[Closed] Lightweight wheelset for a light rider

I've got exactly the same bike and have just built up a set of lightweight wheels for it over the weekend.

You can't go far wrong with Mavic 717s and Hope Pro IIs. Both hubs and rim are a fair bit lighter than your old 117s.

If you want to lose even more wheel weight then you could try Pro II hubs with Mavic 819 or Stans rims and go fully tubeless.

You could get away with pretty much anything I'd say. I'd avoid the ZTR Podium wheelset, as they're a bit 'race only', but otherwise it's very budget dependant, so how much are you considering spending?

I'd say the XT wheelset is far from a "no-brainer" as they're not light for the money! Tubeless can save weight, depending on your tubes and what not, by the time you've converted your existing rims I wouldn't bother. If you had Stan's rims there'd be less of a penalty in converting and it would be less hassle.

819s are heavy, try Stans Crest.

ZTR Olympics on ProII hubs, I'm 10.5 stone and been running these for over 12 months and still straight and true, Got mine from JRA, ride mendips, south wales and quantocks

If you're going for a wheelset as suggested above then get the Hope Hoops on Crest rims (there's a couple of weeks wait I believe), 150g lighter than the XC717s for the same price, and easier to run tubeless.

XM819s are also heavier than XC717s, so that's definitely not a weight saving.

To clarify, the 819s are quite a bit heavier than 717s, but the idea is that you save the weight of an inner tube, rim strips and/or whatever tubeless conversion strips you might fit.

I've never tried Stans, so can only comment from a Mavic point of view.

Thanks all - that gives me some good ideas.
Budget not fixed but was thinking say £300ish; could go higher if persuaded, particularly if going tubeless seemed worthwhile and required spend on new tyres.

Echo the Stans Crest recommendations - and if you want to start reducing spoke count, think about Pro3 Hubs on Stans rims - they did exist when 355's were the rim as the SP-XC6 and SP-XC3 I think, so could be the new Crest rim can be built on to those Pro3 hubs too.
With that you're down into one spoke gone and the wheel will be so out of true it'll be walking time I think, but it's a lightweight setup. And many folk say the strength of a wheel is in it's build quality, so a decent rim with less spokes will do a lot of folk.
I've done about 30 hours on SP-XC6's around Innerleithen and Glen Tress, tubeless, and Ten Under the Ben - still straight and true. Though have changed back to a heavier wheelset now just in case and want to keep the lighter ones for a looong time if I can.

Thanks all - that gives me some good ideas.
Budget not fixed but was thinking say £300ish; could go higher if persuaded, particularly if going tubeless seemed worthwhile and required spend on new tyres.

PS. If going tubeless and wanting lightweight, consider not buying tubeless ready tyres - just get normal ones if you're getting Stans rims and let the fluid fill up the pores in the tyre.
With Stans rims you only use a ridiculously thin and strong yellow tape to seal the rim, then just fit the tyre with some fluid and off you go. Sometimes a faff getting the tyre up inflated for the first time, but Ive managed the last lots with just a track pump. It's the beauty of the Stans rims setup in my opinion.
Worked for me with Rocket Rons, Nobby Nics, Maxxis Ardents

Or, instead of less spokes, you could get the skinnier 'race only' DT Swiss spokes.

There are no 'race only' DT spokes, the Revolution is the lightest, but isn't race only by any stretch.

For that budget I'd definitely get Hope Hoops on Crests. Don't waste your time with the Pro3/SP-XC3s etc, little weight saving for a fair chunk extra cash. Get yourself some Schwalbe tyres (Racing Ralphs are a good all round choice), run them tubeless, you'll drop a chunk there.

Alternatively you could go for ZTR hubs on Alpine rims with Revolution spokes, they'll weigh less, but cost more. Depends if cost/weight is the important factor!

I've recently bought hope hoops pro II with crest rims and, although it's early days yet, I can't detect any real loss of stiffness over my previous DT 5.1 rims, and the tyre profile is almost identical.

Have you tried the roval wheels? I run a set of traverse wheels on my hustler and have not had any problems (I am about 9 stone though). They are a great set, my friend has had his sets for years and taken them averywhere (and he is not that light!). I think the current set is about 1550g, which is great for a freeride/all mountain set. Or you can go for the roval controle xc set which is even lighter. My husband runs this on his cotic and has not had any problems, be is a wuss though. . . Both sets will run tubeless I think.

Simone

More expensive though. I've got Controle SLs, they're good, but I'd sooner custom build if I was spending that sort of money on wheels.

