Hope pro2 evos/Stans Arch Wheelset

Hope pro2 evos/Stans Arch Wheelset; 8 month long term review
Tweet Topic Started: Jan 4 2012, 11:15 AM (571 Views)
guy	Jan 4 2012, 11:15 AM Post #1
Mudking Posts: 2,946 Group: Member Member #39 Joined: May 7, 2007	HOW MUCH?????????!!!!!!!!!! er, right. getting new wheels was not really my intention until a spate of annoying punctures at the Haloween ride in 2010 and last january/february (all in the middle of no-where, all during rainstorms, two on night rides in the rain...) and the increasing realisation that my rear hope hub was "not very happy" and my rear rim was not exactly round anymore. A somewhat foolhardy trip to Quest in Worthing where I happened to mention that i was wondering on trying out a tubeless system led to an hour long chat with their wheelbuilder and a series of options was outlined and the realisation that...gulp...this is going to be expensive A few emails to Ollie, who I had decided was the font of all world knowledge on this led to me ordering a pair of Stans Arch rims which seemd to offer a good compromise of strength and lightweight, Red annodised (ooooohhhh) Hope Pro2evo hubs with that great BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! freewheel sound, black Sapim spokes, Stans Tape, no-tubes gloop and valves and...er...red annodised spoke nipples... B). Handbuilt by Quest the cost would be the north side of Ł400...er, quite a bit north...kind of past Aberdeen.... So, once ordered, I waited....and waited...and phoned them up....and waited....4 weeks in all for them to get all the bits in (getting the hubs and nipples in the colours I wanted was the issue) and build them up. The shop also sorted out the first tyre fitting and showed me how to do the whole tubelss setup. Once finally delivered they looked Soooooooooooooooo nice, I did spend a long time just admiring them on the bike and marvelling at how light they were. So First ride and the bike felt totally different: super fast acceleration, lighter, more nimble. After having the bikeshop explaining that I needed to gently run them in for 3 or 4 rides and then maybe get them re-tightened, I naturally went and rode in the Peak district for a week...then went to Afan for a long weekend...well, a baptism of fire is always a good way of trying out new kit. Afterwards, the wheels were showing only a few small battle scars from a particularly rocky trail climb near Buxton, they were still tight and true. 8 Months on and the wheels are still running true. I have had a grand total of 2 punctures that have not sealed (one was due to running over burried barbed wire and gouging a 10mm gash in the tread of the rear tyre). I have had a few instances where the tyres have hissed for a second or two then sealed when holed with thorns etc. I have never managed to get the tyres to burp out their air: I dont run them at super low pressure though which may account for this. Pinchflats? What are they?. In fact the only minor issue is that one of the rear bearing seems to be feeling little bit gritty ( Though this seems to be easing as I ride more). Ok, so I know that I could have got these ( or somthing similar) quite a bit cheaper from Moonglu or direct from Hope, however, the wheels are built very well, I know who built them (Darren, the former wheelbuilder at Quest) and the fact that he did tighten, loosen and re-tighten the wheels when he built them (actually, he did this a few times) The shop have been very helpful with helping show me how to mount tyres on the rims and get them to seat and inflate if it doesnt work first time with a track pump: hint, first, ignore everything on singletrack forum about washing up liquid etc, instead use a CO2 cartridge to seat the tyre on the rim, then deflate the tyre and remove the valve core, add the stans solution by pouring through the valve hole, refit the valve core and then inflate using a track pump (so you dont dry the tyre solution out with the CO2)....takes about 2minutes, simples. Not being tied to using only UST tyres is good too. Ive only tried using Bonty tubless ready and Maxxis kevlar tyres but I have heard good reports that most other tyres (including thinwall NobbyNics) will work ok too. So overall, thoroughly reccomended. Oh, Did I mention that my wheels not only have red hubs but they also have Red Nipples? Did I?



Ming the Merciless	Jan 4 2012, 04:09 PM Post #2
Overlord of all Known Sheds! Posts: 2,737 Group: Member Member #6 Joined: March 18, 2007	Pretty. I like the way your procurement budget went the way of an MOD project. :lol:



guy	Jan 4 2012, 05:24 PM Post #3
Mudking Posts: 2,946 Group: Member Member #39 Joined: May 7, 2007	Well, bearing in mind that the shop was pushing me to have the wheels built on Industry9 hubs instead which, judging from their cost and weight are made from a composite of unobtainium and fairy dust held together with glue derived from ground up unicorn horns, I think that these were actually a bargain... the industry9 hubs will have to wait until I win a tripple rollover jackpot so can at least have the first instalment payment ready.... In the UK they tend to push wheel builds over the Ł800 mark....gulp....must....resist... to paraphrase Ferris Bueller:they are soo choice, if you have the means I thoroughly recommend picking a pair up



Ming the Merciless	Jan 4 2012, 06:07 PM Post #4
Overlord of all Known Sheds! Posts: 2,737 Group: Member Member #6 Joined: March 18, 2007	Industry9 , pah, try this bad boy: 6 pawls, each with three teeth! In purple(specially for me), mounted to a white stans flow rim via sapim x-ray spokes.



darth vader	Jan 4 2012, 06:22 PM Post #5
Mudking Posts: 2,599 Group: Member Member #92 Joined: February 11, 2008	Which is better Bonty or Maxis



robbo167	Jan 5 2012, 10:14 AM Post #6
Bog Monster Posts: 770 Group: Member Member #380 Joined: April 2, 2009	It was all going so well until you mentioned Superfast Acceleration.......



guy	Jan 5 2012, 04:20 PM Post #7
Mudking Posts: 2,946 Group: Member Member #39 Joined: May 7, 2007	Its all relative ok?



hobbz	Jan 5 2012, 06:03 PM Post #8
Bog Monster Posts: 862 Group: Member Member #7 Joined: March 18, 2007	although i agree in some part to Rob regarding the term"superfast acceleration" being a misnomer ,i feel the two words after ,is where it falls apart for me...."more nimble" good write up though Sir Guyus :ph43r:



Ming the Merciless	Jan 7 2012, 04:34 PM Post #9
Overlord of all Known Sheds! Posts: 2,737 Group: Member Member #6 Joined: March 18, 2007	Hub noise here



EddyDave	Jan 7 2012, 04:42 PM Post #10
Bog Monster Posts: 776 Group: Member Member #439 Joined: September 11, 2009	A green QR lever with purple hub... Really? Oh and I held the hub before you did Was there when it came into Evo. Lovely noise, that video doesn't do it justice!



Ollie	Jan 7 2012, 09:10 PM Post #11
Mudthing Posts: 2,138 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: March 3, 2007	Finally, something that will drown out my bloody Pro II!!! P.S I like the green/purple combo



Rich_F	Jan 7 2012, 10:45 PM Post #12
Mudthing Posts: 2,044 Group: Admin Member #74 Joined: November 26, 2007	what is this - hub wars? Great write up Guy - these are dem laaavely wheels Ming - those hubs are just silly. stop it. now. R



belugabob	Jan 8 2012, 08:34 AM Post #13
Mudking Posts: 3,666 Group: Member Member #95 Joined: February 18, 2008	Rich, Just think of those hubs as a service to society - people will be able to see and hear Ming coming from miles away, then make themselves scarce in plenty of time. We, on the other hand, will be able to use the same properties to help us in our supervisory obligations.



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