jkrjhn

I'm looking to upgrade my wheel set on my Fuji tour. The current hubs are pitted. I would like to get a set of hand built wheels, so looking for recommendations on what wheel parts (rims, hubs, spokes, nipples) and online wheel building shops.

I weigh in at 155lbs, but I pack heavy. (+50lbs of gear) I'm running 35mms tires with rim brakes. Hoping to keep total price under $500. Thanks!

52telecaster

i can tell you what i use, ymmv. first i am 200 lbs and carry plenty as well. my wheels seem to last a long time with the occasional true.

sun ringle cr18 rims
sapim double butted spokes from dan's comp
shimano 105 hubs

parts will end up being about150.00

fietsbob

A 36 spoke wheel built on a shimano hub is adequate.. and when you happen to bend the rim,
something like it is what you will find at your bike shops along the way..

any thing fancier you are at the mercy of a very busy bike shop that may not have the time

to rebuild a wheel around your high end hub... for several days..
(Staying in a motel and drinking with the locals a couple days aint bad )


CR 18 is a good rim.. getting a machine built wheel hand checked at the selling bike shop is a good deal , and

if you break a wheel along the ride , that is probably what the bike shop will have, to get you back on the road the same day.





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mstateglfr 

You can get handbuilt wheels for well under $500.

You have 100/135 hub spacing, so traditional MTB hubs will be great.
- Deore or XT hubs are fine(guessing your bike came stock with Deore).
- Butted spokes are lighter and stronger than straight gauge.
- A 36hole rim that is 23mm wide and 25-35mm deep will be strong to handle you plus gear.


The already mentioned cr18 rim would work(i have a set), but its a lower profile boxed rim that is inherently more flexible than a rim with a deeper profile.
H+Son Archetype(i have a set) as a suggestion. There are others for under $70 which are 23mm wide and are deeper than the box section cr18.

cyccommute 

Before you go off and buy new wheels, consider repairing your current wheels first. You say that your hubs are pitted but you don't say which part. In my experience, cups seldom pit while cones often do. Replacing the cones and bearings is a $20 fix vs a $500 one. And, if you save $480 now, you might be able to buy much better wheels in the future (put some money in the bank first).

Wheels built around Shimano parts are inexpensive and serviceable but, frankly, just aren't worth the cost of custom. If you are going to go with just a Shimano hub, you might as well buy your wheels from your local bike shop. Quality Bike Products has XT, LX, 105, etc 36 hole wheels from $280 to $120 for the rear wheel depending on which hub you want. Front wheels are about $125 to $160. They will even do custom wheel builds.

If, on the other hand, you really want something custom, dream big! Get hubs that require little service and/or are easy to repair or disassemble in the field. Phil Wood, White Industries or Velo Orange are good candidates for custom. Yes, they are expensive but they last roughly for ever. Phils and WIs have the added benefit of being made in the US. I would also suggest Velocity A23 front and A23OC rear (again, US made). And then, because I use them for all my wheelbuilds, triple butted spokes either from DT (Alpine III) or Pillar (PSR 2018) or Sapim (Strong). For an added touch, I'd use splined nipples from Wheel Fanatyk.

These components would make for a touring wheel that lasts years if not decades with little to no maintenance. If the bearings go bad, you replace them. The spokes will shrug off nearly anything you can throw at them and the OC rear rim will make for a more symmetrically tensioned wheel which solves all kinds of problems. Yes, they are expensive but they will outlast most anything else.

But, again, check to see if you can fix your current wheels first.

fietsbob

I built my own wheels with parts I got in 1985, 48 spoke rear, 40 spoke front.. only broke 1 right rear spoke.

Luckily , i never broke a rim..

jkrjhn

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, I appreciate the input!

Unfortunately my current hubs are Formula hubs not Shimano. They're pretty bottom line junk in my opinion. It's the cones that are pitted.

veganbikes

If it were me I would probably build up a set of good hubs like Phil or White Industries in 32h or 36h laced to a Velocity Dyad rim or some other quality rim (HED Belgium or H+Son TB14 or WTB Frequency Team CX i19) and I would use Sapim Strong spokes and Sapim Secure Lock Brass Nipples.

That is what I did for my current touring bike wheels except I used Paul hubs which you cannot get in a cassette version any more (Industry Nine changed their freehub design and so Paul cannot source the ones they were using). My rims are the WTB Team CX i19s and have been excellent wheels though part of me wishes maybe I had gone a little wider on my rim but they are doing just fine with 38c tires and that is about as wide as my frame can go anyway.

fietsbob

Formula seems a cost reduction pick, to lower the selling price of the bike, to an attractive level..

replace the cones, show them at a bike shop to get a match.

