what was your favorite set of wheels back in the day???


mine were 2" amborsia wheel with hutch magensuim hubs laced up by Ken Rana of Colour Contol. i dont know how he laced them, but me and kevin adalot(A pro) the guy i bought them from. everything we did to them they would just bend or flat spot in anyway! it was just amazing how much abuse they took! untill they goto stolen with my elf back in '88 i think.

come on guys lets here about them! i know you all have a favorite set!!

By far my favourite wheels were (and still are) Skyway Tuff 2's with the alloy flange!
I also love Lesters, Motomags I & II, Webco, Eagles and MX60...not too many I like...LOL

!983 Araya 7x (black)rear , Araya 7b (had it anodized black )front , black spokes , silver alloy nips , And campy record bmx hubs small flange . WWR used to send parts off for the team to get black parts when the factorys didnt offer black. Comp 11's in black , Comp st. indoors . 1.75 front and rear .

Mine were Ambrosia rims (dark gray with the ribs around them) with Bullseye hubs. These seemed bullet proof and looked really cool.

Ambrosia'a were cool rims. I have some now. Bitd, it was 7b's w/ philwood hubs or Shimano high flanged..

Here are my Ambrosia's

Since I turned to riding ramps and a little flatland here and there, I wanted to use something light but still strong. I did not want to give up my Hutch mag/ti hubs, so I laced them to Araya Aero 20 x 1.50 rims laced with red and blue Asahi spokes with alloy silver nipples. They looked good with my candy red Trick Star wich had a few blue parts on it. I had to replace the rear ti axle with a hollow chromolly axle from a Hutch aluminum hub because it kept snapping when getting into certain tricks.

Check my avatar... Chrome 7X 1 3/8" with son lites. These are the same ones I rolled on BITD

Chrome Araya 1.5s laced to low flange campy record hubs. Smoothest hubs I have ever had. Were on my Patterson when it was stolen 17 years ago. BOUGHT the bike back a couple of weeks ago with none of the original parts but that is a whole different story!

I had alot of favorite wheels bitd.
1. skyway tuff ll's w/ sealed bearing hubs-black but not graphite's w/campy hubs
2. araya chrome 7x's w/ chrome suzue low flange hubs
3. araya black aero's w/ campy high flange hubs

Plain ol stock Mongoose Pro Class rims with suzue loose ball hubs. Mainly because I couldnt afford a new set of rims. I raced and jumped hills and quarter pipes with a set for 2 1/2 years and they stayed true as the day they were built. They probably weren't the lightest rims or the smoothest hubs, but they were cheap, strong and looked cool. Perfect for my poor self BITD.

My favorite set BITD was actually the first set of wheels I built, I was 14 working in the local shop and built myself a set of silver Araya 7B's laced to Hi flange Campy Records with alloy nipples, I loved these wheels and 7B's were my favorite rims with Pro Class in 2nd. Campy, Bullseye, and Phil to this day are my favorite hubs. My current favorite wheels are my new cruiser wheels I did in November, they are a set of black Velocity Aeroheats laced with gold Ti spokes to polished Bullseyes's with red alloy nipples.

favorite set were from santa clause christmas 1978 ,the old style arayas(not flat) gold,red spokes,gold bullseye hubs,I loved them ,I was 7 yrs old ,put them on my torker,which was my beater bike ,and that got stolen summer of 79' from my back yard in about 30 seconds,the time it took me to run up the stairs to check in with my mom. I still miss those wheels,they were the trickest!!

The dark grey hard anodized Mongoose Pro Class rims with Sonlite Turbo I's.
Todd Slavik rode that setup and they were fresh.

Carl

Hard to deny the the Webco Mags...

The only true magnesium mag ever made commercially available for BMX...

Araya 7b's ti spokes with specialized hubs
araya 7x's ti or stainless spokes with any trick hub

I too had Ambrosio's rims with Hutch magnesium hubs. Very sweet set-up for sure. I remember the day I got mine with my buddy. I had a set bult for my cruiser and he had the exact same wheelset but in 20". Great memory for sure.

I also was very partial to Tuff wheels. I had pretty much evrything they made. All three generations of Graphites included! I'm a sucker for Tuffs to this day!

Tuffs, Ambrosio's, 7X, Z Rim. Still tug at my heart today.

In the 70's.....
Araya 7B rims
DT Swiss 80/ 60 gauge spokes
Phil Wood hubs
Suntour freewheel 16 tooth 1/2 x 3/32
Compettition II tires

In the 80's.......
Araya 7L rims
DT Swiss 80 gauge spokes
OMAS Series BPP sealed bearing hubs (with Campagnolo axle lock nuts)
Suntour or Shimano freewheel 16 tooth 1/2 x 3/32
Compettition 3 tires

Johnny Johnson

Bullseye polished hubs, with through bolt axles, laced to Araya 7x 1.5 polished rims. I ran these wheels on my Kuwahara KZ1, and they were the nicest wheels I ever had. I ran a Comp IV 1.75 in the front, and a Comp IV 1.5 in the rear. The bike felt perfect to me, with those wheels on it.

