Road Wheels & Road Wheel Recommendations?

I just use the squishy rating. Press down with thumb, check that I can deflect the tyre a bit and ride off.
Just managed to fit 47c into my cross frame so may need to recalibrate my thumb

For off-road use. I'd say run as low as you can, without banging your rims when riding down concrete steps.

I actually do this^

So not the "use the floor pump until it's an effort, then twang the tire and if the ring is high enough and you're slightly scared to go near it, the pressure's nearly sufficient.

Thanks for the dumbed down version, everyone. I'll try the calculator, but a couple of things bother me... the calculator doesn't allow for rim width. How do/should you adjust for different rims? And how should you decide on rim and tyre width combos?

Are there any implicttions for puncture resistence?

Check out the table on Sheldon browns site. Its far stricter than you need to be though.

Also, wider rims should reduce snakebits (alledgedly)

Hed say this about their C2 wide rim

Q. Dear Mr. Hedtech, how much PSI should I run in my C2 rims?
A. Our wider C2 rims should be run at AT LEAST 11% lower pressure than you would use in the same tires on a 19mm rim. I weigh 165 lbs and run 22mm tires at 80-90 psi. Because the C2 rim is wider, your tire's air volume is greater than it would be on a 19mm rim and PSI needs to decrease.

Excessive pressure will do two things:

• Compress the rim slightly and decrease spoke tension
  
• Harden the tire to such a degree that it no longer has the small amount of flex that it would have at a lower pressure or on a narrower rim. The flex is both lateral and vertical. In the case of the wheel rubbing the brakes or frame, lateral flex is what we are concerned with. As frames and wheels have gotten stiffer and stiffer over the past decade, torsional force on a bike has gotten more noticeable.
  
  

so........... i got some a23's built up a few months ago. just sat here waiting for my next build to take shape. (not long to go) i put some schwalbe ultremo on them and inflated to 145psi about a month ago. ive just read the above post. deflated to the tyres to 85psi and spent the last hour nervously playing around with my lovely new wheels . ..........

will they spring back into shape ? will i have fucked them up ? do i just put a turn on each spoke nipple to increase the tension ? shall i take them down to my local bike shop an endure the head shaking and sarcasm and chuckles and deep intake of breaths ?

the spoke tension doesnt feel that loose on the wheels , with my fingers , but , would my fingers be able to tell ????

...........aaaarrrgggg.

Probably will be closer to 1600g giving how manufacturer tend to overestimated their claim weight.

I'd guess you'd be closer to your target - assuming the build uses Cx Ray and Alloy nipples based on the weights you quoted. Not considering Stans for tubeless? about 70 grams lighter per rim too .. or a lower spoke count?

Question about the hubs though, where are you going to get them from? Direct?

Direct, you can contact him and get it directly, forumeanger have good experience with him.

Thanks Ed .. They're certainly an interesting weight and I've read positive reviews of the fixed hubs

so........... i got some a23's built up a few months ago. just sat here waiting for my next build to take shape. (not long to go) i put some schwalbe ultremo on them and inflated to 145psi about a month ago. ive just read the above post. deflated to the tyres to 85psi and spent the last hour nervously playing around with my lovely new wheels . ..........

will they spring back into shape ? will i have fucked them up ? do i just put a turn on each spoke nipple to increase the tension ? shall i take them down to my local bike shop an endure the head shaking and sarcasm and chuckles and deep intake of breaths ?

the spoke tension doesnt feel that loose on the wheels , with my fingers , but , would my fingers be able to tell ????

...........aaaarrrgggg.

Spin them and if they are still true probably not a problem; I think you would only have had a real problem if riding them and actually applying a load to the wheel whilst it was being massively compressed.

cheers feller.

they seem fine. i was just worried. the spokes did feel a little loose at first inspection. then maybe went a little stiffer after deflation. maybe it was just my imagination. you lot had me worried there for bit

As another quick check just pluck the spokes as you would a guitar string and listen out if any sound significantly lower in pitch to their neighbours on each side. You will know if any sound 'wrong'

after reading this thread, i spent a good few nervous hours yesterday tapping squeezing and pinging the wheels. if there has been any significant damage. i cant tell. so , i reckon theyll be cool.

cheers feller.

For off-road use. I'd say run as low as you can, without banging your rims when riding down concrete steps.

