Bit of a moon on a stick request.
Want some cheap <£150 winter road wheels. I'd also like them to be suitable for light touring and cyclocross as I'm intending on changing my frame when I see one I like.
Currenly I have seen 105hubs with mack 1 rims on merlin or Planet X A57 or maybe the model C.
Anything else I should look at? Reliability is crucial, weight around the 1800g for the pair prefered.
Been using some R500s flippin ace.
I would say - Pro-lite Luciano's
£125 from Ribble ... Handbuilt & Pretty Tough
Planet X Model C wheelset has been superb for me over the last 1000 miles or so, can't fault them really
R500/R550 are stonking value
RS10 are sub £100 too.
Have a look at the 40%-off deals on Pro-Lites at Ribble.
Will the R500 stand up to some light touring and cyclocross. They look like they should. Dirt cheap on Merlin at present.
yup
they are solid
I ran a pair all through winter. Cost about the same as the tyres that went on them....
just get some 2nd hand ones and £150 will get you a nice pair worth spending that money on. buying new for that price is daft imo.
you could get yourself a nice pair of 2 yr old hand built open pro rims, dura-ace hubs and decent spokes for that money.....
just look in classifieds, cycling weekly and ebay.
Two year old wheels? The rims would be worn out after another winter.
Bought R500s while my race wheels and a pair of Ultegras were in the menders. That was November, and they've been on ever since. They've done shed loads of hard road mileage and I love them, a proper little revalation.
I think they come out a little heavier than Aksiums, but you can tweek that with tyre choices.
I also noticed that they brake really well?
Like Reggie said, cheaper than the tyres going on them.
I won a pair of Tiagra hubs built on to Mach 1 rims off e-bay 2 months ago. £47 auction, £9.95 P&P and if I'd not shot my bolt I reckon I could have gotten them for £5/£10 less.
Currently there are some Pro-Lite Comos on eBay on Buy It Now for £89.75.
I'm running R500's on my uncle john.bought them brand new for £50 the pair!
Great wheels 
i got some prolite merano's for just over £100, got em on the cx for a while now, very stiff and true, used them at swinley and the od cx race.
My dad got a pair of RS10s for £78, seem good so far.
RS10's been used for touring, cx races (about 8 so far), and winter road rides - done about 5000 miles and serviced them twice only - still going strong. Recommended!
Set of Ambrosio Zenith hubs handbuilt on Open Pros with some DB spokes shouldn't be too far from your budget and IMO will last better and be easier to maintain than a factory build
Fulcrum Racing 7. About £220.
Or hand built Open Pros.
You can get racing 7's for a lot cheaper than £220, you can even get 5's in your £150 budget. I probably wouldn't though, my 7's are square after about a year just on road use. Re-trued them a few times then stopped bothering I just don't have the time to be doing them that often. Planet x model b's are under your budget and around 1650g if I remember, not sure how tough they are though.
Iain
Model B's are going to be too fragile if I want a bit of cyclocross action. My budget has dropped since I've been on Merlin and seen the R500 for <£80. I only use this in winter and I intend the odd touring trip and canal path pootle. Fancy doing a cyclocross race to see what it's like. If I enjoy it enough I'll set the bike up porperly for racing later.
I have given some serious thought to getting some proper wheels* for my Cayo as it's currently only go aksiums .I could put them on the winter bike. Nervous about touring or cyclocross with them though as the spoke count is low and f one goes they'll buckle really easily. Don't think lighter wheels will help me win races though and I need to save for a wedding.
*Was looking at handbuilt Stan's alphas on pro 3s (about £400?).
Watch and see if Ribbles get R500s back, they were £64.
I use mavic Aksium Races as my winter and commuter bike wheels and they have been ace, I have not touched the spokes once. Much tougher than r500s, which admittedly are a lot less money, but you will need to do some work on them from time to time.
Can you get Aksiums for that money these days? I think I paid £99 for the pair on ebay new about 2 years ago.
I would also look at Pro-Lite.
You see then personal experience has a lot of baring on these cheaper wheels. For example my Aksiums require a fair bit of fettling over the months. And a common trait amongst other users is the way they go out of dish. And losing a single spoke can put them out of true.
On the other hand the R500s I bought as stop gap throwaway wheels have been faultless. NOt needed to do any work at all, and you can make these things last i.e simple cup and cone and normal spokes.
The R500s are a bit flexier, but I find running them at higher pressures makes for a nice ride. If you become an R500 user you could shift a shed load by using after market Q/Rs.
They ain't my race wheels though. And the Aksiums are going to get a traditional sending off in this years CX season.
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