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Around £400, could go up or down either side of that. I'm after something pretty light, but solid enough to be used all the time as sole wheelset within reason.
At the moment, I'm thinking along the lines of:
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe / Elite,
Handbuilt Velocity A23s, Novatec hubs and CX Ray spokes, (either from Strada or DCR)
Handbuilt H Plus Son Archetype, Novatec hubs and CX Ray spokes,
(either from Strada or DCR)
What would you people recommend either out of the above or as alternatives?
Good point, I'd forgotten about them...
I've got a pair of Ksyrium Elite and I'd get another pair without hesitation.
Light enough but the stiffness is the main thing for me.
I've heard very good things about the Ksyriums... is it true that replacement parts (i.e. spokes) are very expensive / hard to come by?
Wheelsmith A24's? I think they are based on Archetype rims.
Think they're just over £400, weigh somewhere in the region of 1450g (can't remember exactly).
Very pleased with mine, but the pimp black anodising doesn't last 5 minutes in the rain.
Shimano RS80's would be my other choice and with a bit of shopping around are nearer to £300.
What you got at the moment? Is it a new build or an upgrade from existing wheels?
Hope ProIII's on Mavic Open Pro CD's.
Them or a Xentis full carbon clincher from Merlin. Currently have 50% off at the mo. You could get the rear..........and then maybe get the front (there is no carbon clincher that comes close to the braking of these bad boys, even in the wet).
Planet X carbon clinchers have a metal braking surface. No problems in the wet.
I also saw some heavily discounted Eastons at CRC - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/easton-ea90-rt-road-wheelset-2013/rp-prod113744
At that price I'd consider buying them and forking out for the Shimano freehub so I could actually use them...!
[url= http://wheelsfar.com/2014-new-38mm-clincher-wheels1250g-30g-p-295.html ]38mm clinchers from Far Sports[/url]
mtbtomo - it's an upgrade, at the moment they're some I've got DT Swiss 2.0s that came stock on the bike. I fancy a moderate upgrade, hopefully to save a decent amount of weight.
Stans here, liking them.
Ksyriums are pretty good.
If you're gonna get handbuilts then try justridingalong as you'll get top notch service and probably much cheaper than Strada who look a bit of a rip off/expensive.
My hope/A23s were about £375 from JRA. Not with those CX rays though, just lazer/race spokes.
The archetypes seem to be regarded as about the best rim choice for handbuilts at the moment (well for alloy clinchers). Wouldnt bother with the open pros, they're pretty solid but not very wide.
Ksyriums are fantastic wheels, stiff and very strong.
Planet X AL30 and a lot of money saved for something else
Also, if you're quite heavy, then get at least 28 spokes in the rear, and good double butted ones. Not light weight pissy ones like DT revs.
Planet X AL30 and a lot of money saved for something else
Yeh, they look shite. The model B's I had fell apart. If you're gonna spend money on something, then a good set of wheels and tyres is as good a thing as any.
I did look at Just Riding Along, but couldn't come up with a build on their site that wasn't either too pricey or was the right spec for what I'm looking for... I might have another look.
To answer a couple of posts above, I'm not too heavy, and would prefer aluminum rather than carbon braking.
Good suggestions coming in, though widening the options rather than homing in on a decision at the moment!
theflatboy - MemberI've heard very good things about the Ksyriums... is it true that replacement parts (i.e. spokes) are very expensive / hard to come by?
Mavic part availability seems to be largely about how good your shop is- I had a nightmare trying to find an axle for a Crossmax, Mavic France refused to help unless I posted them [i]both[/i] wheels... But I'm lucky enough to have a great LBS who managed to sort it eventually. Without them, I'd probably have binned the wheel. But all came good in the end and no complaints about the UK side of the company!
Yeh, they look shite. The model B's I had fell apart. If you're gonna spend money on something, then a good set of wheels and tyres is as good a thing as any.
Maybe you had a bad set (of model B and not AL30 by the sounds of things), I've found mine (AL30) to be fault free and they don't weight much for the money
I did look at Just Riding Along, but couldn't come up with a build on their site that wasn't either too pricey or was the right spec for what I'm looking for... I might have another look.
Archetypes on hope hubs are £375
Ksyrium Equipes have proved tough for me.
Would still like some nice handbuilts, particularly like the sound of the architype rims, but I got an excellent deal on the Ksyriums.
Maybe you had a bad set (of model B and not AL30 by the sounds of things), I've found mine (AL30) to be fault free and they don't weight much for the money
Yeh, well the hubs aren't the best. They're not to heavy, not stiff at all though, thats more important than weight.
Wide ones.
Either A23's / archetype or the easton road tubeless that CRC are doing silly cheap.
