Road Wheels & Road Wheel Recommendations?

I got a wheel from Arup which was quite out of true from the beginning, but I think he may not have completely finished it when I picked it up (although I had told him when I'd be arriving). Nice chap though, and no-one else seems to have had any problems with his wheels.

Is there any noticeable difference between the two ? (That I would notice)

I know that Harry comes with a big reputation, and Arup is highly regarded on these forums. I am presuming that I will be paying a premium for Harry to build the wheels, is it worth it ?

TBH I am not really sure if its a question that can be answered, initial conversations with Harry suggest that he will only build you what he thinks will work for you.

i.e I wanted Sapim Laser front and back but he told me he won't put them on the rears. I also wanted blue nipples but he told me he won't use alloy nipples with lasers.

I guess that’s what you pay for, his experience. If he is going to splash his name around the rim then it'll only be on a wheel he 100% believes in

I guess that’s what you pay for, his experience. If he is going to splash his name around the rim then it'll only be on a wheel he 100% believes in

I guess so, although to be fair I know bugger all about wheels so went completely with his recommendation anyway, after I told him what I'd be using them for. Also I've got very little else to compare them with, other than some stock Planet X model B wheels, which I've also been happy with.

^^ yes that's what you're paying for with someone like HR. You tell him; I'm xkg and will do y kind of riding. So your wheels will be built with that in mind.

Also if you resell the wheels, they will carry his name.

Ultimately though it's comes down to what you want to pay.

Having read the thread and done a little research, I've just ordered myself some H Plus Son Archetypes on Hope hubs from Strada - happy birthday, me. Hopefully come in at 1,572g which for a reportedly robust set of rims and hubs is not far off my race wheelset of Campag Shamal Ultras (1,510g)

c.4 week build time, though it could be a little more. Nice to get some tips on maintenance over the phone, so looking forward to getting hold of them now.

After this season my Campag wheels are looking fairly worn on the rims. The hubs have been recently serviced (at a decent cost - thanks campag). Any tips on where these can be re-rimmed without costing the earth? Ideally in London to save the faff of postage

Rimmed. fnar fnar

Ultimately though it's comes down to what you want to pay.

Just got a mail back to say £120 for Sapim Race (black) with Blue nipples

Think that sounds pretty cool, Open Pro Ceramics / DA 7800's / Black Spokes / Blue Nipples...and a fuck off big Harry Rowland sticker

Harry Rowland is the king. One of the most straightforward, affable people to deal with too.

He's not a member on here like Arup though is he.

That is true - I have had some so/so experiences with Arup though.

Campag Shamal Ultras...where these can be re-rimmed without costing the earth?

It's often the case that buying replacement rims for factory wheels costs nearly as much as buying new wheels, since whole wheels get heavy OEM discounting but spare rims don't. Shamals have weird spokes and nipples too. Looks like about £200 each for rims, plus any spokes/nips which need replacing, plus labour and you could be looking at well over £500, when complete new wheels are under £700 for which you get the benefit of the latest model and shiny new cassette rotor and bearings. You can probably punt out your old ones to somebody for enough to cover the difference.

That is true - I have had some so/so experiences with Arup though.

Did you tell him? He'd be keen to put things right I'd imagine. He's built pretty much most of my handbuilts and has always done a good job at what strikes me as a very fair price.

It's often the case that buying replacement rims for factory wheels costs nearly as much as buying new wheels, since whole wheels get heavy OEM discounting but spare rims don't. Shamals have weird spokes and nipples too. Looks like about £200 each for rims, plus any spokes/nips which need replacing, plus labour and you could be looking at well over £500, when complete new wheels are under £700 for which you get the benefit of the latest model and shiny new cassette rotor and bearings. You can probably punt out your old ones to somebody for enough to cover the difference.

Thanks for that, stands up to what the chap from Cadence alluded to.

How about taking the hubs and applying to a new rim/spoke combo rather than going back to the factory standard? Or are factory built wheels essentially one-use only and it's pretty much over when the rims wear out?

Non-Shamal rims? Good luck finding a 21-hole rim with the holes in triplets to match the G3 lacing, plus the right ERD to re-use the spokes, since no generic spoke will fit the seat in the hubs which are designed for the fat aluminium spokes of a Shamal, and the right hole size in the rim to take the equally over sized nipples. Everything about Shamals is proprietary.

tl;dr
Yes, factory wheels are ready for the bin once the rims are shot

Is weight the reason you barely ever see Phil hubs in road wheels? Universally adored for track hubs, but I actually just had to check their site to see if they even make road hubs.

My 7900 C24s are at the end of their life, or will be fairly soon. Brake track almost worn through. I gather replacing the rims (like for like) is futile. They seem to use massive, thick straight pull Shimano spokes so am I right in thinking picking up any standard rims (orient express/HED Belgium, C2/Archetype) would not be an option? Even if posible, and I could find rims with the right drillings, I'm not sure about running 16/20 on handbuilt wheels. Factory wheels seem to work some magic that lets them get away with much fewer spokes.

So, started to thinking about saving for some bling/semi-bling wheels. Initally thought CK R45s, and one of the rims just mentioned, but they're silly expensive and a pain to service. Going through a Hope-love phase at the minute, so most likely route currently is Pro 3 with one of those rim options.