The 1200g Controle Carbons look very nice though!

Crests and xc-ray spokes on my light wheelset.

Weee..... after years on heavy wheels, they're proper fun.

Kind of get that re the XC3/XC6's - I only got them cos I couldn't get ProII Hubs + 355 or Crests - very bizarre situation but ended up being very happy with them in the end. Agree they're prob not much lighter though, so back to the OP question - Crests on ProII Hub sounds like a great idea.

i run tube hubs on stans olympic rims, with revelation spokes (1380g wheelset). And i'm 13st. and abuse them plenty with no problems. so i'd reckon your svelte self would be fine on the stans/hope set.

that should say tune hubs! not tube. durh

I've been very impressed with Stans ZTR hubs with Alpine rims. Stock from JRA weigh 1404g, look lovely and ride great. Still under £400 too, so hard to beat I reckon.

Don't bother with CX-Ray or Aerolite spokes, exactly the same weight as their non-bladed counterparts, harder to build on/true, and you're unlikely to break many spokes at your weight. IME having strong spokes just means the nipples break anyway!

ZTR Podiums here,much tougher than i thought they would be. Had them scince January and still true after lots of use that they where not really intended for.

A fair bit more money though, particularly as they're not going to be used for their intended use at all!

Don't bother with CX-Ray or Aerolite spokes, exactly the same weight as their non-bladed counterparts, harder to build on/true, and you're unlikely to break many spokes at your weight. IME having strong spokes just means the nipples break anyway!

CX-Ray are the same weight as Lazer (or Revs), but stronger. Also, I still have brass nipples, because, yes, alu nips are for crazys = ;87)

Oh, as for building, you should make sure you don't leave the spoke twisted when building with any spokes, when they're bladed it's just easier to see any twist. With normal spokes I stick some tape on to help me see any twisting.

So you bought the lightest possible spokes, then used heavy nipples! I'd have saved £100 on the spokes, gone for Super Comps or Revs and spent the money on the hubs or rims, probably save more weight!

They have a higher fatigue life yes, but I still say that unless you break a lot of spokes (which I can't see a 9 stone rider doing!) they're pretty pointless on an MTB. I've used CX-Rays in my last 3 sets of wheels FWIW.

The twisting isn't an issue when building particularly, more when truing, when nipples are nicely seized, brass nips will obviously counter this, but also makes using blindingly expensive and light spokes slightly pointless too!

Personally I'd go for Hope Pro 2s on either Crests or Alpines - they're value and easy to set up tubeless, so work out very light for good robust and easily servicable wheels.

However, if getting a set built I'd go for comps rather than revs. I've just had an uber light wheelset built and have still gone for comps rather than revs - I was going to go for revs but the wheel-builder (and VERY successful racer/coach) persuaded me that comps be would be much better as they build a much stiffer wheel and don't have a limited shelf life like revs. I was surprised, but he knows his stuff so I took his word for it that even at my weight (7.5 stone) revs aren't worth it... unless you're winning lots of races and rebuilding the wheels each season that is.

Limited shelf life with Revs? They have a lower fatigue strength yes, but they're not going to fold up under you after 366 days!

Comps are a very good all round spoke, I wouldn't go for anything else on an 'everyday' wheel. But IMO for a race wheel Revolutions are the way forward, even more so if you're using light rims and hubs!

I would also question if someone of your weight MM would really feel a noticeable difference in stiffness! Still, as you say, they will be stiffer, and tougher. Personally though for a light set of wheels I'd be prepared to forego those to a degree!

Pillar ti spokes for really light wheels anyway! Flextastic!

i'm riding wheels around the peak district, lake DC and the alps built from DT swiss 4.2 SL rims (same weight as Mavic X717), DT revolution spokes and novatec hubs, but just go for any hub that is light/cheap enough. hubs weight doesn't really matter that much as it's at the center of the rotating mass, so not worth it spending silly money.

haven't weighed my wheels but they're very fast and had no stability problems so far whatsoever.

. I've just had an uber light wheelset built and have still gone for comps rather than revs

If you went for Comps, they're evidently not 'uber light'.

a limited shelf life like revs

Total BS. All my wheels are built with revolutions. One wheel on my training bike is now almost seven years old without any problems. My race wheelset is almost three years old. Yes, I do weigh 59Kg, but that doesn't seem to be what's causing them to last so long, as the 14st [url= http://drj0nswanderings.blogspot.com/ ]Dr Jon[/url] has Revs on all his bikes. The man swears by the ride they give and their impressive longevity.

haven't weighed my wheels but they're very fast and had no stability problems so far whatsoever.

