Wheel set and parts suggestions

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Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on February 9, 2010 at 5:56pm

Nice to see you're getting out on some sweetness!

First off - ditch those Shorties. They suck. Cheap TRPs are the way to go.

Wheels: 220lbs look into some 32h+ rims to start. In CX you're going to hear a lot about clincher vs. tubular vs. tubeless. Think about your primary motivation for the bike: are you racing it, riding it or riding it and enjoying some weekend racing? If Riding is the primary you can stick with some clinchers. If you want to get a little crazy check out the tubeless technology that everyone is talking about. If you think you're going to be racing a lot, go tubular.

So, 32h+ rims. Prob go with double butted spokes over anything else. Hubs: DT Swiss/AmClassics/Shimanos are my preference. you can totally geek out and get some sweet Chris King hubs if you're feeling crazy.

Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Dean on February 9, 2010 at 6:12pm

It will be a little while before this Fatty can race lol so for now I will ride as much as I can and hopefully relearn some of that lost skill I had long ago,

I have seen a lot of the tubular and clincher, I will be going clincher it seems, I run King hubs on my Kona with Mavic hoops and Caffelatex so far working out good.

Some options I have found so far are William's, Fulcrum's, Mavic

Thanks your info did answer some of the questions I had floating around my head.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on February 11, 2010 at 11:33am

What do you not like about the Shorties? And why would you recommend a brake with less stopping power to someone while recommending wheels based on that same weight?

Do not get the 4ZA brakes if you are going to get high profile brakes. They are lacking some key features that are commonly found on TRP brakes.

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Permalink Reply by Rudy on February 9, 2010 at 6:18pm

Brakes -- can't beat the tektro cr720 for performance and value. really, give them some serious consideration.

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Permalink Reply by Hamilton on February 11, 2010 at 11:51am

For wheels you might want to look at a mountain bike 29er rim with a road hub(so the axle space will fit your frame). The rim will be a bit beefier than a standard road rim. Part of it depends on how you ride. I seem to be able to ride with lower pressures without pinch flatting and banging my rims that some of my lighter friends, maybe I finesse the bike over the rough stuff better...I don't know. Bottom line, if you ride rough look at a beefier 29" rim, if you're not too hard on stuff just go with a road/cross rim that has 32 spokes. Have fun on the new bike.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Dean on February 13, 2010 at 3:49pm

Thanks for the suggestions, They do help in the long run, I will post the bike when I am done.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 14, 2010 at 9:01pm

I can't argue against SRAM for CX, but a full alloy Athena groupset would be sweet on a Ridley. For strong wheelsets that can be SRAM compatible seriously look at Campagnolo or Fulcrum. I have a set of Campy Khamsims, and I'm 220lbs at 6'2". These are their heaviest wheels but they are stupid tough and I've gone down Mt. Bike trails with them. The new Zondas (mid-grade wheelset) come tubeless compatible. I'm not sure what the Fulcrum equivalent is (3 or 5 I think), but they are Campy wheels just made in Taiwan with more traditional spoke designs. I have the CR720s, and they were ok. then I got Kool-stop Salmon pads and they were much better. I still don't feel as though they have as much power as my Veloce skeleton calipers I had on my old road bike with BBS pads. I got to test ride Marin's CX racer, and it had the new Shorty's on it. I was very impressed with the braking power. But, there are a lot of factors to consider when comparing brakes, so I can't really say one is better than the other. I might lean towards the new Shorty 6s though.

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