Gravel bike wheel suggestions

[cameron_15]

Hi all,

Looking for suggestions for a new wheelset for my disc brake road bike. The bike is about 7 years old and has served me very well as a commuter/roadie/general town bike but the rear wheel is starting to give in with semi-regularly broken spokes and crunchy freehub body bearings. The hubs are an OEM Marin set with a basic 3 pawl system and sealed bearings. They've been fine over the years but arent't really worth servicing at present.

I've seen a set of new Dt Swiss Spline M1900 wheels that I can get for $350 with centerlock adapters or some Novatec 4in1 WTB wheels from Cycling Deal at $287 including some 29er tyres which i'd likely flog off. https://www.cyclingdeal.com.au/buy/wtb-stp-i25-mountain-bike-bicycle-novatec-hubs-tir/WH-WB-M3-MU

The DT Swiss wheels have the brand name but only have a 3 pawl system with 30 points of engagement which seems quite low. The Novatecs appear to have a 5 pawl freehub which should be a bit nicer.

Searching for road or gravel orientated disc wheels yeilds only expensive sets which is why I'm looking at 29er wheels. Is anyone aware of any decent affordable road disc wheelsets to check out?

I currently run 700x32 tyres but also run 700x25's so narrower rims would probably be better.

 

[leitch]

Novatec hubs are very reliable. Zero street cred, but they won't die. I've got a set on my commuter built to H+Son Archetypes that have done 5 years of all weather commuting and some muddy CX without skipping a beat or any sort of maintenance to speak of. That said, that wheelset on Cyclingdeal is going to be ~2200g which is a lot to haul around on the road.

What's your budget? A pair of Hunts is <$600: https://www.huntbikewheels.cc/colle...vel-disc-road-cx-wheelset-1589g-24deep-24wide

 

[Calvin27]

I've seen a set of new Dt Swiss Spline M1900 wheels that I can get for $350 with centerlock adapters or some Novatec 4in1 WTB wheels from Cycling Deal at $287 including some 29er tyres which i'd likely flog off. https://www.cyclingdeal.com.au/buy/wtb-stp-i25-mountain-bike-bicycle-novatec-hubs-tir/WH-WB-M3-MU

Got DT P1800 (one below their ratchet hubs) and also have a set of the novatechs. The novatechs are a bit more heavy but do the job and quite sturdy. Go for DT if you want the bling, but the novatechs work well.

 

[Daniel Hale]

either the dt or novatec will be fine, wiggle house brand prime has some affordable options which come taped w valves to go tubeless, prime disc 399, they look to have dropped the 250 pair which weighed 1700g, were excellent
the hunt wheels are getting good reviews everywhere, popular with cx/gravel crew

 

[ozzybmx]

What's the hub fit/spacing for front and back ?

 

[creaky]

I’d be looking to get something with rims rated for at least 90psi for 28C tyres, in case you want to run it as a road bike. Not sure if those wide MTB rims are designed for those pressures?

I’ve got a set of Stans Grail rims, which have been solid and suitable for road, gravel and CX tyres. Hubs are average but no problems in several years. I also run a set with (many builds old) American Classic MTB tubeless rims but would not run road pressures on those.

H plus son are a good budget option for a custom build. DT 350 on the rear at least allows such reasonable value flexibility converting from various axle standards and road vs mtb freehubs.

 

[Oddjob]

Check out TWE wheels. I've got a couple of sets of wheels built by Greg at TWE and they have been bullet proof, and I'm a heavy rider who has been known to break Shimano XT cassette spiders and now Hope freehub bodies.

He uses Novatec hubs but can use anything you send him.



Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[cameron_15]

Thanks for the input everyone! Seems wiggle has a few good options.

Currently running quick release and 10 speed so would like something future proof that can take 12mm road axles for when the time comes.

I do use the bike for road riding so a lighter wheelset would be best.

 

[ozzybmx]

Thanks for the input everyone! Seems wiggle has a few good options.

Currently running quick release and 10 speed so would like something future proof that can take 12mm road axles for when the time comes.

I do use the bike for road riding so a lighter wheelset would be best.

There was a set of Oval Concepts CX wheels for sale on fakebook marketplace a week or two ago for $100, IIRC they were new take offs but likely the road UCI standard 100x12/142x12.