Road Wheels & Road Wheel Recommendations?

Grand Bois Cyprès would be my choice. That brand has been a bit killed off by Compass / René Herse, but I did a lot of miles with the 36mm variety and they were very decent in all departments. When I went to Compass I couldn't really feel the difference, after all they are all made by Panaracer with similar requirements.

I am aware of them. They were ‘new’ when I last fitted tyres to my 650b bike. I was somewhat put-off by mixed verdicts on their durability (and the price is a bit much to gamble).

Personally I prefer tyres (like these) that are on the supple side, even on ‘practical’ bikes. It seems to make more difference than almost any other aspect of bike tinkering.

Perhaps these will go on next. Cheers.

A cup and cone bearing is a type of angular contact bearing, so smiliar wheels built with these hubs instead of radial bearings hubs will be stiffer and more predictable when cornering. But the trade off is the higher linear friction than a radial bearing because of the axially oriented contact angle.

Also just saying .. a loose cup and cone bearing allows for fairly slack manufacturing tolerances ..

a loose cup and cone bearing allows for fairly slack manufacturing tolerances

Not really true. You still have to press the cup into the hub shell the same as you'd press the outer race of a cartridge radial bearing into the shell. There's no particular reason to believe that poor control of the size and alignment of the bore is more or less of a problem with a cup than it is with a cartridge bearing. You can make your hubs lovely or horrible by either approach.

the trade off is the higher linear friction than a radial bearing because of the axially oriented contact angle

In practice, a pair of radial cartridge bearings preloaded against one another act as a pair of angular contact bearings. The only way to get radial bearings to support purely radial loading is to let them float on the shaft (or in the housing) and control axial position with thrust bearings.
You're then just arguing about whether a general purpose industrial radial bearing forced against it's will to act as an angular contact bearing has a contact angle better optimised for the ratio of axial to radial loads than an angular contact bearing designed from scratch to be a hub bearing.

The big argument in favour of cup and cone in the context of a bicycle hub is that, within the given space constraint, a cup and cone bearing can have larger balls (for lower contact pressure and longer life) than a radial cartridge bearing. To get the 9×¼" found in classical rear hubs, you'd be looking at a 6004, which at 42mm OD is going to need a pretty big negative shim to fit inside the 35mm diameter of a sprocket thread or HG spline freehub rotor 🙂

I am looking to buy new wheels for my Croix de Fer. I am considering 15mm thru axle in front for a more future proof wheelset. Would this wheelset work with an adapter like this ? Or are there any downsides and I should just buy a qr front wheel?

Bit of an odd one, just started using my first ever set of carbon deep section wheels - 55mm deep, 26mm external, shod with 25c conti 4000s measuring up at approx 26mm, giving a nice smooth ‘teardrop’ transition from rim to tyre (photographed as best I can).

I’ve only ridden them up the road and back so far, but the bike feels a bit odd and a little unstable, particularly out of the saddle. When I turn the bars it’s almost like the bike wants to keep going and veer off, a bit like riding on an adverse camber and the bike wanting to roll into the gutter.

I do run a short stem (80) and Ive noticed even with my previous 30mm alloy wheels the bike has always felt lively but not in a detrimental way. Is this just a case of deep section wheels feeling very different and I’ll adjust and get used to it? Or is there / could there be something else going on?

I will try and give it a proper test ride and report back asap.

Cheers.

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Was it windy where you were doing your test ride? 😆

Make sure the QR lever is in the non-drive side.

Well I do live in Norfolk...

It didn’t feel that windy, and I did have hedge cover, but to be fair you could be partially right. I think I need to take them out for a proper thumping first and go from there..

£279 chinese carbon, Stans Grail Mk3, Campagnolo Zonda c17 disc, none of the above. Which road disc wheelset do I get? Sub £500 and preferably not Hunt as i've heard more bad than good. Cant for the life of me make my mind up.

Some kinlin rims built up on a hub of your choice?

DT Swiss would get my vote. These look decent value at £320 a pair.

https://www.mantel.com/uk/dt-swiss-pr-1600-spline-32-db-road-bike-wheels

Which road disc wheelset do I get?

What do you plan to use them for?

Been having the same dilemma, think I am going to go with these; https://www.justridingalong.com/product/map-road-disk-wheels/#disk-mount. Will come to just over 500 with a SON dynamo hub, there a local company to me and heard nothing but great things.

All road riding

For around £500 you could get LB rims, plus some inexpensive hubs (bitex/novatec/miche) and double butted spokes. If you laced them yourself and got someone to tension/true them for you wouldn’t be far off that budget I wouldn’t have thought, it’s more effort though.

All road

"All-road" in the modern meaning, i.e. tarmac and dirt roads? And which tyres?

Ah, my bad. All road in the conventional semse. Just tarmac. Gp5000's, either 25 or 28 depending on rim width.

I think I'd just get a pair of Mavic Allroad UST 6-bolt and waste the other half of the budget on something more useful than very slightly different wheels. I'd be outside the manufacturer guideline with 25C tyres, but

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I've got a pair of DT Swiss wheels for sale that fit the bill and save you most of your budget...

Thanks for the offer, i've just seen this and have already bought a different pair!

What is the recommendation for OTP tubeless rim brake wheelset under £350? I would be running Compass Bon Jon tyres.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32829018334.html
You may want more spokes than this, depending on your weight and the kind of riding you do

Was considering a new set of wheels for the Ritchey, & since writing off the front one, I guess I've got to expedite this a little.

After some wide-ish (suitable for ~40mm tyres), QR, sturdy disc CX/gravel/touring wheels. Either six bolt or centrelock. Shimano eleven speed freehub (would be nice if there was an XD option too). Don't really want to spend more than £400.

I've been looking at these ones on Superstar, no idea about the hub though. I've got some Hunt wheels on the road bike too, so am considering another set of those as they're alright (though @Isaac_Jones said he could build me the same quality wheels for half the price).

Anyone got any thoughts/experience?

Superstar are hit and miss. Bought a pair of wheels out their sale and the spokes are too short/don't reach the top of the nipple. Not overly concerned as they were £90 and went on my Dads bike (he rides <500km/yr) but wouldn't recommend for serious riding.