(I have the Easton's and about to get hope Handbuilts with a 23mm rim)
I like my shimano RS80s they were well under your budget and see me as an all round set of road wheels.
RS81 will probably be just as good (latest model?) if you cant find the RS80
+1 on far sports 38mm clinchers
Fulcrum racing 3's here nice wheels. Some old fart pulled out on me once caught my rear wheel but still remained true. I'd have racing zeros if I could justify the cost
I've got some AL30's too and they're stiff enough with the bladed spokes.
They're as good as anything else for £150.
Ok, this is all very useful. Though I'm no nearer to making a decision!
david t, would you mind putting up the link to the JRA wheelset at that price, as I still can't see it!
Just go on the custom build options and spec a front and rear set up. That's not with CX ray spokes though. Just lazer front/race rear. How heavy are you?
I picked up a set if campag zondas for 275 from halfords the other day. Seem to be very nice for the money.
Shimano RS80s here, really good, light & tough... I'm a big lad and have ridden them hard for a year yet they're still good as new
I'm just over 75kg at the mo. I've dropped a bit, I was more like 80kg but all this road riding seems to be doing something!
go on to the bikeradar forum (I know, I know...) and look at all the handbuilt threads for ideas, there's a guy on there ID is UgoSantalucia and he builds wheels so is extremely knowledgeable, give you lots of ideas on hubs/rims if you do go for handbuilt
I have fulcrum 5s and they are great
Just bought some RS81's and running 10 speed, so come with the 11 to 10 speed spacer. They are very nice wheels, mostly alloy rimmed with a carbon overlay. Fab way of adjusting bearings now, rather than 2 cone spanners and easy to service. Only two bearings for smooth running, so think about these snazzy hubs like Hopes, my Pro 3 has 5 bearings rolling in the rear. They are now on my winter bike.
Ok, so my shortlist is now about 3 options longer than it was before... Very torn between just pulling the trigger on some Mavics / Shimanos or getting a lovingly handcrafted set. Probably leaning marginally towards handbuilt.
Kysrium Elites for strong and stiff and light. To give you an idea of strength, in a race yesterday my rear mech hanger sheared and the mech went into the spokes at 25mph locking the wheel for a 20m skid to a halt. The Kysirium Elite spokes all held, only one of which has a small kink, and the rim will need a slight truing. That is a strong wheel. Sadly the chainstay looks pretty awful.
For long distance comfort, however, I'd go handbuilt with dura ace or ultegra hubs and a nice light rim. Open pro is good, but there are lighter.
+2 for the 38mm farsport clinchers
Those farsports do look tempting, but I'm after alloy braking.
Anyone know anything about / got any experience of Leadout Cycles?
They have a pretty bargainous looking option - [url= http://leadoutcycles.co.uk/Road%20Racing%20Wheels.html ]Archetype rims, Novatec hubs and CX Ray spokes, £379 all in.[/url]
Seems to tick all the boxes and a very nice price...
Dunno, I'd go for my option with hope hubs and differenct spokes from JRA for less money
Even with Laser spokes not CX Ray, speccing hope hubs and archteype rims on JRA comes out more expensive than that ^^^ everytime I attempt it!
You only want lasers on the frontm, not on the back. Also, just standard brass nipples at no extra cost.
My second hand Hope mono/pro 2 onto magic cxp33 with 36 spokes at the back and 32 at the front. Stiff, long lasting and very strong, not to mention all the spares are easy to find. So far a pair of rear wheel bearings has been the worst of it. You can find lots lighter, but all depends on the extent to which durability matters. I am 17st and wouldn't touch factory wheels after last time, supposedly bombproof, lasted 2 weeks.
Shimano RS80's etc are great until you wear through the rims after a few thousand miles. Then you'll realise that it's nowhere near feasible to rebuild with new rims. It annoyed me so much that I learnt to build my own wheels - best skill I've ever learnt, you'll never look back!
I recently built some new road wheels for well under £300/1500g, details and pics here: http://deetsman.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/new_wheels/
Interesting, wings - great suggestion.
I recently had a set of Aksiums die on me and so decided I needed a new set of wheels.
I picked up a set of Hope Hoops with Open Pro rims for just over £300. My decision process was as follows.
I wanted something that was repairable so no silly spokes, hope hubs are easy to maintain and get parts for. Open Pro's are entirely acceptable, easy to get hold of, have eyelets and build into a decent wheel for not much cash. If I bend something I can replace it or true it myself. I really don't see the need for anything too flash for the riding I do and would prefer something repairable and strong to something cool or expensive.
Personally i think its hard to go wrong with Velocity rims built on decent hubs.
I got some Hopes on A23s a while back for £370 and they have been faultless.
