Wheels worn - move hubs? - off load wheels?
Discussion
I have some ultegra wheels - I can no longer see the wear indicators after only 750 miles - I do weigh nearly 90 kg and train on long steep hills though so maybe this is normal. Lightweight rims do have ridiculously thin walls now and I remember the indicators looking very shallow when new.
I'm planning on a long tour so want some reliability and them to last more than 1k miles. Super lightweight not so important but still want something half decent - looking at stuff around the £120 mark like Fulcrum 7 alloy wherlset - I presume they will be fairly light and the fact they aren't super light means a slightly thicker rim.
I like my shimano hums tho - would it be possible to move these across? Economical to do so?
Lastly - is there a marked for my old wheels? Obviously stating the amount of wear.
I'm planning on a long tour so want some reliability and them to last more than 1k miles. Super lightweight not so important but still want something half decent - looking at stuff around the £120 mark like Fulcrum 7 alloy wherlset - I presume they will be fairly light and the fact they aren't super light means a slightly thicker rim.
I like my shimano hums tho - would it be possible to move these across? Economical to do so?
Lastly - is there a marked for my old wheels? Obviously stating the amount of wear.
If the hubs only have 750 (wow!) or so miles on them then they have eons of life in them. Even with the wear in the rims they still definitely have a value.
You could buy a new set of wheels that would be perfectly decent for less than it would cost to get the hub rebuilt on new rims. However, If you can find a decent wheelbuilder local to you then the cost to swap to some new rims won't be ridiculous.
I dare say though that despite all the current hooha about them you sound like just the sort of chap that needs a bike with disc brakes.
You could buy a new set of wheels that would be perfectly decent for less than it would cost to get the hub rebuilt on new rims. However, If you can find a decent wheelbuilder local to you then the cost to swap to some new rims won't be ridiculous.
I dare say though that despite all the current hooha about them you sound like just the sort of chap that needs a bike with disc brakes.
Certainly shop around - I asked my local bike shop and they wanted more to supply a pair of new rims & put on old hubs I had than they sell whole similar wheels for. The said £40 labour per wheel and then said they wouldn't re use spokes or nipples from the original build so wanted £1 per spoke so for the mountain bike wheels in question £72 before the rim; then they got really comical and said the rims I wanted were £100 each so to use my old hubs £173 X 2 = £346 they had a pair of wheels with the same rim and more expensive list price hubs hanging up in the shop for £330.
The trouble you have is that the Ultegra wheelset is 16 front and 20 rear spoke, 20 hole rims are ten a penny and you could easily rebuild the wheels with something like a H Plus Son Archeype or DT R460 to get a modern wide, semi aero rim:
Rim £55 each
Spokes ~ £20 for Sapim Race or Laser each wheel
Labour £30-45 each wheel
So for £210 ish you'd have a nice pair of wheels on nice decent hubs, FYI my mocal shop charge around £260 for a H Plus Son Archeype build as above but on 105 hubs.
The difficult comes in finding a decent 16 hole front, one option is the Velocity Deep V, but they are American and hard to get here http://www.wheelbuilder.com/velocity-deep-v-clinch...
Halo do a 16h in their 30mm aero rim and are not too pricey at £50 each: http://www.halorims.com/products/part/RMHAMR20 but they are only available in blue, red or white!
Replacement Shimano Ultegra rims are pricey, so that rules that out: http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/4759/products/shimano-wh...
You could also use a 32 hole rim and lace every other but that is a bit ghetto and you'd probably find the bike shop won't sign it off.
Other option is carbon rims, loads available in 16 hole, but you're looking at £149 each minimum, i.e from Planet X.
Wheels like the Ultegras, Zondas, Fulcrum etc make hand builts at around £250 - 300 look expensive because they are normally heavier and to most that equals worse, but you have just discovered why factory built wheels come in at those price points with better specs, they have to scrimp somewhere and rim quality is obviously the point on that wheelset.
Rim £55 each
Spokes ~ £20 for Sapim Race or Laser each wheel
Labour £30-45 each wheel
So for £210 ish you'd have a nice pair of wheels on nice decent hubs, FYI my mocal shop charge around £260 for a H Plus Son Archeype build as above but on 105 hubs.
The difficult comes in finding a decent 16 hole front, one option is the Velocity Deep V, but they are American and hard to get here http://www.wheelbuilder.com/velocity-deep-v-clinch...
Halo do a 16h in their 30mm aero rim and are not too pricey at £50 each: http://www.halorims.com/products/part/RMHAMR20 but they are only available in blue, red or white!
Replacement Shimano Ultegra rims are pricey, so that rules that out: http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/4759/products/shimano-wh...
You could also use a 32 hole rim and lace every other but that is a bit ghetto and you'd probably find the bike shop won't sign it off.
Other option is carbon rims, loads available in 16 hole, but you're looking at £149 each minimum, i.e from Planet X.
Wheels like the Ultegras, Zondas, Fulcrum etc make hand builts at around £250 - 300 look expensive because they are normally heavier and to most that equals worse, but you have just discovered why factory built wheels come in at those price points with better specs, they have to scrimp somewhere and rim quality is obviously the point on that wheelset.
JustinF said:
Buy new rims, lace them up to your hubs with the existing spokes, get them somwhere close to true (you can easily do this with no experience and a little light reading/youtube), pay your LBS £20 for truing rather than £40 for building+spokes.
All good and well but he needs a 16 hole rim for the front hub, not many around!Matt_N said:
JustinF said:
Buy new rims, lace them up to your hubs with the existing spokes, get them somwhere close to true (you can easily do this with no experience and a little light reading/youtube), pay your LBS £20 for truing rather than £40 for building+spokes.
All good and well but he needs a 16 hole rim for the front hub, not many around!torqueofthedevil said:
I'm planning on a long tour so want some reliability and them to last more than 1k miles. Super lightweight not so important but still want something half decent - looking at stuff around the £120 mark like Fulcrum 7 alloy wherlset - I presume they will be fairly light and the fact they aren't super light means a slightly thicker rim.
I've done 2,800 miles on a set of Fulcrum 7s, and they're nowhere near wearing out yet. Most of that has been London commuting, so plenty of braking, and I've dropped from 125kg to 110kg in the time I've been using them, so you're a complete lightweight in comparison! 
750 miles?!
Have you done a visual dishing check?
Saying that, I was in the LBS the other day and a guy was in after his Mavic Ksyrium having had the rim give up on him, this despite him being Froome-esque in stature.
I'd love to see a test that compares a light rider dragging the brakes vs a heavier rider who brakes less (but has to stop from a faster speed).
Have you done a visual dishing check?
Saying that, I was in the LBS the other day and a guy was in after his Mavic Ksyrium having had the rim give up on him, this despite him being Froome-esque in stature.
I'd love to see a test that compares a light rider dragging the brakes vs a heavier rider who brakes less (but has to stop from a faster speed).
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