brandontw

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ils&ProdID=548

They will be going on a really old Schwinn that i got for 10 bucks at a garage sale, i tried re-dishing the wheels it came with, but the nipples were rusty, and i just ended up breaking a couple spokes, plus they were really just old crappy rims and hubs too... so into the trash they went...

Anything better for 130$ shipped? I'm on a super budget, and i already have a road bike and a mountain bike, which are my main rides, this is just for fun... would these work to beat around on for a while?

Thetank

Yeah you can get cheaper and better wheels than that. The tires are junk and the cog/lockring is not the best quality so you're gonna have to replace all of that. Check out ben's for their cheap ALXwheels, they often have some for under $80.

TheBikeRollsOn 

I have a different set of vuelta's, the zerolites, and they serve their purpose. They are kinda heavy and I've only had them for a few months but I haven't had any malfunctions thus far.

brandontw

bens? link?

Zachee

benscycle.com Milwaukee based

brandontw

Well, i checked out bens, some pretty decent deals on your basic alex/formula type of sets...

But to be honest, the tires, tubes, and cog is what made me interested in those vueltas. I dont need hela nice tires just to mess around on, and as long as the tubes hold air they'll be fine, and as long as the cog does what its supposed to do, we'll get along fine...

If i bought one of those 90$ wheelsets off bens, then i'm looking at 25$ min. for a cog, 40$ min. for tires, and 10$ more for tubes, which puts me up at around 165$ (best case) which is more that i was looking to spend... i don't think i can bring myself to spend more than about 130-140 for wheels/tires/cog for a 10$ bike.

jakerock

No offense, but a $10 bike that needs new wheels is not a $10 bike.

brandontw

I think that was kinda my point... I'm just trying not to make it a 200$ bike, thats all...

dsh

You said you've got a mountain bike and a road bike... you don't have any spare tubes or an extra set of old beat up tires laying around?

time bandit

dont listen to these negative nancy's. these wheels are fine for what you need them for. plus, if you decide to upgrade frames, they will make a nice addition to your new bike

also who rides a new wheelset on old beat up tires? thats no fun...

pros: durable 36 spoke count, tires and tubes, cog and lockring

cons: machine built. to get the longest service life out of these wheels, DO take them to the LBS or if you are handy with a spoke wrench true and check the dish and tension BEFORE ever riding on them. Also. the page said the cog and lockring are on "hand tight" use a chainwhip and lockring wrench to tighten these. use grease on the threads. if any of these things are not available to you, take a trip to the LBS.

have fun!

dayvan cowboy

i bought the wheels for a budget build but ended up selling them to a friend before i ever built the bike. I ended up using the front wheel of the set for a week while waiting for a wheel to be built. The wheel was fine but the tire sucked, 2 flats within a week.

brandontw

Sure ive got spare tubes and an old beat up tire, but the spare tubes are for my road bike, which i use every day, and i only have one left, and the tires are old ones from my road bike that i deemed unacceptable for my road bike, so why would i want to put them on my new fixie?

brandontw

Well, i ended up buying them, so i'll be sure to post a thread letting you know my impressions, i have a sneaking hunch they will serve theyre purpose wonderfully... if the tires turn out to be bunk, i'll get new ones as these fail, and i'll be getting a freewheel for the other side for if/when the cheap cog causes issues.

dsh

You would put them on your "new fixie" because you're trying to build a conversion fixed gear for the lowest possible price out of a $10 yard sale special.

Do you think the tires that are going to come with whatever bottom-of-the-barrel wheelset you get are going to be better than the pair you bought but decided not to use on your road bike?

Here's a hint: they'll probably be worse.


It doesn't seem consistent for you to say "I got this bike for $10 and want the cheapest set of wheels i can find just so I can hammer around and have fun", then in the next breath say "I've got some old tires but I don't think they're good enough for my new fixie".

time bandit

you are really hung up on other peoples tires.

dsh

He asked me a question bro. It's the part in bold.

brandontw

You're just not making any sense... let me lay it out for you...

1. I bought a road bike.

2. It came with tires.

3. I wore out the tire to the point that i didn't want to ride on it any more.

4. Bought new tire.

5. Put new on the road bike.

6. Kept old tire just in case I ran over glass and totally sliced one of my new tires or something, it would get me by for a day or two until I could go buy a new tire...


Summary, I have one tire (maybe two, but i doubt it) that I'm only sort of comfortable riding because its so worn out... you really think an old worn out tire is better than a brand new cheap tire?

brandontw

Oh, by the way, for anybody that cares, the wheels come with Kenda K191 Koncept Tires, which arent the greatest, but arent terrible at all.

And they are actually not machine built, they are "performance built by hand" stressed 3 times, and trued to a tolerance of 0.3.

So the only thing left that concerns me is the cog... but I was likely to end up picking up another one or more of those anyway to experiment with ratios... I'll just be careful with the one it came with, and if i decide i want to roll with 16t permanently, i'll pick up a surly.

time bandit

just make sure its on there tight with grease

sunburst

Didn't read all the above posts, but here's what I bought recently:
https://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com...&productId=204

Decent wheels from a decent company, at a ridiculously low price.

dsh

oh yah cool, you didnt mention points 3 or 6 before so it sounded like you just had a couple old tires that werent the right color or something. its g. glhf

Triple8Sol

I've seen that before, too. How are they working out for you?

fiataccompli

it's kinda funny to see a different sort of bike snobbery here. i'm laughing. anyway, i have a set similar to these i got from BI last year. Mine were handbuilt & even though i expected to have to re-true/check/etc. them, they've actually turned out to be great. Now, i'm not delivering packages in NYC or doing stunts....i'm pretty much riding the bike on the same terrain I ride my geared road bikes....point is, you probably want to put out there how you're gonna use the bike or how you used yours when you crapped out a set of cheap wheels.

FWIW, I've got a parts bike that I was going to slap into a cheap fixed gear beater & I've been thinking of a similar set from BI...but I'm interested in seeing what else is on the cheap end of the spectrum. Luckily, I have zero interest in how impressive (or unimpressive) the bike will be to others

brandontw

Yeah i received the wheels, and rode them on the new bike, and they are solid, and seem to be pretty high quality, and the tires seem fine, overall, i think they will be a great buy for 130$, especially with free tubes, tires, and cog.

sunburst

Haven't mounted them yet. All I can say for certain is that they look solid and spin fine. At that price, I bought them for some future project. I'll report back when I actually ride them.