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Hope RS4 Open Pro Wheels Review


These days the likes of Mavic produce some really good wheels that do everything a set of handbuilts can and more, so is there really any good reason to get something built the old fashioned way?

Well, a lot of it depends on what you really want to get from the wheels beyond things like weight and stiffness. Objectively, whilst most forum discussions on wheels will quickly get to someone suggesting "get some handbuilts mate", factory-built wheels do a perfectly good job and for a lot of people will be a good choice. There is, however, a certain satisfaction in a component put together by hand rather than in a factory, and handbuilt wheels are typically built with standard spokes and with more spokes per wheel which makes them easier to maintain. If you invest in wheels with good hubs they will typically outlast the rims which can then be replaced.

This brings us to these Hope wheels, at the heart of which are the RS4 hubs.

The Hubs

Hope don't make things obvious with their naming convention, but the RS4 is a road specific, 11 speed, rim brake hub. These were released in about 2016, and replace the RS Mono hubs (told you the names don't make much sense). I had a set of the Monos, which were quality hubs but with a really noisy freehub sound. The RS4s are thankfully much quieter and also come with more subtle and better finished graphics compared to the Monos. The RS4 bearings are really smooth when you spin the wheels and the overall feel with the hubs is of well engineered quality.

The Rims



In some ways the rims are a bit of a surprise for a new set of wheels in 2018. How you feel about Mavic Open Pros probably depends on how far back your cycling experience goes. They've been around for literally decades, and like many people I have a certain fondness for them having used them in many wheelsets over the years. The slim profile and eyeletted spoke holes give a classic look and the machined brake track is quiet and stops well. They're pretty light, even by modern standards, and the low profile means they are forgiving on rough roads. Sounds great, so are there any downsides? Yup, it just depends how much of this matters to you. Fundamentally, most of the issues come down to the age of the design: Aero? Nope. Wide rim? No chance. Tubeless compatible? Forget it. There have also been various reports of variable quality over the years, with suggestions that the Open Pros are not top of Mavic's priority list these days.

It's worth mentioning that Mavic produced a new tubeless compatible Open Pro rim in 2017. These haven't been universally popular, due to being quite expensive and a real pain to fit tyres to. (The original Open Pros reviewed here are probably the easiest rim to fit tyres to that I've ever used).

Overall

Buying these wheels ready built up by Hope represents good value, you can find them online for about £350, whilst a similar spec from a local wheelbuilder will be around £100 more (although supporting your local wheelbuilder is a good thing).

They look good, particularly on a classic steel bike, are reasonably light for 32 spoke wheels (around 1700 grams) and should last well.







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