New and cheap wheels for SS commuting - Opinions welcome

DirkVoodoo

Right, I have decided it is time to get rid of the weakest part of my commuting setup: the wheels. EDIT: Post refers to "Single speed" commuting by the way, nothing to do with the Waffen SS.

At the moment I am riding the stock wheels: Alex R500 rims matched to 32 spoke front and rear high flanged aluminium hubs (brand unknown) with 14 gauge steel spokes.

Unlike the alex rims I had previously on a Giant, these wheels have been nearly trouble free in 1.5 years of hard Irish commuting. I have only had to do minor truing once, although recently a noise from the front turned out to be a nipple working it's way loose.

Why change them?

1) Weight. They are quite heavy. Bikeradar list the front wheel as 1420g and the rear as 1750g. Certainly this includes the weight of the tyres, tubes and axles, but still some weight saving in this department would be nice.

2) Probably most important: cup and cone bearings. The front wheel has been fine, but the rear wheel, even after removing play and tensioning the chain again, one ride later there is play in the wheel. I am at the limits of acceptable tightness, anymore and the axle starts to stick. I have removed the cones and regreased the bearings, so my conclusion is simply that they are poor quality. I would prefer a wheel with sealed bearings.

I've been looking around (fixed gear freak had some nice wheels, but they are based in Santa Cruz and I am unsure about delivery, customs, etc.).

The main criteria for a replacement are price and sealed bearings. Obviously shaving a few grams off would be nice, but not expected at my price (< 200 euro). A rear wheel only would also be acceptable if the total price comes in over budget.

I came across these on on-one's website but as with a lot of planet-x stock, they aren't heavy on details. They look pretty good, robust even. I'm undecided on the rims, I need a brand name/model to plug into google.

FergusF

Hi Dirk, I am also on the lookout for a cheap fixed / SS wheel to convert an old steel racer, came across this from SJS which might suit, (70STG) they do have sealed bearings, no details about weight though. They have a couple of fixed wheelsets on Mavic Open Sport rims available for 170STG too, not sure if those have flip-flop hubs though. Also a wheel building service but I'm sure that would be pricier.

I was thinking of giving them a ring as I also need some other bits like chain set, BB, etc. I have no connection with the company but have found them really helpful in the past for recommending parts for other projects I have done. I'm sure they'd be able to sort you out.

Re ordering from the US, I am very wary after having been stung for some hefty customs changes recently, this never happened before so I think customs are cracking down. If you do order from a US site I'd ring them beforehand and see if they can send it labelled gift or sample so you don't get stung!

Hope this helps.

DirkVoodoo

Thanks for the info Fergus, much appreciated!

Greyspoke

I've had a couple of sets of ss/fixed wheels built up by Alf Webb of www.webbline.co.uk and I've been pretty happy with them.
Basically he'll build up whatever you want on the hubs that he supplies. Hubs seem good enough quality- black or silver, sealed bearings, hollow axles. The wheels I've had were built on Mavic Open Pro rims and Ambrosio rims. Both sets cost around £140stg but p&p was rather high at 30+. Now I've noticed his website layout has changed a bit and he doesn't seem to advertise the fact that he builds the wheels (and maybe his prices have risen too) but he'd be worth contacting for a quote anyway.

Caroline_ie

Got a pair of wheels built by Ribble. Mavic open pro rims and miche hubs, 32 spokes. Great wheels, light and reliable. I paid 175GBP last summer for them.

souter

Got a cheapo on-one hub built into new rim for 70e from your man in temple bar (I supplied the hub) after grinding through the first hub.
Wandering slightly off topic, I asked your man about the charge shaker hub, http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/shaker-rear-hub-ec019794 but he was suspicious about allen key track nuts. Is there any grounds for this, as would be very handy to replace the monkey wrench I have to carry with an allen key?

btw, regretting going for the v rims - means I can't use my mini kryptonite anymore.

souter

... so the velocity rims weren't the Mae West, pain in the parts to fix a puncture, another spoke broke, the hub has the freewheel ground into it - time to get a proper wheel, I'm looking for built wheel, robust, easy to fit say 25c gatorskins to. Also need flip-flop hub, think it's standard 11cm axle (for singlecross)
So any recommendations, < 150 ?
Might also try the place bigged up here http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055721282&