Russ Roth

I'm looking to spend 4-600 on a new set of wheels for my kid's track bike. I'll be ordering the Dolan Precorsa frame for her soon since its what's in her size. For a good build wheels will matter as she does plan to do plenty of track racing. Did Jr Nats this year and will be doing Jr State next week, we'll travel to other races in NC, OH at times, since the wheels can make a lot of difference I want something good.

Hubs are a hard choice,
Top contenders are
Dura Ace, 7710 go for only 200 a set it seems while 7600 are only another 40 or so, assumably they share bearings and races and the difference is a preference for high vs. low flange.
Profile Design, very popular with the BMX crowd where their hubs are top level performance, also comes in pretty colors.
White Industry, downside is the cog system though can't image its that big of a deal while they make fast hubs.
Phil Wood, most expensive and shiny without a doubt, known to be fast but perhaps a bit chunky for a kid's bike?
Any others? I see DT swiss has a set that would be in the DA price range.

Rims, this is where I'm a little clueless. Can juniors run carbon rims? If so will carbon rims be a problem if we head to Canada for a UCI race, I've heard this is so but don't know the truth of it.
Velocity Ailerons can supposedly run 23c tires and have a modern profile while only weighing 450g; I've weighted 4 separate rims and all were 450-455g so accurate and probably about as heavy as I'd like to go with a kid's rim.
Light Bicycle Falcon, they have a 35mm deep with 18mm internal width/25mm external that is supposedly 405g. I've heard lots of positives and very few negatives. But don't know if they're an actual option for a junior.
H Son Plus often gets brought up but the only thing they have in the weight range of 450g is only 23mm deep vs the Aileron.
Other rims I might be missing? I'm sure they're out there I just don't know them.

Spokes will be bladed, straight pull front, 3x rear. I'm probably looking at 24h front and rear though possibly 20h front. The girl is only 75lb and not likely to go over 110lb for several years so not worried about spoke count with a good rim and hub combination.

Wheelsets? Seems most carbon wheels head into the stratosphere and are deeper than a younger or lighter junior should be riding on while the Mavic wheels seem a little basic. Any good, fast alloy wheels that would be better than building something?
Looking for any options.

1incpa

Lots of questions and options here.
I doubt that your daughter would be able to feel the difference between low and high flange hubs while riding. I'm 180lbs and I've ridden both and can't feel the difference, So my recommendation would be to get what's cheap and available.

All of the rims you list are viable choices. Again, I'd go for what's easily available. These days that may not leave many options. Most shops have a very limited availability of parts. And you'll need to know if you want tubulars or clinchers.
I haven't ridden them, but I've seen a lot of H+Son wheels at T-Town.

If you can find them, Araya makes some really nice track rims that can be built up with whatever hubs you want. I have a set of Aero 4 tubulars with DA high flange hubs that I've been using for many years that have held up just fine. They're light and fairly aero and probably perfect for what you need, I like them a lot.

Not sure how much help I've been...

Paul

brawlo

What age are you talking here? I know you want the best for your daughter, but with that budget I'd be honestly looking at buying more wisely.

Hubs - Just get some sealed bearing hubs preferably double sided. DA and others are nice and I have 2 sets, but really nice high quality sealed bearings are really cheap, so go for a good quality alloy sealed bearing hub that will last.
Rims - A clincher with lower profile and light-ish. Kinlin, DT Swiss, Velocity, Pacenti and no doubt some others make some decent options. Aero really comes out to play when you're at 45+kph so going for an aero rim will equate to more weight, and if we're talking a younger junior female rider, the weight won't justify the aero benefit. A lighter rim will be easier to accelerate and aero losses will be negligible at junior female speeds. A clincher gives you the flexibility to change from a utilitarian training wheelset to a fast rolling wheelset in 5-10min with a change of tyres. With clincher tyre tech these days, I don't see the point of using tubs outside of boards racing. On concrete and asphalt modern clinchers roll every bit as well as tubs.

For the money you say you're looking at I would be looking to build a nice utility wheel. Something that is nice enough to race on, but sturdy enough to last - a wheelset that will become her training wheels. If she continues in the sport you will likely buy something better down the line than what you can put together ATM in your budget.

Kids are a money sink in cycling, constantly growing out of frames and clothing/shoes/helmets. I've been there and done that with my daughters and that is my advice based on my experience x2. Unfortunately (my wallet is thankful though) both left the sport for other pursuits by 15yo.

bicievino

As far as I understand it, USAC rules limit juniors age 14 and younger to the following:
1I5. Young Junior/Youth Bicycles
All riders aged 14 and under are restricted to massed-start bicycles as defined in 1I1(g). These bicycles must also have at least 16 spokes and no wheel covers may be used.
I'm not aware of any stipulations for equipment in UCI races for juniors, but if that's a major point of concern I would suggest contacting the organizer of the races you're thinking of going to. As far as I can see carbon rims are fine, though.
You should consider checking the requirements of the tracks you're planning on racing on to see if any require tubulars.

So, with that in mind, there aren't major restrictions on what you *could* do, and like the other folks say, you're most likely to be constrained by your budget.
Budget aside, I'd be looking for a mid-depth (something usable in gusty outdoor conditions) wheelset with relatively low spoke count (the 20f/24r you mention sounds good).
I would look for something used first - track equipment rarely "wears out", and folks are always entering / leaving the sport.

If shopping new, a number of folks at my track have purchased the Light Bicycle pre-built wheels - they're very good value (although perhaps at the high end of your budget).
Hubs: I'd avoid the white industry hubs because of the cog design. It's not worth the hassle. The DT Swiss hubs are plenty good - I wouldn't worry about blinging out on hubs. Running light grease and removing the seals will do more for hubs than an expensive brand.
Rims: I'd avoid any of the light Velocity rims as they are prone to failure at the nipple hole. H+Son are good. If you're planning on clinchers over tubulars, DT Swiss rims are also good value. I've been happy with all the carbon Light Bicycle rims I've bought.

topflightpro

Do you want clinchers?

If you're going to build the wheels yourself, I saw a very nice set of Purple PW track hubs on Ebay that I think were 20/24 or 24/28.

That said, I think you would probably be fine with a basic set of Velocity Deep V track wheels. They'll be a bit heavy, but she could use them forever.

Russ Roth

Largely been thinking of going clincher just for the convenience. I've glued many tubulars over the years so I'm well versed in it, but always seems more of a hassle than its worth. Good to know on the high vs. low flange. I had the feeling, especially at her age that the difference would be nil. Honestly didn't even realize araya was still made, my last set was a pair of 27" aero 1 hard ano, they were really nice at the time. Will have to look them up.

Good advice, the goal is as fast as this budget, potentially with some modification, and the understanding that in 4-5 years if the spirit is still there, I'll be laying out a lot more. 3 kids that ride, all three mtb, all three track, two that bmx and two that like road/cross and the budget gets insane, but they're having fun and it keeps me riding as well. So anything I get/make also gets handed down or eventually sold to another parent though my wife has decided the 16" harry havnoonian bike will be a wall hanger once the youngest officially grows out of it.

I saw those hubs, little past my price range but the bigger problem lies in finding 20 and 24h matching rims. Same problem I found with the DT swiss hubs since they're turning up for 150.00 a set but same spoke 20/24 spoke count. As much as I like Velocity, those are too heavy to be good for a kid.