At £500 a pair, the Hope Fortus 30 SC Pro 5 wheelset is a competitively priced wheelset that boasts the reliability and boosted engagement speed of the brand’s rather excellent Pro 5 hubs. While it's a little more expensive and heavier than other budget options they’re durable, easily serviced and there’s a choice of hub colour on offer. They’re certainly a pair of the best mountain bike wheels for the cash but the freehub requires regular greasing for a noise-free ride and they’re not taped out of the box.
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Hope Fortus 30 SC Pro 5 wheelset - Technical details
Machine-built and hand-finished at Hope’s headquarters in Barnoldswick, the Fortus 30 SC wheelset is built to be as strong as Hope wheels of old, but its single-cavity construction sheds vital grams.
Starting with the rim, it’s a welded 6061 T6 aluminium rim and each hoop gets a 30mm internal width, front, and rear. Adding to the measurements, there’s a 35mm external rim width and a 20mm profile depth. As for spokes, the wheelset employs 32 Black Sapim Race stainless steel, double butted spokes on the front and rear and they’re complete with brass nipples, which adds a nice touch to their aesthetic.
The Fortus 30 SCs benefit from Hope’s latest Pro 5 units. Compared to the outgoing Pro 4 hubs that have become a household name, the Pro 5s introduce improved sealing with new labyrinth seals added to keep stuff out but minimise friction. There’s a new pawl and spring design built to further reduce drag while increasing longevity and load capacity. Importantly, the freehub now uses an offset six-pawl design that ups the engagement from 44 to 108 degrees. The hub bodies have been tweaked to boost stiffness and durability. Inside are stainless steel cartridge bearings.
As for standards, Hope has the lot covered as the wheels are available in 650b and 29-inch sizes, 100mm and 110mm Boost spacing for front wheels and 135/142, 148 boost and 150mm spacing at the rear. As standard, the wheels come supplied with 142 x 12mm conversions. The hubs come in models to fit straight pull or J-bend spokes and to fit six-bolt or centrelock rotor mounts.
Rounding off the details, the Fortus 30 SC wheelset is available in a choice of six hub colours including black, silver (pictured here), blue, orange, purple and red.
These wheels tip the scales at 2,130g.
Hope Fortus 30 SC Pro 5 wheelset - Performance
To start things off, the setup of the wheelset is a little more involved than others simply because they’re not taped from the factory. Hope is kind enough to provide tape and valves in the box, and if you’re handy with a tubeless conversion, there’s not that much to worry about but if you’re new to the whole process, it can be a daunting task that’s best left to a bike shop. It’s certainly a thing to note, as you’ll need a bit of time before excitedly winging the wheels onto the bike and getting out for a ride.
I’ve ridden the wheelset throughout the bulk of the summer if you can call last year’s British summer ‘summer’. During that time, the wheelset has seen a slew of tyres of different carcass constructions and I’ve found little to no issue when seating tyres. Only when setting up WTB’s latest Judge SG1 with the mega-tough casing did the setup put up a fight but that would be the case with any wheel.
I came into this test after running Reynolds’ very posh Blacklabel 309 Enduro Pro wheelset that costs upwards of four times the price of the Fortus 30s but with that in mind, the wheels still managed to impress. Granted, they’re not nearly as light but their general ride quality is top-notch.
Hope’s hoops blend a discernible balance between comfort-boosting compliance and durability that makes them prime for heavier going trail and enduro outings. Stiffness along the vertical plane isn’t an issue and the wheels handle harsh vibrations with ease but laterally, there’s just enough stiffness to instill confidence when riding heavier compressions through corners and the like. However, laterally, there’s just enough give in the rim to help the wheels track straight through rocky and very technical terrain.
Where the Fotus 30 SC Pro 5s shine is the new Pro 5 hub. I’ll be honest: when Hope unveiled the new hubs, I didn’t quite get what all the rage was about, but they ride incredibly well. Pick-up is rapid, with reasonably little movement in the crank before the pawls engage. There is a bit of extra weight to the wheel, which can make them feel sluggish under acceleration, but the quick engagement makes up for it. It also helps when climbing technical sections where quick ratcheting input works a treat. They look great, too, and certainly live up to the high-quality CNC machining that Hope is famous for.
Additionally, durability is another serious benefit. I’ve ridden these wheels for quite a while now and everything is still in fine fettle. Bearings are still silky smooth and the rims are still running true. There are a few marks in the rim’s finish but aside from that, all is very well. However, I’ve found the freehub to get rather creaky under pedalling loads. It’s not an issue with the internals itself, it’s caused by minor friction between my SRAM GX T-Type cassette and the freehub body itself. Greasing these surfaces heavily does silence the creak but it does come back in time.
But internally, the hubs make the wheelset a bit better. I've only opened up the hubs after months of testing and they're spotless, proving that Hope's sealing is incredibly effective. They can be opened without tools too, as the freehub can come off by pulling the cassette and the axle conversion hub caps can be knocked out using a stick if your grip strength isn't strong enough.
Hope Fortus 30 SC Pro 5 wheelset - Verdict
Priced at £500 for the pair, Hope’s certainly competitive with this wheelset. Hunt’s Trail Wide V2 wheels come in at £499 at full RRP and while they’re excellent, fit-and-forget wheels and the freehub engagement are comparable, there are no colour options. As a bonus, the Trail Wides are taped from the factory.
DT Swiss’s M 1900 Spline wheelset poses stronger competition at £450. It doesn’t get the bling factor of the Hope wheels and its freehub doesn’t engage as quickly as standard. To upgrade to a similar level of engagement, it’ll cost another £90. It is taped out of the box, however. Both examples here are lighter than the Hope wheelset with the Trail Wides posing a saving of 310g.
If you don’t mind a bit of weight and are happy to keep on top of some minor freehub maintenance, there’s little else to grumble about when it comes to the Hope Fortus 30 SC Pro 5 wheelset. It provides excellent ride quality while boasting Hope’s easily serviceable, great-looking, and top-performing Pro 5 hubs. If you want something a little different to DT Swiss and Hunt and you’re on a budget, the Fortus 30 SC Pro 5s should be at the top of your list.
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