Race/Trail Wheelset for NJ

[soulchild]

"the Valor’s carbon rim lay-up is engineered to absorb radial vibrations and impacts adding suspension to a bike, making the ZTR Valor Carbon the most advanced wheelset NoTubes has ever produced. Non-compliant heavy rims that deliver a harsh, abusive ride have become the standard from most companies producing carbon rims. The ZTR Valor utilizes a construction that is both elastic and strong. Stan's NoTubes has constructed a light weight carbon fiber rim design not just to be stronger than aluminum but also to perform better in real world riding conditions."

I don't speak fancy talk 😀

I never liked being the captain

 

[Monkey Soup]

Hadley hubs and Spank 295 Trails. I9 hubs are nice, but dollar for dollar the Hadley's are better.

 

[jackx]

Ugh, so many optionnzzzzz...

I have a 2011 Specialized Epic Comp and needed a new wheel set this year. I was looking at many of the options mentioned here, I think. I was considering the Specialized Carbon wheel set for $1200 or Light-Bicycle with Hopes or Chris Kings.

I considered the I9 Torch wheel set, but I thought it was a lot of money for aluminum rims. I really liked the look of the straight-pull spokes and hubs, but thought it could be a pain to get replacement spokes.

And I wasn't sure if I wanted to put $1200 into that bike and so in the end I decided to go with the stock Stan's Arch EX with 3.30 hubs. I figured I could put the other $500 towards a 27.5+ 3.0 bike or cyclocross race fees.

The Stan's hubs seem to be a vast improvement over the crap joy tech freewheel or whatever 142+ stock hub came with the bike. BUT, I really do not like downgrade to having a QR skewer up front. I much preferred the Specialized axel QR-thing with the oversized end caps used for front wheel.

Good luck @The Heckler.

 

[grilledcheeseking]

I have a 2011 Specialized Epic Comp and needed a new wheel set this year. I was looking at many of the options mentioned here, I think. I was considering the Specialized Carbon wheel set for $1200 or Light-Bicycle with Hopes or Chris Kings.

I considered the I9 Torch wheel set, but I thought it was a lot of money for aluminum rims. I really liked the look of the straight-pull spokes and hubs, but thought it could be a pain to get replacement spokes.

And I wasn't sure if I wanted to put $1200 into that bike and so in the end I decided to go with the stock Stan's Arch EX with 3.30 hubs. I figured I could put the other $500 towards a 27.5+ 3.0 bike or cyclocross race fees.

The Stan's hubs seem to be a vast improvement over the crap joy tech freewheel or whatever 142+ stock hub came with the bike. BUT, I really do not like downgrade to having a QR skewer up front. I much preferred the Specialized axel QR-thing with the oversized end caps used for front wheel.

Good luck @The Heckler.

330 converts to thru. Not sure about the "specialized qr thing" tho, so maybe thats a moot point.

 

[Santapez]

I'm going to vote No on the crests. I'm not fast or really heavy but I've already dinged up my rims pretty bad and definitely notice the flex. Moreso on the 29" rims (32x) than the 26" rims (32x)

BHS hubs are nice. I've used both their older Rotaz (great engagement, shitty build quality...) and newer ones.

If I was doing it over again I'd go with the light-bicycles rims. You have the option of getting Hope and other hubs directly from them. Pricing it out their full wheel builds are reasonably priced, although I have no idea on the quality. BHS really needs to start re-selling cheap china rims.