Not top of thre line stuff in price but awsome just the same.
Araya 1.5 aero's
Suzie Sealed low flange hubs
double butted spokes (of a brand i cant recall)
these wheels were as tuff as hell and light.
Wish i still had them.

My alloy hubbed Tuff II's (still got em)
My Campy hubbed graphites. Sadly sold long long ago.
My Araya 7x in silver with Sunshine sealed hubs. These were replaced by the graphites.
Hey I'm a huge Tuff fan.

Chrome 7x's with Suzue sealed hubs and my 2nd gen. Graphites.

Not the toughest rims in the world....but....my Araya 7B's in silver laced to blue Bullseye's with through axels! Man were those cool or what!!!! I bought them used off of a team bike (RRS) in Shreveport, La. Should have bought the rest as well. BTW, these rims are laced up today with blue Shimano hi-flange hubs and are on my '80 Diamondback show bike....with dual drop fork.

Tuff Wheels were my faves until I owned a set. They just seemed too heavy, and, at the time, I really wanted to hear the sound of a free wheel clicking away.
I fell head over heels for Bullseye hubs. I must have seen them in BMX Action on a racer's bike. Anodized anything was all the rage, and in our minds our hubs had to roll forever if we really wanted to be fast.
It took a lot of money wrangling, but I got my red Bullseyes mounted to Araya 7C rims. They never let me down.

80s....Ambrosio with GT sealed hubs

90s...Araya hard anodized RM20s with highflange Crupi hubs

today...Rhyno XLs with highflange Crupi hubs
Answer Alumalite Xperts relaced tight and right
with DT spokes

my favorite set of wheels back in the day and prolly still now are the Peregrine Master Sport mags. Man those mugs were hardcore. I used to want either the 86 Haro Sport in blue or the 86 Redline RL20II in red and black sooo bad but Mom's would never get that cause it cost too much. and nowadays either one of those bikes in good condition is extremely hard to find...

This is a great thread. The wheels are my favorite part of most of my vintage builds and were always one of the most important part of any bike I've had. I built two wheels earlier this week, in fact. I'm going to try to shoot photos of some of my wheels and post them in here over the next few days. Anyone else want to do the same?

Araya 7X Gold

i would ride all week and practice with my tuff 1s then switched to a set of tuff 2s they were indestructible, but when it came time to race i put on a set of pro class rims they were lite an looked good. by the way I'm restoring my 83 skyway that i raced with bitd, does anyone know were i can purchase the colored band or (ribbon) for the proclass rims. any info would be appreciated thanks.

Chrome Ukai rims with Sonlite Turbo hubs, and I still got them.

My favorite rims were my first BMX rims... Motomag I wheels on my '76 Mongoose... those wheels looked so industrial against the nickel of the frame and those Redline nickel forks... they were TOUGH and never bent (unless someone put a pedal in them )... and those fat Cheng Shin tires finished off the perfect BMX tough effect...

My next set was Araya 7-Bs with Shimano Dura Ace hubs... I loved the way they looked because they looked like motorcycle rims... but they were so FRAGILE... especially on the tracks we were racing back then... 7-Cs (I liked 'em gold) were a definite improvement in strength, but I still like the way silver 7-Bs look...

My third most favorite... and what I still run to this day... are chrome Araya Super 7x (20") or Araya Chrome Special Edition (24") with DT butted stainless steel spokes and Kovachi hubs... beautiful, durable, and simple...

Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker

Lower end: Araya 7X with High Flange Suzue Loose Balls - Standard Lace

Mid: Araya 7X with Bullseye Hubs - Radial Laced front with radial lace non drive size and standard lace drive side or Araya 7X with first generation GT Hubs - Radial Laced front with radial lace non drive size and standard lace drive side rear

High: Araya 7X with High flange Campagnolo records - Standard Lace

Exotic: Ambrosio Hard anodise with Son Lite Hubs - Radial Laced front with radial lace non drive size and standard lace drive side rear. Alloy nips

I love wheelsets and can't narrow it down to just 1 set!!!

I'm with Glenn (Coasty).....Skyway Tuff II's alloy flange!!!!!
My absolute Fav!
Also a fan of MX60's, Webco, Motomags 1&2 and Lesters.
I NOS set of Araya's with Shimano hubs will catch my eye too...

Araya 7x's chrome with s/s spokes and brass nipples..Phil Wood hubs..still have them on my Hutch 20''....bought them used in 80 or 81...still nice....BTW,on friday had a guy come in the shop with his kids bike...a P K Ripper that he had as a kid....w/training wheels he put on it for his 4 yrold...all stock with Redline flight stem,V bars old school Tuffs..he had NO idea what he has...of course I tried to buy it...he also told me about his Floval Flyer that he has that he rides on the Rail Trail...that thing has all the good stuff on it......he would not sell it either.......The stuff is still out there....