katsup

I have been thinking about a new wheel set for my Vaya for awhile now and thought I'd ask for some suggestions. The bike currently sees 90% pavement due to commuting and it being my road bike. I usually run 700x35-40mm slicks, but I have the option to fit 50mm for days I venture out on the fire roads.

Requirements

• Less than $400
• 100/135 Quick Release
• Aluminium
• 32 spoke
• 700c
• Tubeless Compatible
• 11 Speed
• Disc Brake

I have been mostly looking at wheels with DT Swiss 350, Hope RS4 and Deore XT Hubs. The top option is the Hope RS4 with 20Five rims for slightly under $400. I have considered the Hope Pro4, but the RS4 seems like a better option for my use. I have also been on the lookout for a good used set, but so far they are either around the price of the hopes or the same level as my current wheels.

Any other suggestions I should be considering?

dsaul

If you could go down to 28 spoke wheels, Hunt makes some very nice wheelsets for reasonable prices. I put a set of these on a gravel bike that I recently built for a friend. https://www.huntbikewheels.cc/collec...-24deep-24wide

shoota 

I wouldn't go with Hunt for this type of build. Not robust enough for 50mm tires and that kind of riding.

chas58

What's your weight? If you are not heavy and do 90% road, 28 spokes could work. My gravel wheels with 50mm tires take less of a beating than when I have skinnier tires due to the extra cush (I run them 20-25psi). I used to get pinch flats on my road tires before I went tubless.

Mill Street Cycles can build you up a set of aluminum wheels around that price in any (reasonable) configuration you want. IMHO, Kinda nice to support a US based gravel oriented wheel builder than some shop in China.

katsup

225lbs

bike24 is German.

gus6464

That's funny considering Mill City is buying Chinese wheel parts and just assembling in USA. Hope RS4 uses parts all made in England. Also I would take a Hope hub over bitex 1000 times over.

chas58

Funny man. There is a lot of that going on in the world. So, Hope RS4 has a good gravel wheelset for $400? Please, tell more and share the link!

chas58

Why the reference to Bike24?

katsup

My original post has a link to the wheels from bike24. Click the name of the wheels.

gus6464

That's the wheels he linked.

https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content...sort=price_asc

Hope RS4 hubs (made in England)
Hope 20Five rims (made in England)
Sapim Race spokes (made in Belgium)

Not a single piece of a Hope wheel is made in China. Show me a Mill City build at $400 that does not have anything made in China?

OP just buy the Hope wheels with 32 spokes. You will be able to rebuild the hubs forever as parts are available everywhere. The only "con?" about Hope wheelsets is that they are not the lightest.

chas58

Ah, got it. Looks good to me. Personally, I would like something a tad wider (especially with your tire widths), but 20mm will work. Looks like a good purchase.

gus6464 - not sure what is bugging you this time. Katsup specifically asked for alternatives - I gave him one. Always good to know what one's options are when making a choice. Any other options for him in that price range you can think of???

gus6464

Nothing's bothering me. I am just responding to your comment after he posted the wheels he wanted to buy where you told him to support local wheelbuilders vs Chinese ones when the wheels he linked have nothing to do with China. Unless you were responding to the Hunt wheels post? If so, I apologize and did not mean to attack you.

Everyone has their preferences though but which would you rather own with prices being equal? A Hope or Bitex hub?

mstateglfr 

The hope pro and rs4 wheelsets are the same price at merlin in the 32h format.
Looks like they weight the same too as 32h configurstions.

Why do you like the rs more than the pro? The rims have the same dimensions and they weigh the same...trying to understand why there is a clear preference.



As for suggestoons- I have none that I would want which would be better than these for less.
I would toss in prowheelbuilder.com as an option to choose what you want, but anything will end up costing $450-500 at least. Having multiple sets, I think they are flawless, but more expensive than the Hope options.

katsup

RS4 looks to be more road oriented vs the Pro4. The biggest differences I could find was that the RS4 has a reduced drag ratchet mechanism, likely due to less pawls. The bike seems mainly pavement.

mstateglfr 

I went bitex because I wanted the wheels built by prowheelbuilder.com and the price was almost the same as the $418 cost of the 32h hope pro wheelset.

The weight of my wheelset was estimated to be lighter, but came out a wash with the hope wheelset.

Do it over again and I cant say I would do one over the other.
- I like the hope wheelset for spec, cost, reputation, and the hubs could match my headset and seat collar.
- I like my wheelset for spec, cost, builder reputation, and experience with component reliability.

It was a toss up when I bought em and I still view it as a toss up.
I haven't come up with a reason to dislike any of my bitex hubs yet, after thousands of miles of road and gravel on multiple bikes. They spin well, engage quickly, are an appropriate weight, and do what they are supposed to do.

loheiman

I just got a set built from Colorado Cyclist that I'm pretty happy with. Mine were $483 including shipping (DT Swiss R470 rims, DT Swiss 350 hubs, DT Swiss spokes/nipples) but I paid extra for black spokes and nipples. If you go with silver spokes and nipples it's about $440 shipped ($460 - $45 discount + $25 shipping).

https://www.coloradocyclist.com/dt-s...r500-rims-700c

csrpenfab

Nice build on those wheels and a great price! I had a set of road wheels built around King hubs from Colorado Cyclist years ago, and they were bulletproof. I'm a "larger" rider and don't baby my wheels, but they never fell out of true.

katsup

Thanks, this is actually the 2nd option that I was considering. With black spokes and nipples, it is just under $100 more ($387 after conversion for the hopes).

DT has a 2mm wider rim.

loheiman

Yea the R500s have 22mm inner width but the R470s have 20mm. I emailed them and specifically asked if they could build with the R470s and they could for the same price. I choose the R470s because i wanted the option to run narrower/road tires too.

dwmckee

I am not sure what this comment is based on. Hunt wheels are fine and a good value for the price. We sell a lot of them in our shop for a good quality second set of gravel wheels. We have had ZERO warranty/reliability issues in the past year. I ride a pair of Mason X 650Bs myself. Certainly not an $850 wheelset, but a good value for your budget limit. If you have a bigger budget I's go for the new DT Swiss wheels which are excellent; if $400 is your limit you will not go wrong with the Hunt wheels.

shoota 

It's based on my experience of riding lightweight alloy rims and having durability issues with them. Mainly eyelets cracking. Note these weren't Hunts, didn't mean to imply they were. My buddy has been riding a set for a few months now and no issues. But for the OP' riding style I just think he would be better served by a wider set of wheels that are more robust. Something like the WTB i23 series. Sure they're a couple hundred grams more but they're wider, tougher and better suited to 50mm tires IMO.

mpls85

Agreed, Hunts are an excellent choice at the sub-$400 price point. If their 4-season model isn't up to task, you could consider the 'XC-wide' model. 25mm inner width, a bit more robust, but still reasonable weight (~1650g). That's what I ride on my rigid hardtail MTB, and I have nothing but praise for them. Hunt's customer service is super responsive, and they'll work with you to get the axles set up in whatever configuration you need.

Stormsedge

Check your LBS(s) for any new take-offs...I got a set of new Mavic Aksiums with tires on the cheap that someone swapped for a higher priced wheelset on a new bike.

shoota 

Now that is better. That would be my choice right there. I wasn't aware of that model, is it new?

mpls85

I think their MTB wheelsets were introduced in 2018, after offering road options for a few years before that.

Here's the set I have: https://www.huntbikewheels.cc/produc...=8142256963682

I've been putting them through their paces on singletrack (and without suspension), and they've performed very well so far.