I actually do this^

Problem I find is when I run my front tyre (Maxxis Crossmark) at a low pressure the bike starts steering itself. It feels like I'm fighting the tyre every time I turn as it wants to go in a straight line

Well that site tells me to use 110 when I put it in the bottom calculator and 73 & 113 in the middle calculator

Edit: I've actually got a 25 on the back now it's saying 95, those pressures don't seem right to me.......

Now I'm thinking more like 100 front and 110 rear (mainly cos I like to roll fast but am a bit slow in the corners so a little less pressure helps with more grip)

What cha think of that?

Problem I find is when I run my front tyre (Maxxis Crossmark) at a low pressure the bike starts steering itself. It feels like I'm fighting the tyre every time I turn as it wants to go in a straight line

Tyre squirm. Partly to do with have the tyre nicely bed, partly do to a flexi sidewall. Tubeless removes the first issue a fair bit, and sometimes the second one slightly.

Trial and error is the only way to find how low you can go. Just remember to note it down.

Yes have the same problem on the 'cross bike too, however it's as much the conditions as the pressure. Road the trails on my 'cross bike and felt like I had the perfect pressure a week later and after a heavy downpoor the same trails on the same pressure the tyres had a mind of their own on the steepest sections! Admittedly I was chasing guys with 160mm + travel compared to my 0...

I have 42mm tyres on the cross bike (on xc 29er rims, chosen for width) for winter. Running low PSI for grip on lumpy ice, and compacted snow. When the roads clear, the understeer is nasty.

Hmmm. I've been riding on some Bontrager Select wheels for the last 5 years (they came on the bike). It seems when they were available they were £90. I'm 95kg and they've survived and stayed true.

Is there a (shimano 9-speed) wheelset for under £250 that could survive a fat b'stard and make me even faster?

I should probably be more specific. I was referring to the Bontrager Race Lite wheelset. My replacement is unrideable now after 3 weeks on my bike. So I have given up altogether and abandoned my bike until I can get hold of these for my build

So glad to see they make road hubs
http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/shop/goldtec-road-hubs/

I have been running these on my fixed work horse for over 3 years, covering thousands of miles and they haven't even needed truing once :)

I should probably be more specific. I was referring to the Bontrager Race Lite wheelset. My replacement is unrideable now after 3 weeks on my bike. So I have given up altogether and abandoned my bike until I can get hold of these for my build

So glad to see they make road hubs
http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/shop/goldtec-road-hubs/

I have been running these on my fixed work horse for over 3 years, covering thousands of miles and they haven't even needed truing once :)
Blimey! Hubs twice the price of the wheelset they're replacing! That sounds like a decent upgrade.

By the time I have finished my wheels they will be worth more than everything else combined, including the frame :)
I can't take risks, I want a set of wheels I can rely on and feel safe that they aren't just going to randomly collapse on me.

If anyone is interested, I will shortly have a pair of Shimano RS10 wheels to sell. The back will be brand new and the front covered about 500 miles. I should give these pieces of shit away really as I would not advise using them unless you are about 4 stone. But hey, I need to fund these things

My bike has carbon forks with drop outs for qr being a road bike, would a track hub fit/work with changing things?

I'm thinking it'd be fine, if just a little tricky to tighten up?

It'll be fine if it's a steel frame, anything else you'll have to respace the hub

not sure how the frame material factors into the wheel going into the forks?

A front QR hub and a track hub should be interchangeable as far as the fork dropouts go.

not sure how the frame material factors into the wheel going into the forks?

A front QR hub and a track hub should be interchangeable as far as the fork dropouts go.

Thanking you :D

Anyone bought/had a tested on these?

seem like a good buy, was looking at some orient express carbons but the PX ones seem very nice.

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPPX60CCL/planet_x_60mm_carbon_clincher_wheelset

So I'm looking at spending 300ish on a wheel set, was thinking of hope hubs and cxp33 rims, but they appear to LOOK a bit shit compared to some of the factory wheels out there. My thinking on the hopes was they'd be nice and strong to commute on where as some radial/2cross things might not, and I'm struggling to find a strong looking wheel set for that budget.

Or am I being daft and really a set of shimano radial jobbies will be fine. The only things the wheels need to be is shimano 10 speed fit, around 300 quid, and clincher..............