new rear wheel on a budget...
Under-employed, $ tight, replacing much of drivetrain on a limited budget.

My rear rim is caved and the rear hub is acting up. The wheel is a Weinmann DP18 36 H laced to a Shimano FH 2200. Tried to recall how long I've been riding these, closest I can figure is @ 3 years (the front wheel seems fine btw) and I've bashed some nasty potholes in that time. My LBS is going to order a new pair and work a deal with me & just sell me the rear wheel. Sounds like it'll be around $100.

My question is: for commuting & light-touring, can I do better in terms of price and/or performance? I'd appreciate any opinions.

You can get a decent off the peg rear wheel for $80.00 - $100.00 but would suggest strongly that you have it professionally checked and tuned which might add $20.00 - $30.00 to the price which will be well worth it.

One might also find decent used wheels but again, you want to have these checked.

It caught my attention that the rear HUB was acting up. It also seems that the front wheel will see approximately as many miles as the rear. In addition to replacing the rear, you really ought to spend a little time to service the FRONT. (At the very least wipe out all of the gunky grease and repack with some nice, fresh grease.)

I am no expert on wheels, but here is my 2 cents. For around $100 you can get a set of wheels if you want online. Bike Island has some offerings...

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...Wheelsets-Road

Vuelta Zerolite This is what I would get since the mountain wheelsets are rated so well if these do as well as those you can't go wrong for the price.

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1450

Hopefully your drivetrain doesn't add up to a great deal of money.

If money is tight, Bike co-ops or something like https://freeridepgh.org/ tend to have plenty of spare wheels and parts for a fraction of the cost of new.


Good luck, hope times improve for ya.

I had a bike with a freewheel that I replaced with a free hub from the bike shop and that cost me 100... so I think its a good price... havent had a problem with them and when the cassette does wear out, its pretty simple to replace it yourself...

Thanks. Got to say the Handspun website looks enticing. Alternative: I am considering keeping the hub & buying a new rim and just attempting a complete rebuild. 1/2 the cost but 5x the work (assuming a lot of time tensioning the spokes).