Fixie Wheelsets
 

I've been a fixie rider for about a year and a half now and I think its time I trash my stock pure fix. Right now im considering to upgrade my wheels and then after get a new frame but im kinda lost right now as to what are some good brands and deals i should be looking for and which ones to stay away from. My budget right now is 200-300 dollars so I know i cant buy anything too flashy but im just asking for some help as to what a decent wheel set would be. Thanks!

Any wheel a bike shop throws away will be a fixie wheel though usually they aren't worth the fixie or they are dented. bent or broken and cannot be fixied.

Seeing as though you are here in the SS/FG forum I am guessing you are probably looking for a singlespeed or fixed gear wheelset. What are you looking for in a wheelset other than probably something that doesn't need a fixie? Do you want something for the track or for the streets? Are you a heavy rider or are more abusive to your bike? What tire size are you planning on running? These are just some questions I might ask myself and answer before I go asking for wheelset advice.

Bam: https://www.retro-gression.com/colle...wheelset-black

Yeah, it does. That's going to happen with pretty much any black anodized rim. They're available in silver too.

Besides the set linked above, you could choose any wheels from Retrogression and not go wrong. Also, anything in the $200-300 range from Velomine will be decent, certainly an improvement over what probably came on your Pure Fix.

Good brands of rims include H+ Son, Velocity, and Mavic. All City hubs are a solid value, but might be just out of your price range. For a really low price, Origin8 hubs are not bad.

I've been very pleased with my Velocity rims (aerohead) and Formula hubs wheelset.

I think you can go cheaper on components if you have a decent wheelbuilder locally. Or you can learn to build wheels yourself. It's not that hard but takes patience.

Factory build wheels will still be cheaper but check them out thoroughly and if in doubt, have your local wheelbuilder check them. Sometimes the spokes are not evenly tensioned or too wound up or there's a slight wobble.

"Paint" it with a permanent marker when the metal surfaces - you've got a black rim again. Though I don't know how long would the ink last..

^^^ Indeed!

Nothing wrong with mostly black rims and silver braking surfaces. If you need them to be all one color, buy the silver ones... or get black ones and disc brakes.

Weinmann DP18 Black Fixed Gear Wheels 32H Formula DT Champ MSW [71588] - $119.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

I had these on my SSCX bike for several seasons and now they're on my kid's school commute bike. Strong and cheap (thus, not very light).

Never been a fan of how Velomine specs all their rear formula hubs with such a long axle. I know they do it to keep things simple for themselves when a customer wants 130 for road conversions, and the offending extra axle can also be hack sawed off, but it still bothers me. Guess that's how they can sell wheel sets for $120.

If you got $300 to spend the h+son options @ retrogression are a good value. Or if you're fortunate enough to have a good wheel builder local they usually will build the wheel free of charge if all components are purchased from them. That's what I do.

At my workplace, a black marker is called a Pocket Anodizing Tool. ;)

Take a look at the Alex R450s. I have one on my fixed gear (on the rear), and the finish has been amazingly durable. I have about 1300 miles on it,and run a rear brake as well. Been using this for the last 3 years.

Dave

I suggest you build your own wheels. I got into it early on and have never bought a factory wheelset in my life. It's a pretty simple process.

No guarantee it will be cheaper, more of a hobby enjoyment thing.

What I did, was find an old set of wheels that used a freewheel. Since I don't run freewheels any more, the wheelset was useless to me. I found a flip flop hub whose flanges were the same height as the hub on the donor rear wheel. Took the donor wheel apart with a spoke wrench and rebuilt the wheel with the flip flop hub.

I thought the fact that the freewheel hub used an offset spoke pattern would make the spokes too short on one side, but the new wheel laced up fine, and I put a wheelset that had previously been lying around just taking up space, back into service.