help with wheels

[guitarsark]

I'm looking for a nice upgrade for my stock wheelset that came on my 2004 RM Slayer 30 (low end mavics w/low end shimano hubs). The higher end slayers have mavic XM 317 w/ XT hubs so that may be an option, also looking at Mavic Crosslands complete set. any suggestions. $300 sounds about right, even less, better. I am very light weight and looking to give my bike a lighter feel but still want good wheels for technical riding. thanks, karen

[DAVID J]

You might look into buying new hubs and have them laced to you Mavics.Hope hubs are reasonable in weight/price.

[slapheadmofo]

Lighter rims and tires will contribute a lot more to a lighter feel than will hubs. Personally XT hubs work fine for me for trail riding. I'd guess a set of those laced to some light Mavics would be in your price range, maybe even w/ a little left over for lighter tires (don't hold me to it though).

[Quo Fan]

My hub preferences are Shimano XT, or, when I can afford them, Chris King ISO hubs. Oddly, the feel of both hubs is similar, except for the trademark buzzing of the Kings. I like to use Sun Singletrack rims. I'm not a light person, and these rims work well for me. A good combination of light and strong.

[DAVID J]

Jensen has hope bulbs on x717 for $289,1790g w/o skewers.xt hubs on 223 for $170,2350 w/skewers.Even if the rims were the same and you pulled out the skewers you'd still have a 200g difference.Xt hubs are heavy,un-sprung weight.

[slapheadmofo]

Jensen has hope bulbs on x717 for $289,1790g w/o skewers.xt hubs on 223 for $170,2350 w/skewers.Even if the rims were the same and you pulled out the skewers you'd still have a 200g difference.Xt hubs are heavy,un-sprung weight.


From what I see, the weight savings of Bulbs over XTs is only ~60 grams, all in the front hub. The Hope rear is listed as slightly heavier than the XT (Hopes @ 555g/~$250, Shimanos @ 613g/~$90) Dunno if the Hope weight includes skewers - if not, then they may even come out a little heavier. Switching from wire to kevlar bead tires is a cheaper and more effective way to lose weight than buying chi-chi hubs. (Of course, I gave up on the weight-weenie thing a million years ago in favor of durability, so I'm not much of a source wrt gram counting) :)

[bdee]

Rotational weight (or less of it) is where it's at. Go with a lighter rim and tires + tubes as was mentioned before and you'll feel faster. IMHO when it comes to hubs reliability always beats weight and aesthetic concerns. Shimano XTs are easily serviceable and work well, the freehubs last quite a while too. And they come in black, which goes with everything.

[MTBME]

Karen, I just ordered a pair of Mavic 317's built up with Shimano XT Disc hubs front and rear for $199.00 at PricePoint.com. Another 20 dollars for shipping and handling. I should get them on Friday. Check out the link. By the way, $199 gets you the black rims. I belive the package for the silver rims is about $169.00

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/11997-365_MAVDW1-3-Parts-75-Wheelsets/Shimano-XT-Disc-Wheelset-w_-Mavic-317-Rims.htm

[truckboy]

Karen,
I bought a set of Crosslands from JRA. I think they are 2004 models. I'm quite happy with them. They are light and we will see how strong, plus you can use tubeless if you ever want to go that route. They even have v-brake surfaces as well as disk mounts. Very versatile. I just can't justify Crossmax.

[guitarsark]

those are the two i'm debating between. the pricepoint set for $199 or the crosslands for $270 installed at JRA
are both equally good, strong, light? I heard the crosslands can be a bit heavy. my bike is heavy as it is and i would like to lighten it up a bit.
ks

[digger]

One thing to consider is the width of the rim. If you like 2.3 or larger tires the *17 mavic rims are kind of narrow. The *19 Mavics are something like 26mm outside, the *17s, 24. A couple of us have had our local shop build XT/X719 wheels and this is a good setup for something a little wider and beefier. But I have been eyeing the Crosslands and will probably get a set of these soon. These seem to use a *19 style rim. And when there is a problem, you won't get that look when you bring those Pricepoint wheels into the shop with some problem. Mavic is just up in Haverhill too and have given a quick turnaround in the past.

DS