Just wanted to know I'm not missing a track with the Phils. They do seem particularly porky though in terms of weight.

Quick bit of advice needed....

In spring I purchased a Genesis Equilibrium - It was on the cycle to work scheme so I got the 520 frame and fork. Really enjoy riding it, but it is unsurprisingly weighty (11kg), so for next year I'd like to shed some grams. I was thinking that the best way to do this was to look at wheels, as the stock wheelset is not special by any means (front wheel including tyre and tube comes in at 1.5kg).

I'd be looking at a max budget of £400. Question is, would it be worth it to change the wheels at that price range, i.e. would there be a big enough change in ride feel to wax the dorrah? If so, what is good in that price range, both for OTP wheels and handbuilt ones (love the look of archetypes)?

Thanks for input!

Is weight the reason you barely ever see Phil hubs in road wheels? Universally adored for track hubs, but I actually just had to check their site to see if they even make road hubs.

My 7900 C24s are at the end of their life, or will be fairly soon. Brake track almost worn through. I gather replacing the rims (like for like) is futile. They seem to use massive, thick straight pull Shimano spokes so am I right in thinking picking up any standard rims (orient express/HED Belgium, C2/Archetype) would not be an option? Even if posible, and I could find rims with the right drillings, I'm not sure about running 16/20 on handbuilt wheels. Factory wheels seem to work some magic that lets them get away with much fewer spokes.

So, started to thinking about saving for some bling/semi-bling wheels. Initally thought CK R45s, and one of the rims just mentioned, but they're silly expensive and a pain to service. Going through a Hope-love phase at the minute, so most likely route currently is Pro 3 with one of those rim options.

Just wanted to know I'm not missing a track with the Phils. They do seem particularly porky though in terms of weight.

What about Royce hubs or dura ace? Both have better internals than the hope ones- and fewer issues should you want to go 11 speed at some point. Dura ace to hed Ardennes would be my number one do it all 'nice but not too nice' durable wheelset.

I did consider Royce, but thought that if I was to not go the CK route, I could go Hope and at the same time go for matching headset/BB/seat collar and have a nice matching set.

Dura Ace...there's something I hadn't even considered. I forgot that they do regular hubs in addition to their factory ones. Will look into that.

Is weight the reason you barely ever see Phil hubs in road wheels?

Phil's brand is a "no expense spare product" - including weight. They are more popular for touring/similar than for road (check out Peter White).

Given that a lot of road components focus on reducing weight, why would you buy a heavier more expensive product? Whereas for fixies, bling and bulletproofness are more important considerstions than weight.

Also there have always been more road hub options. Whereas if you think back to a few years ago there were limited fixed hub options, high- end road it was basically just Phil and Goldtech.

Quick bit of advice needed....

In spring I purchased a Genesis Equilibrium - It was on the cycle to work scheme so I got the 520 frame and fork. Really enjoy riding it, but it is unsurprisingly weighty (11kg), so for next year I'd like to shed some grams. I was thinking that the best way to do this was to look at wheels, as the stock wheelset is not special by any means (front wheel including tyre and tube comes in at 1.5kg).

I'd be looking at a max budget of £400. Question is, would it be worth it to change the wheels at that price range, i.e. would there be a big enough change in ride feel to wax the dorrah? If so, what is good in that price range, both for OTP wheels and handbuilt ones (love the look of archetypes)?

Thanks for input!

How heavy are the stock wheels? For 400 quid you should be able to buy/build something around 1500g - but probably heavier if you use something like an archetype.

What about rs80's?

Oh and yes- there will be a significant difference if your current wheels are around 2kg.

I did consider Royce, but thought that if I was to not go the CK route, I could go Hope and at the same time go for matching headset/BB/seat collar and have a nice matching set.

Dura Ace...there's something I hadn't even considered. I forgot that they do regular hubs in addition to their factory ones. Will look into that.

As usual dura ace stuff is great, and built to last. Also consider Tune if you want to shave some weight (though parts are a bitch to get which makes servicing them awkward). I often almost buy hope hubs but they're a bit of a halfway house. They fall between a 'nice' hub I would use for fancy wheels and a 'cheap' hub I would use for a winter build.

All that said - this is great value for money: http://www.hedwheels.com/proddetail.asp?prod=HopeArd

But I would also consider using novatec/ambrosio hubs as they are excellent and cheap. I think you can get un branded Ardennes runs from hed for 90 quid each

What are the wheels mainly used for? What type of riding e.g.

Stallion version pls

Well you have been off the bike for a bit..

How heavy are the stock wheels? For 400 quid you should be able to buy/build something around 1500g - but probably heavier if you use something like an archetype.

What about rs80's?

Oh and yes- there will be a significant difference if your current wheels are around 2kg.

Great, thanks for the tip. Not sure on exact weight of the wheels, but I took the front one off and popped it on the scales - c1.5kg for wheel/tube/tyre...

The specs are:

Hub - Shimano HB-2200 / FH-2200
Rims - Alex AT450 32H
Spokes - 32 no name

RS 80s look nice...