Which wheels or rims would you recommend for a Tourer?

[DrewSavage]

Basically I've reached the conclusion that I'd like to be riding something lighter than my hybrid or 3-speed to get about, but the roads round here (and particularly on my way to work) are in such terrible condition that when I tried using any of my road bikes I realised that before long, either myself or the bike would be shaken to bits by the multitude of potholes, bumps and lumps.

So - and please stop me if this sounds like nonsense - I've formed the idea that a tourer might be the answer. Presumably a stronger frame, and hopefully clearance for a slightly thicker tyre.

Getting my Raleigh Classic 15 into shape is going to be a fairly long-term project but I'd like to try and start sorting out the parts for it, and the wheels that came with it were only fit for the dustbin. Even the quick-release levers were bent.

So what do people recommend - whether a good secondhand buy for value, or something new that doesn't look too anachronistic? Is there a Mavic rim that's the accepted gold standard for this type of thing?

And how important are hubs? I have a pair of Shimano 600 hubs in my cupboard that I bought as part of a job lot on eBay, plus the Jacques Anquetil road bike that's come my way last week has fairly old Campagnolo Record hubs of uncertain condition (and Remerx Sprint rims, which I know nothing about, and Google only really came up with the idea that they were probably made in Czechoslovakia).

I'm really quite far beyond the limit of my knowledge and experience here. Would you recommend buying rims and having them built around one of my sets of hubs (is that prohibitively expensive? or too difficult to try tackling as a DIY project with little prior experience?) or is it better to be simply looking for a wheel that already fits the bill?

 

[bikenrrd]

Have a look at Exal LX-17, available from Spa Cycles. Wide, strong and not too heavy. Classic (ish) low profile. Also quite cheap as rims go nowadays.

 

[hamster]

I'd second that, give Spa a call, they will be able to recommend something depending on what kind of use you have in mind. They also have the old Rigida rims: Sputnik etc.

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

I have the same issue with my Raleigh Clubman, I am in need of some replacement wheels for the Maillard originals, I have never heard of Spa cycles before - Thanks for the info

 

[DrewSavage]

Re:

Ta - and how important would you say hubs actually are, in a touring setup? Is it in the quality of the ride, or intervals between maintenance, or what? Apologies if this sounds like a silly question, I'm still fairly new to all this. I did London-Bristol and the Way of the Roses coast-to-coast route last year but that was on a fairly heavy hybrid that I got from Decathlon.

 

[bikenrrd]

The sealing on a hub and ease of maintenance are the most important thing.
Shimano hubs are close to indestructible and have a cup and cone design so are easily maintainable - you just open them up and replace the grease.
Are the 600 hubs new? If they are I'd replace the grease (it might have solidified a bit if they've been sat for a long time) and build on those. Some LX-17 rims on those hubs, built with double butted spokes (Sapim Race) would be a nice wheelset and should last a long time. Once a year (if using the bike a lot, such as commuting) you could replace the grease if necessary.

 

[David B]

Re:

I have a pair of touring wheels built using Mach1 210 BOS 700c rims - these are a good strong pair of eyeletted, double-wall alloy rims which seem to cope well with heavy loads. Not expensive either at less than £40 for the pair (the rims that is, not the whole wheelset).

David

 

[dirttorpedo]

Velo Orange RAID rim?

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/ ... -700c.html

 

[hamster]

Re: Re:

Ta - and how important would you say hubs actually are, in a touring setup? Is it in the quality of the ride, or intervals between maintenance, or what? Apologies if this sounds like a silly question, I'm still fairly new to all this. I did London-Bristol and the Way of the Roses coast-to-coast route last year but that was on a fairly heavy hybrid that I got from Decathlon.

Shimano MTB hubs are a good starting point. Make sure you buy midrange ones as XT run with aluminium axles, these are thicker and the reduced the bearing size to get them to fit. Deore LX or 105 are really durable. I've got over 20,000 touring miles from an M563 LX rear hub. Don't buy Dura-Ace under 10 years old, as it doesn;t have the same freehub and axle supported at the ends.
Campag hubs are brilliantly smooth but again the rear has a long length of unsupported axle - the front ones are tough though.

 

[DrewSavage]

Well, I've got the Raleigh touring frame powdercoated now, in just the one colour but it's a pretty good match for the original shade and they did a great job for only £40 - I should have got them to mask off the nice chrome SunTour dropouts and taken off the Raleigh head badge first, but it's all experience. I've rounded up a mainly Campagnolo groupset and all that remains is deciding whether to keep the Weinmann centrepull brakes, or go for something modern dual pivot if I can find a suitable long reach brake.

The wheels are kind of key to that, though.

The original wheels on it would have been 27-inch rather than 700c - I was going to convert it to the more common size but I spotted a pair of 27-inch NOS Mavic MA-2 rims on eBay and snapped them up. Has my enthusiasm overtaken my knowledge again? I know the MA-2s are supposed to be a pretty good rim, but not if they're really suited to touring.