Why not just Go?. Bring money to buy a new wheel along the way, if it fails..?






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LeeG

sure get new wheels but it’s worth knowing if the formula hubs got pitted while well maintained or pitted in the course of use where their initial condition/adjustment/lube was unverified and the pitting is a consequence of a lack in those areas.

These are reliable, strong, decent seams and not expensive. Again make sure you have them adjusted correctly. If you
are looking to save money consider the Quality Brand wheels with cheaper Shimano hubs and Velocity NoBs rims as an option. You could spend more for butted spokes and more expensive hubs but without knowing if/when the wheels need care it’s a waste of money.
google up

Quality Wheels Pavement Front Wheel 700c 36h Shimano LX / Mavic A319 / DT
Quality Wheels Pavement Rear Wheel 700c 36h Shimano LX / Mavic A319 / DT

3speed

It's worth checking CL too. I constantly see wheel-sets on there. There are two decent sets of touring wheels near me currently, both hand built. One with Velo Orange and Surly stuff, the other Shimano/dynamo hub and Dyad rims. I think either would be a solid buy and are a good price. Maybe there’s something near you.

jkrjhn

I appreciate the reply. The hubs were greased and adjusted properly. They had approx 3k miles on them. I think the pits were more casting voids than wear n tear.

I'm checking out different options, also keeping an eye on CL and ebay.

cyccommute 

I asked before but I'll ask again: what part of the hub is pitted? If the cones are pitted, this is common and isn't something that calls for a wheel replacement.

jkrjhn

My apologies for missing your question. Yes it is the cones. One from the front hub and one from the rear. I know that it can be repaired. In buying the Fuji touring bike it has been my plan to upgrade whatever parts wear out.

cyccommute 

Honestly, I don't thing you'll get any different result with any loose bearing wheel. Granted 3000 miles is a little low but not extraordinarily so. And, if the wheels are like many machine built wheels on new bikes, they were probably too tight to begin with. That will cause them to prematurely pit just as well as contamination will.

Don't just trade one set of wheels with a slight problem for another set of wheels that can have the same problem. If you can't afford it now, fix up your current wheels and save money towards hubs and wheels roll better and require less maintenance but cost more to invest in. Cartridge bearing hubs are vastly superior to cup and cone bearings.

On a side note, I see a lot of OEM cup and cone wheels on bicycles at my local co-op. Many of them are years if not decades old and a surprising quantity of them are overtightened to the point of damaging the cones and bearings. They hardly roll. I think they are adjusted so that they don't move as easily at the factory so that the robot building them works better. They should be loosened after the build but they generally aren't.

I've even experienced it myself. I bought a Fuji touring bike for my daughter, she trained on it for most of a summer and we did 370 miles of a 680 mile tour, including the hilliest bits of the Lewis and Clark Trail, before I noticed that the wheel bearings were far too tight. She never said anything and I had assumed that the bike had been prepped properly.

dim

buy a good used set on ebay, but look for rims that are tubeless ready.

there are some really good used wheesets on ebay uk for well under £500. (with very good rims and good hubs)

if you are touring, I'd look for a 32/36 with Sapim spokes setup, and later change the front hub to a Son 28 dynamo hub

I'm looking at having a wheelset built (disc brake), for my gravel bike which I will use as my daily commuter, and for some Audax rides.

I will be getting HED Belgium Plus rims, SON 28 front hub, and a Chris King R45 rear hub. (I will buy the Chris King R45 hub (used) off ebay. HED Belgium max spokes are 32, so I will go for 32/32 (I have read that with a 32 spoke count on the front, the wheel will be a lot stiffer that a 28 spoke count (something to do with the flange diameter of the SON 28) .... Idealyy, I would like 32/36

there are many good rims for cheaper (DT Swiss, Kinlin, Panceti etc etc) ...(but get tubeless ready as you can also use clinchers and tubes

LeeG

It’s been six years since I bought the rear wheel and I have been impressed with how it held up. It has about 5k commuting miles on it. I weigh 225 and occasionally carry panniers with 32mm-40mm tires.

LeeG

Same. Really surprises me when a friend brings a bike by with a problem and it’s obvious the cones are too tight even on the bike.