New front wheel

[Bowak]

I have a 97 Dawes Galaxy and it's finally time for me to replace the front wheel due to wear from the brake blocks. I've had the bike since Jan 2005, and have never changed the wheel, so it's plausible that it's the original.

I'm planning on buying a handbuilt wheel from Spa Cycles to aim for a similar level of longevity, but I have no idea why any particular rims/hubs are better than others. I have no issue with spending more to get a wheel that's basically bombproof (especially as 1 crash and 3 potholes have seen off 4 rear wheels in the same time), but equally I don't want to needlessly spend extra cash. Is there a noticeable improvement between these different wheels or is it more of a fashion/popularity thing that explains some of the price difference between the various models?: http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s175p0

[meic]

All the rims being offered there are the same price, so the price difference is for the hubs.

If when you wear the rim out on the new wheel you are going to replace the whole wheel again, then you may as well go for the Deore. If you intend keeping it longer and replacing just the rims when they wear out then something else may be a better idea.

The hubs come in two different types, road (Ultegra, 105, Tiagra) or MTB (XT, LX or Deore) as they are front wheels it doesnt make too much difference which type you pick. However it "should" be MTB on a Galaxy I think.
As for the expense of the hub, there is a general rule "Anything above MY level is a waste of money, anything below MY level is crap" This applies to all levels.

[Bowak]

I'm not so sure about what I'll do when I wear the next rim out. In part this is because I can't be too sure how much distance the current wheel's done. The hub and spokes look and feel fine so probably are, but I quite like the idea of having a new one and knowing exactly what it's been through. It'd be the last component to be replaced/upgraded and I like knowing when/where I got each part.

In the 9 years I've had the bike I've done approx 8,000 miles. However, that's included 3 years where I barely rode it at all and I've done 2,000 miles in the last year alone. With an increase in commuting/touring I expect to do 3,000+ miles or so/year for the next couple of years at least. All things being equal, would the XT hub be likely to last sufficiently longer than the Deore to handle an extra rim lifecycles? If so, it would seem worth the additional cost.

[Bowak]

All the rims being offered there are the same price, so the price difference is for the hubs.

As for the expense of the hub, there is a general rule "Anything above MY level is a waste of money, anything below MY level is crap" This applies to all levels.

I like it. Without particularly meaning to, I've ended up with nearly all my clothing/panniers being Altura due to them being a good balance (for me at least) between cost and durability so I pretty much feel like that about all other makes!

[meic]

I have too many bikes with too many different wheels to have put things to the test.

My longest serving hub is a front Tiagra with 13,000 miles on it (third rim but one wasnt new when it went on). The hub is still absolutely fine, I have no doubt a Deore would be equally long lived, if set up right.

The claims of XT hubs are more in the 50,000 mile region.

As it is a front wheel I cant see any hub failing other than through poor maintenance and all of the hubs will fail from that.

There are some scare stories about the new XT hubs having aluminium axles but no actual failures that I know of. For that reason the LX are considered a more durable hub than the XT.

Have you thought about the type of rim that you want?
What size tyres do you use or would like to use, as this may may one rim more suitable than another.

[Bowak]

I use 700x32 Schwalbe Marathon Pluses for the front tyre.

[meic]

So the Exal 17 or the Sputnik would suit you. I guess that as you carry the weight of a Marathon Plus you would probably lean to the Sputnik rather than the lighter Exal.
Which is handy as they only seem to offer Sputniks on the MTB hubs.

If I was to suggest the Sputnik - LX, I bet it would get lots of seconders on this forum as we have gone over it a few times and that is the group think consensus.

I would have the LX hub as I am willing to pay that little extra for a less plain hub, though in all honesty I have no doubts that the Deore is up to the job, it just isnt quite as nice.

I do have an XT hub here still in a box, not made into a wheel yet and that is really nice, a thing of beauty. Almost a shame to put it on a working bike.

[Bowak]

Thanks for the advice. The LX - Sputnik it is and hopefully it'll last me until the 20s!

[JohnW]

Ask if Spa will rebuild with a new rim onto the existing hub. On the front, I can get three or four rims on a front hub before the bearing cups begin to wear out. Not all bike shops will rebuild onto a customer's existing hub though.

It's different on the rear hub - rear hubs take all the load and don't last as many miles.

On the basis that a rear wheel has done the same number of miles as the front I always get both rims (or wheels) replaced at the same time. Even if the rear is OK now, it'll not be many miles before it will need replacing.

[Bowak]

As I live in Durham it's not really worth the time and cost of travelling to Harrogate whereas it's only a fiver postage to have a new wheel sent up. It'll also let me keep my current wheel as a spare, not that I really expect to need to.

My rear wheel's almost new and is tougher than my previous ones as there are some killer potholes around here and last winter saw off two cheap rears.