And here are the finished product:
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/12726771433_cb6b6900e7_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/theflatboy/12726771433/ ]New Wheels! Black Archetype Bitex CX Ray[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/theflatboy/ ]theflatboy[/url], on Flickr
Not got my hands on them yet, but they're on the way!
Nice, I'm looking at Archetypes for my next build.
Not sure whether to go with Novatec or Hope hubs yet, hadn't considered/heard of Bitex.
Who built them for you?
Yep they look pretty good in the pictures. I'll update once they arrive.
I looked around a bit for good price / spec options and ended up getting them from here: http://leadoutcycles.co.uk/index.html - had the right parts that I settled on for the best price I found.
While I think about it, I was looking at this place earlier on today: http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=86_235_357
The prices, including delivery to here, look pretty good - I haven't cross-checked them in detail as I've already got mine sorted, but some of the prices for Archtype rims, CX Ray spokes and e.g. White Industries / CK hubs look seriously tempting!
Might be worth a look.
Budget rules out CK's, sure those prices will include some import costs anyway?
For use as everyday wheels you say.
Then personally I'd go for a quality handbuilt and not worry too much about weight. Something Mavic'y on Hopes and quality spokes and nipples.
'Triggers broom' and all that.
theflatboy - I used velomine for my last set of road wheels, a23s on Ultegra hubs with dt champion spokes, they've been perfect so far (9 months) very good vfm, a trustworthy company.
Haze, you're right about import - I'd forgotten about that. They still might be an economical option, though - ds, how did yours stack up price-wise once you paid shipping and import?
I would seriously have considered them, I think. Too late now, but may go to them for future builds.
Uh, just read somewhere that Hope front Mono RS hubs shouldn't be radially laced - loosens the bearings.
That may change things...
theflatboy - should have said I live in the US so was internal postage. A good company to deal with though.
Gotcha - that probably does make a difference! Prices still look good, I'd say. Probably worth considering at least, particularly for the discounted options.
My wheels are not with me yet, I'm getting a bit impatient now!
Ok...
Archetypes 24/28 on Hope Mono RS, Sapim Laser spokes front and rear NDS with Race on the DS. All laced 2 cross.
Mavic all the way if you want some Ksyriums inbox me and I will sort you out a good price.
Thanks but no ta, I can get Elites on a full bike build off the shelf, got my heart set on handbuilts.
Just ordered some Dura Ace/Sapim/Open Pros (all black) from Harry Rowland to complement the Defy Advanced SL when it isn't dressed in carbon SLR aero wheels.
After writing of the rear Ksyrium (mentioned above) in a pothole three weeks ago, another of Harry's wheels on my fixed wheel suffered a severe flat spot in a another deep pothole but remained completely true - not round, mind, but perfectly rideable. So based on ride quality, I'm after the same again.
I also like Mavic tyres, which complement the Open Pro rims. There isn't a huge difference in rim design between Open Pro and Ksyrium to be honest, but the ride of a fine set of handbuilts is noticeable.
Nice, I bought a pair of Archetypes (SS) from Velomine. Absolutely top notch service, and great wheels.
The rims were nominally the Hard Ano version, but the brake track is already wearing :(. Shame, as they looked pimp
Those Archetypes look lovely.
I went the boring Ksyrium elite route but they really are good wheels, also remember a bit better value than maybe first appear as normally sold as a complete wheelset including the tubes and actually pretty good tyres.
2 other tips make sure you remind the shop to give you the MP3 (weird name) registration card as you need details of their customer registration number and have to register within 5 days of purchase but seems like a very good deal.
Final tip probikekit.com are really cheap for Mavic wheel bags, got mine for £27 the pair they arrived within 18hrs of ordering and on a Saturday too so most impressed.
My wheels turned up but aren't fitted yet. They look very nice indeed in all black, and the bearings in the Bitex feel suitably spinny in scientific not-fitted hand testing!
1,548g all in including velo plugs (+ very nice Bitex ti skewers at 44g for the pair), according to my home scales. Pretty happy with that, can't wait to get them into use!
DT SWISS R23s? have not ridden mine yet but 1550g and 240 hubs basically.
Haven't seen it mentioned but Mavic have their insurance scheme MP3 so for about £40 extra you get full repair cover for a set of Ksyriums. Couple of important things, there are weight limits for particular wheels but they are pretty high, you need to keep your receipt and you absolutely must register within 5 days of purchase.
I think you have to buy wheels and treat them as consumables, rims, bearings and freehubs wear out, spokes break. I gave up using mavics years ago, they look great but are very expensive to service.
Hand built wheels are the way to go, they stay true for longer and with the right build can be lighter, stiffer and easier to repair. Recently got a set of kinlin a300 rims with novatec hubs from www.spokesmanwheels.co.uk, less than 1500g, very stiff, about £300, done a few 1000 miles on them very good.