Wheel builders, info please!

Hypothetical question:

If I was a 230lbs rider (hack) with a Norco Shore who primarily rides Whistler Bike Park, with some SFU/Fromme days thrown in, and I wanted to build a light but strong wheelset on the cheap to lighten my bike a bit….what should I buy?

hope hubs laced to 721 or 823 mavic rims purchased from CRC.

If. . . I wanted to build a light but strong wheelset on the cheap

ask keith bontrager

I figured the first post would say "light, strong [HTML_REMOVED] cheap"…you can pick 2 :lol:

Thanks for the info so far, keep it coming boys. I don't need the lightest wheels ever, or the strongest wheels ever…just a nice combo of the two.

The reason is my Shore weighs about 44lbs and I'm 230lbs. I'd like to lighten the bike a bit, and I'm working on lightening the rider as well!

I've had really good luck with the Bontrager Big Earls. I've not been kind to mine and they are holding up just fine.

Hopes on 721's sounds like a nice combo to me as well. I'll be going Hope/Hadley on 729s for my next build, but I don't really care too much about weight.

well, what do you have now? if you're truckin' on dual doubletracks, well, pretty much anything will be better than that.

well, what do you have now? if you're truckin' on dual doubletracks, well, pretty much anything will be better than that.

Right now I've got an old Big Earl hub and rim on the front, and the stock '06 Shore Axiom hub and Sun rim on the rear.

hope hubs laced to 721 or 823 mavic rims purchased from CRC.

this

I'm 215lb hack and tried light wheels in the past without success.

Hope/721 has worked for me.

As for the strong/light/cheap thing…..if you buy from CRC you can have all three.

I'm an honest 260lbs and I have used the Hadley/721 combo, and now am using the Hadley 823 combo.

Both are great, but I vote for the Hope Pro2/721's from CRC for the win.

I'm pretty hard on everything I own and I'm 255lbs right now, and the Hope/721 combo works just great for me. I've been running primarily 721's for the past 6 years and everytime I go with another rim, it's usually heavier and/or more expensive with no additional life-span. Plus the 721 gives a great tire profile.

I bought mine from CRC, too, and paid very little extra to go with DB spokes (which are more resistant to fatigue failure), and have only had to tune them up a few times this past season.

That said, if you don't normally work on your own bike, it might be worth it for you to pay an extra $100 to get the shop support - not sure about the canadian exchange rate with the UK, but right now you can find shops in the US that'll sell the same combo for only about $100 more.

That said, if you don't normally work on your own bike, it might be worth it for you to pay an extra $100 to get the shop support - not sure about the canadian exchange rate with the UK, but right now you can find shops in the US that'll sell the same combo for only about $100 more.

in Canada the retail price of the rear hub is more then the price of the CRC wheelset WITH the 823 rims.

the only place in Vancouver(Coquitlam actually) that will come close to a decent price will be Overtime Sports(i've not gone to every shop and price checked, but i have been to a large number)

Any reason to pick the 721 over the 823?

I would like to go tubeless and would buy UST tires, so the 823 would probably suit me better, no?

Any reason to pick the 721 over the 823?

I would like to go tubeless and would buy UST tires, so the 823 would probably suit me better, no?

It depends. I didn't have any luck using UST Maxxis tire with 823's. The rim bead would cut the tire bead and end up with what looked like a pinch flat and rendering the UST tire to non tubeless. That was a couple of years ago though, they may have changed the rim design since. 823's worked very well tubeless with non tubeless tires of pretty much any brand though.

The 721 is lighter, easier to build/maintain/replace. A lot of wheel builders really hate tubeless rims and have a surcharge for building them because they take a lot more time.

also to be noted, i think that the 823 has a stronger side wall then the 721….