Any suggestions

Fulcrum Racing 7. Really good for the money. No issues 2 years solid use.

RS20 – only a few months old though – smooth and I haven’t had to true them yet.

Merlin have some good deals on road wheels at the moment, I’m sure there are Fulcrum Racing 5s or Shimano RS30s at that price. Probably hard to beat.

I’m running a set of these this winter, very pleased so far.

V-Sprint Wheels

I know wheel building isn’t for everyone, but I built for this much, 24/32h “Mr_ride” hubs from ebay, halo aerorage rims, ACI DB SS spokes from cyclebasket. Weigh 1550g. Easy to maintain too with normal spokes, easy to replace rims and sealed bearings.

These are a bargin

[list]http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/WPEXCUR105/ambrosio_excursion_on_shimano_105_wheelset[/list]

or if you can stretch your budget a little

[list]http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPAMB105/ambrosio_excellight_on_shimano_105_wheelset[/list]

Merlin are doing some Mavic Aksiums for under £150 i think.
Very pleased with mine and i don’t like the cup and cone Shimano hubs if you’re using the bike in winter.

open sport on 105.

I have had a pair of Fulcrum 7s for a few years (covering at least 2000 miles) with no issues, they roll very well and have taken a lot of abuse. I am 82 kgs so I liked the fact they are 20/24 spokes front/rear and they havent buckled or broken a spoke. They are pretty heavy though, I think mine are close to 1900gs but for a cheap and reliable, fit and forget wheelset they are unbeatable.

eBay hubs, Open Pros, DT Competitions. Little bit over budget, be good wheels though, and far lighter than any of the factory options.

I have riding Mavic Aksium for a while now and they are great.
I believe they are on offer for less than £140 in Merlin cycles.

I know wheel building isn’t for everyone, but I built for this much, 24/32h “Mr_ride” hubs from ebay, halo aerorage rims, ACI DB SS spokes from cyclebasket. Weigh 1550g. Easy to maintain too with normal spokes, easy to replace rims and sealed bearings.

This +1, for £150 and those hubs/spokes you’ve got a huge choice of rims available within budget.

Although (IMO) the whole process is easier with a proper wheels stand (£50 s/h) and tension gauge (£60). You can do without, but they do take a bit of guesswork out of it.

From the factory wheels I’d go for shimano, they weigh about the same as everything else for the same money, but the hubs are where the weight is so you get a much lighter rim which is where it counts. have a look s/h, I picked up some R-550’s for £30 as serious roadies with new bikes tend to already have nice and training sets of wheels so the sell on the low end OEM wheels.

Today only advent special offer Shimano R501s for 76€ ?

http://www.alltricks.fr/route/roues-jantes/roues/shimano-paire-de-roues-route-r501-noires-a-pneu-256-133085.html

Trying to resist these as they’d be cheaper and easier than replacing the cracked freehub on my old OEM Scott road wheels. Heavy though.

RS30’s here.

Can’t fault them.
Firmer ride than handbuilts but really bombproof.

Very cheap, Merlin.

If you can find some then I can more than recommend Mavic Cosmos.

Basically they are factory built Open Pro rims on sealed hubs.

I’ve had one pair 8 years, ridden them every winter and raced cross on them and they are as true and smooth as when I first got them.

Found a new pair on Ebay for £70 a few months back 🙂

building is not an option for me

Shimano at that price. Fulcrum 7s are also pretty solid.

Aksiums have been hit and miss with me so doubtful.

No love for the Planet X AL-30 wheels?

100kg here – my fulcrum racing 7 front wheel distorts and pads rub when out of the saddle.

Yep, I was about to say Planet X AL-30’s. Not much else for this price that has a comparable weight – just over 1700g including skewers. Most the other weights quoted for Shimano / Mavic etc will be without skewers I bet.

Not had mine that long, but they’re light and stiff.

just over 1700g including skewers. Most the other weights quoted for Shimano / Mavic etc will be without skewers I bet.

Yes, because quoting weights with skewers is daft.

They look good though.

AL30’s here, had for about a year used pretty much daily on my commuter, straight and true from the box, not touched them all year, I like them, I did pop the caps off the hubs and pack with grease to protect them when new.

Aksiums or the Shimano equivalent. Low spoke count with aero spokes will make much more real world difference than a lighter set of handbuilts.

Low spoke count with aero spokes will make much more real world difference than a lighter set of handbuilts.

That really depends on how fast you’re going….

And ‘much more’ is definitely debatable.

Low spoke count with aero spokes will make much more real world difference than a lighter set of handbuilts.

haha!

haha!

My Alpha340/novatech SL handbuilts feel lighter, but my poverty tier shimano’s feel faster, depends how you want the bike to feel.

indeed.

haha!

Did I say something funny? My 36 spoke open pro wheel is a chunk lighter than my 20 spoke ellipse, but the ellipse feels much nicer to ride at speed. Besides, how many handbuilt £150 wheelsets are going to be much lighter than a set of Aksiums? All IMO of course…

Did I say something funny?

yep, your sweeping generalisation.

Besides, how many handbuilt £150 wheelsets are going to be much lighter than a set of Aksiums?

As Aksiums are 1900g… quite a few.

50quid more, but also 50 off…

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-CLEARANCE-Kinetic-One-K1-BLACK-Aero-Wheels-Road-TT-Tri-Racing-Bike-/360524490581?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item53f0ef2755

As Aksiums are 1900g… quite a few.

Just pondering that question………

£50 288g novatech hubs
£48 910g halo arorage rims
£25 56*5g take your pic of any double butted spokes.
£123 1478g

And those aren’t the lightest rims in the budget and more spokes than you really need too as they only come 24 and 32h, but would probably be pretty tough and stiff.

Or going lightweight:

£50 288g novatech hubs
£56 760g Kinlin XR200 shipped from tiawan
£25 52*5g take your pic of any double butted spokes.
£131 1308g

plus wheelbuild cost

can you link to the novatech hubs?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-282g-Super-light-Road-Bike-Hub-20-24-Shimano-Titanium-color-Hubs-/190769701254?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c6ac2a186

There’s loads of different ‘brands’ selling them. I’ve bought from that seller before with a lower ‘best offer’ and specified a color and spoke hole combination they weren’t listing.

I guess shops would probably charge £75-£100 for spokes and building if you turned up with your own rims and hubs. It’s not that hard to learn though, although for a first attempt I’d go with more spokes and stiffer rims rather than lightweight as it’s far more forgiving. It took me 3 attempts to get my alpha’s to go together correctly (like torqueing down a cylinder head it matters what order you do things in I found, winding the nipples half a turn each time from start to finish was much better than rushing things and winding loads on too quickly).

If you’re around berkshire you’re welcome to borrow my stand/dishing tool/tension guage.

Planet X al30 here they are excellent they ride a lot nicer than shimano rs20.

swiss side wheels

bought the st bernard for winter wheels, £115 delivered within 2 days. peeled the st bernard sticker off though. 🙂