparaging remarks about the hubs they put in these wheels (no markings on them, so I wasn't sure what they were and couldn't find any comments on the quality), so I think I'm going to shelve them and get an Open Pro/Ultegra set.

I just put together new wheels for my 2007 Allez double, and had the same stock wheels as you. I agree that the stuck hubs are horrible, as noted in another thread, I have a wobbly cassette, and the axle bearings are crunchy. The new wheels are built with Kinlin XR-270 rims, which look almost identical to the Specialized rims. If you are up for a challenge, you could rebuild the wheels with new spokes and hubs.

I thought about keeping the rims even if I ditch the hubs, but I'm not at all an experienced wheelbuilder (never started from scratch) and I'd also rather go with more spokes so that I am less likely to have to worry about this again. I'm looking at these: http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultegra-6700-Mav...#ht_2807wt_858

I'm 180 and took my two 2x 24 spoke front w/ CX-Ray and XR-270 down some rather rough fire road last weekend, and its still straight as can be. I'd at least eBay some old decent hubs, or get new from bikehubstore.com (he is a regular at some other forums, and has some great hubs for cheap) and give it a shot.

My primary reason for not rebuilding with the same rims is that I don't want to waste time and money on a ****ty product. Number of spokes is just a bonus. I don't doubt that you could ride a 24 spoke rear wheel for some amount of time without problems, I just see no reason not to go with a more stable setup if I am starting from scratch anyway.

Come to think of it, why did you switch rims if you were in the exact same situation I am?

I just didn't want to be without wheels in case rebuilding them went bad. New rims are only $40ish each, for the Kinlins, so figured what the hell.