Bike Forums - Build or buy wheels w/ cartridge bearing hubs?

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Build or buy wheels w/ cartridge bearing hubs?

I want a set of 700mm wheels with sealed cartridge bearings and maybe bigger axles. Which is the most economical route to go?

Buy or build? I don't care a great deal about weight; in other words, I don't want high end rims and spokes, only good durable stuff.

Most of the wheels with sealed cartridge bearing hubs, that I have looked at, have high end spokes and rims. Or so it seems, because they are awful expensive. I have found Phil Wood hubs for $140 each. How much would a mechanic charge to tear down my current set and rebuild a set with some new hubs like that? Would he need a new set of spokes? If so, how does it all add up?

I think I've said enough for those of you who are in the know, to help. thanks ahead of time.

I charge $1.00 per spoke for building wheels. That's pretty average so you can get it done for less but you might find yourself paying more. I don't charge extra for cutting off old spokes, but if you want me to disassemble an old wheel and save the parts, expect to pay. Overhauling an old hub is going to cost you extra too.

You will almost always have to get all new spokes when rebuilding a wheel. Different rims have different spoke bed diameters and old spokes may have wear where they contacted the hub flange and each other. Spokes with new brass nipples cost 50 cents apiece and up. My favorite spokes are 14/15/14 gauge and retail for about $1.00 each. Larger axles are probably not an option because they wouldn't fit your frame and fork.

They don't have cartridge bearings, but I just overhauled a pair of Ultegra hubs for myself. They have a pretty effective sealing mechanism so they require minimum maintanance and internal replacement parts are readily available. They also cost much less than Phil Wood.

I can buy a factory built set of Open Pros with Ultegra hubs for about the same price ($250.00) as the component parts cost to build up myself. That sounds like a pretty attractive deal to me.