They'll be about 1600-1700g. Not light.

If you went for Comps, they're evidently not 'uber light'.

Well I didn't want to say it!

Specialized spec'd Revolutions on the Enduro when it was in it's burly 6" guise about 4 years ago, they're not just for silly light XC wheels.

Njee - like I said, I was surprised by what he said, I was fully set up for going with revs, but he was so amendment, I felt I had to trust him - after all, he has been racing professionally for years and is far more experienced than me.

To be fair though, I don't think he was saying they would break after a season, only that they would loose some of their tension and need more attention. Whereas comps would 'never let you down'.

I did once buy a secondhand set of 'race wheels' built with revs and they were [i]very[/i] flexy but then, I think someone far too heavy for them had been thrashing them and like you, I do wonder at my weight, whether I'd really notice any flex at all - even if ridden hard...

If you went for Comps, they're evidently not 'uber light'.

Oh alright Dougal, no need to be so pedantic is there? Surely 'uber light' is a question of opinion - to me, American Classics on Alpine rims are uber light - even with 'heavy' spokes. They're certainly lighter than most trail wheels. I apologise if my terminology offended you! 🙄 Perhaps 'fairly light but good all year round' would have been better. 😀

To be fair though, you guys have made me question my choice of spokes, after all, I am going on someone else's opinion and experience rather than my own, so perhaps I should change my mind - I don't think he's actually started on them yet so I probably could spec revs... I just don't want to feel like a turkey later down the line and for him to tell me, I told you so! 😳

I guess the other option is go for the full on ultra light and stiff (but very expensive CX-Rays. What do you reckon? Maybe on such nice hubs and rims it would be silly not to... and then at least we could all happily agree with them being 'uber light'! 😀

"PJM1974 - Member

To clarify, the 819s are quite a bit heavier than 717s, but the idea is that you save the weight of an inner tube, rim strips and/or whatever tubeless conversion strips you might fit."

819s would be a pretty bad choice for this, just because Mavic don't do a lightweight UST rim, there's no 817. It's a good plan but wrong manufacturer, Stans will be the better option here.

Cx rays are no stiffer than revs.

Lots of answers - thank you all - I didn't expect there to be so many weight weenies on this forum!

As Al says, no stiffness benefits with CX-Rays. In fact the only benefit of them is their very high fatigue strength, which I found just meant that nipples broke instead! I used to swear by them, but wouldn't bother in future.

Comps or Revs for my money.

The Germans seem to do lots of wheelsets with CX-Rays, I certainly wouldn't turn them down, but I wouldn't pay £100 extra for them either!

Cx rays are no stiffer than revs.

No, but they are stronger (not the same thing at all).

[b]Njee[/b], I'm not use alu nipples ever. Full stop. Really not worth the grams saved for the hassle they cause.

I want light, strong, serviceable wheels.

As Al says, no stiffness benefits with CX-Rays. In fact the only benefit of them is their very high fatigue strength, which I found just meant that nipples broke instead! I used to swear by them, but wouldn't bother in future.

Um... so the why not drop the weak link (the alu nipples) rather than reducing the durability of the wheel as a whole?

I agree with you on alu nips, pointless unless weight is the most important factor. Which for me, on wheels for racing it is!

My point was that [b]IMO [/b]the only real reason to spend £100 on CX-Rays is their low weight and their strength:weight ratio, if you're using brass nips it seems a bit pointless, I'd rather build with Super Comps, which weigh about 30g more for 64, and will give a stiffer wheel, and spend the extra £100 on some lighter rims/hubs.

YMMV

Pointless? Best balance of weight/durability/maintainability, which for a non-racer like me is what I want. I don't see any point in using strong spokes with fragile nipples. I'd say using a combination of CX-Ray and alu nipples is pointless.

If you don't want/need durability, then yes, revs/lazers + alu nips best combo.

As an aside... I've found lazers to be far more durable than revs, despite there being no good reason for this to be the case.

I don't see any point in using strong spokes with fragile nipples.

I didn't use CX-Rays because they were strong, I used them because they were light, their strength was just a byproduct. Revolutions are the same weight, and I'm not heavy/don't ride like an oaf, so they're also strong enough for my usage on a race wheelset.

For any every day wheelset I'd rather have something that built into a stiffer wheel, whilst costing far less, and spend the money elsewhere, as I said, repeatedly. Again, that's in my opinion, and yours is clearly different.