I have a cheap Dawes SST, and I'm thinking about doing some component upgrades soon along with some customization to boot. my questions are as follows. Are velocity wheels worth the buy and would it be usless to just fit them to my formula hubs that came with the stock Dawes(while still being budget minded). second Im going for a purple and white theme for the bike. should I go for purple rims and white tires or white rims and purple tires and white chain and purple crank.

1) it may be cheaper to get a prebuilt wheelset. veeps (assuming thats what you're looking at because that's what everyone gets) run about 70 a rim iirc. if you're building up 32 spoke rims, then that's about 60 bucks in spokes and 7 bucks in nipples. thats 207 dollars.

2) white tires are easier to find that purple

3) keep in mind white parts will get dirty fast. that doesn't bother me, but i also dont run white parts. most people who run white parts like them to be like the most brilliant white ever made.

white chain seems like that is doomed to fail

bike chains get dirty

I don't mind the whites on my bike getting dirty as I like to actually ride my bike. the guy at my LBS told me it would be about 30 per wheel to refit my spokes to new rims and the rims were 17 each.

don't **** with cheap ass colored chains


get a good chain...that will be silver or black most likely (izumi track is my choice, comes in black and even gold)

I definitely don't want anything that will break easily chain wise as Im over 200 pounds. Im hard on gear. I wouldn't sacrifice functionality for style

i think he means 30 dollars labor. you'll need new spokes since i doubt they're the same erd. then again you never said what rims you have and what you're switching to.

+1 on the izumi gold chain, nice quality stuff.

the stock wheels on the dawes are Alex R500 32H. they seem pretty decent thus far. anyone have any experience? I do know its $30 labor on top of the rims cost.

My bike is purple and white and it is the goofiest thing that I see when I lock up next to other bikes. I'd go for something more subtle, and whatever color scheme you do go with, don't match your chain, just get a good quality one.

Deep V's are a step down performance wise compared to the stock rims if they are properly trued, but are much more durable. There are much better rims out there to get, unless you want the look of em, or need a bulletproof rim.

What rims are you getting that are $17 a peice?

the guy at the bike shop told me 17 and I made sure of it... I thought it was kind of low too. maybe he just didn't know what he was saying, or maybe it was wishful thinking. I think I might want to switch to the deep v just for durability reasons. I ride the pothole ridden streets of queens and as a 200 +lb rider it might be worth the extra durability

The Formula/R500s that came with my bike were out of true soon after purchase, but they've taken a lot of rough city riding since, with minimal further work needed. I don't think you'll need to swap them out- my suggestion is that you invest in a truing stand and make wheel maintenance a very regular thing. If/when you finally bend up a wheel, THAT should be the time to consider new hoops.

$17 rims sound shady. If someone out there actually makes kickass rims that sell for $17 at a brick-and-mortar shop, they'll be wealthy people soon.

Also, though the rims are $17, the shop's time to build a wheel could be $40, and you might need another $30 for spokes, per wheel.