TREKKINGBIKE has put together three different trekking wheelsets with the latest components.
Sporty trekking bikes 28 inch
The sporty wheels combine lightweight, 22 mm wide Ryde Pulse Comp rims with 28 aerodynamic blade spokes each (expensive!) and a Shimano FH-CX75 11-speed hub or a PD-8 dynamo from Shutter Precision. The wheels can be used with rim or disc brakes. The approx. 18 mm rim width means that you can fit tyres up to 42 mm wide.
Rims: Ryde Pulse Comp
Nipples + nipple discs: DT Swiss Pro Lock + Sapim HM
Hub dynamo: Shutter Precision PD-8
HR hub: Shimano FH-CX75
All-round trekking bikes 28 inch
The second set of wheels, also in 622 mm / 28", are classic "all-round" wheels. The new Mavic 421 EN disc rims are almost 27 mm wide and can also cope with thick 62 mm / 2.4" tyres. Hubs with 32 spokes front and rear are standard on trekking bikes. While 48 of the total of 64 spokes are high-quality 2.0/1.8/2.0 mm double-thickness spokes, the 16 spokes on the sprocket side, which are subject to heavy loads, have a reinforced 2.2 mm bend. The Shimano DH-T785 hub dynamo is good but affordable, while the "high-end" Novatec 4-in-1 rear hub costs just under 200 euros.
Rims: Mavic EN 421 Disc
Spokes: Sapim Race + Sapim Force
Nipples: Sapim Polyax
Hub dynamo: Shimano DH-T785
HR hub: Novatec 4-in-1
Touring and expedition bikes 26 inch
Because the third wheelset is designed for longer tours and is intended to be particularly robust, it uses 26-inch rims. This wheel size is still justified, especially when carrying a lot of luggage or travelling abroad (see also "Compact format", page 36). Velocity Blunt 36-hole rims are 35 mm wide, but not heavy as lead, and all 72 spokes have reinforced arches. In contrast to the red, 10-speed aluminium freehub on the Novatec, the Halo 11-speed hub has a steel freehub (like Shimano) and can therefore withstand all sprockets.
To ensure the comparability of the measurement results with the two 28" wheelsets, we also built a 29er wheel from the same components as the touring rear wheel. This has the additional advantage that we were also able to measure the exact difference between 26" and 28"/29".
Rims: Velocity
Spokes: DT Swiss
Nipples + nipple discs: DT Swiss Pro Lock + Sapim HM
Hub dynamo: SON
HR hub: Halo
The complete article was published in Trekkingbike issue 6/2015. You can read the entire issue in the Trekkingbike app (iTunes and Google Play) or order the issue in the DK shop.
You can download the individual articles as PDF files here.
