Getting my late 80's, early 90's Pinarello road bike soon. Will get it repainted and put on some new decals. :) Can't decide about what wheels to build.

One thing is for sure, i want a flip-flop rear hub fixed-free and want to use ~300 USD + shipping on this wheelset.

Seen some nice Velocity Deep V's at ebay (bellsbikeshop). They offer Formula/IRO/Velocity fixed/free hubs, but i don't have any experience with these hubs.

What's your guys'/girls' advice? I weigh ~82kg (~180lbs) and ride my bikes hard but consider myself to have pretty good biking skills :D

Are any of these hubs considerably better and/or lighter than the other ones?
Can i use rim a brake on the non-machines Deep V's? They are sooooo much cooler!

Or do you advise to build a totally different setup?

Thanks for your time.

Tobias
Oslo, Norway

Getting my late 80's, early 90's Pinarello road bike soon. Will get it repainted and put on some new decals. :) Can't decide about what wheels to build.

One thing is for sure, i want a flip-flop rear hub fixed-free and want to use ~300 USD + shipping on this wheelset.

Seen some nice Velocity Deep V's at ebay (bellsbikeshop). They offer Formula/IRO/Velocity fixed/free hubs, but i don't have any experience with these hubs.

What's your guys'/girls' advice? I weigh ~82kg (~180lbs) and ride my bikes hard but consider myself to have pretty good biking skills :D

Are any of these hubs considerably better and/or lighter than the other ones?
Can i use rim a brake on the non-machines Deep V's? They are sooooo much cooler!

Or do you advise to build a totally different setup?

Thanks for your time.

Tobias
Oslo, Norway

1. BELLSBIKE has decent customer service... ive heard complaints about them.....

2. FORUMLA/IRO HUBS are just standard regular ol flip flop hubs.. not bad but not really good.. bearings are so so on them.. not the smoothest ... ive seen a flange break on them.. but person was riding the wheel very very hard.. i really dont see anything wrong with them.

3. A 32 spoke cross 2 or cross 3 lacing should be plenty fine... will probably stay true longer and be strong enough for any kind of abuse...even laced to IRO/FORMULAS

4. do not brake on painted deep vs.. it will squeal like hell... suckzors when you want to try and stop.. just not a good look all around... unless the braking surface is anodized you mite be able to get away with it.. however just go with a machined sidewall to be safe.. its not that ugly in person btw...

5. i think deep vs laced to cheap hubs doesnt really make too much sense.. and the wheel is still pretty expensive... LOOK AT WEINMANN DP-18s for a deep v look a like laced to the same hubs.... at half the cost... just make sure you get them trued after your first few rides...


hope this helps

1. BELLSBIKE has decent customer service... ive heard complaints about them.....

2. FORUMLA/IRO HUBS are just standard regular ol flip flop hubs.. not bad but not really good.. bearings are so so on them.. not the smoothest ... ive seen a flange break on them.. but person was riding the wheel very very hard.. i really dont see anything wrong with them.

3. A 32 spoke cross 2 or cross 3 lacing should be plenty fine... will probably stay true longer and be strong enough for any kind of abuse...even laced to IRO/FORMULAS

4. do not brake on painted deep vs.. it will squeal like hell... suckzors when you want to try and stop.. just not a good look all around... unless the braking surface is anodized you mite be able to get away with it.. however just go with a machined sidewall to be safe.. its not that ugly in person btw...

5. i think deep vs laced to cheap hubs doesnt really make too much sense.. and the wheel is still pretty expensive... LOOK AT WEINMANN DP-18s for a deep v look a like laced to the same hubs.... at half the cost... just make sure you get them trued after your first few rides...


hope this helps


Thanks for your reply. In other words... Get some proper hubs? On my mountainbikes i've 'always' used Chris King. But since i'm new to this fixed thing, i don't want to get the high-end hubs just yet... Or? Are there better high flange hubs that you can advise that don't have a Phil Wood pricetag?

my LBS suggested I go with Surly hubs rather than formula/IRO. they had a lot of experience building wheels and with fixed gear bikes in general. i went with an open pro rim. been happy ever since.

formula hubs are great, just replace the bearings with phils... a wolf in sheep's clothing... not a huge fan of deep v's, esp on a classic lugged frame. and why would you be worrying about hub weight when going with deep v's???

I've been impressed with my Miche track hubs.

I bought my wheelset from Bells Bike Shop. Steve was a little slow in responding to emails sometimes, but overall the experience was good. My only REAL complaint with them would be the shipping via USPS which makes it close to impossible to track your package.

As far as the equipment. I got 36H Weinmann DP18s (basically low cost copies of the Deep V) with formula hubs. The wheelset has held up great, handling bumps, curbs and all sorts of abuse from my 300 pounds without complaint.

If you want to stop it getting expensive, I vote surly hubs, too. And some open-pro's.....

Formulas are fine hubs. If you decide you enjoy fixed/ss riding, upgrade later and sell the Formulas or keep them for another bike.


>Are any of these hubs considerably better and/or lighter than the other ones?
>Can i use rim a brake on the non-machines Deep V's? They are sooooo much cooler!

Depends. If the rim is powder coated (most of the colors) then braking performance will be ... not great. If the rim is anodized, you'll be fine. In either case the color will get worn away after time by the brake pad rubbing against them.

+1 on the Surly/Open Pros. My Surly hubs have been virtually maintenence-free for three years now. I use Salsa cyclocross rims because I run wider tires, but IMO you can never go wrong with Mavics. Even the CXP Vs that used to come on the Pistas are a solid choice that won't break the bank.

Harris Cyclery built me a set of open pro wheels with their house brand hubs, which are IROs, but say Harris Cyclery on them. I couldn't resist having Harris hubs down here in Texas. What a status symbol! They're real good wheels.