I need some for the summer as my current good wheels (handbuilts: Tune hubs, ceramic OPs) have gone on the wife’s bike and I fancy getting some factory wheels this time.

Done a little bit of reading and the obvious candidates are:

– the new 7850 DA wheels, in particular the scandium-rimmed tubeless ones
– Mavic Ksyriums – 09 Elite or maybe an older SL
– Fulcrum 3
– Easton EA90
– maybe even Campag… not really thought about them

Any comments?

[For a 12ish stone rider. Just for sportives. No TTing. Shimano gears. Not fussed about aero – just want light and stiff and reliable. 1500g is okay]

I’m weighing this one up myself at the moment although I’m spending a wee bit more. Got it pretty much down to Dura Ace 7850 Carbon Laminate and Mavic Ksyrium SL. Dura ace wins on a lot of points but the mavics look so nice.

Fulcrum are Campag aren’t they?

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Complete_Wheels_268.html

Does this count as ‘factory’

Slight hijack, sorry! Gary M, would you be interested in a brand new pair of Ksyrium Premiums? I have a pair that I’d like to sell looking for around £600. dc30 AT fsmail.net if you’re interested.

I’m a big fan of campag’s Zonda wheels. just don’t get your fingers caught in the spokes they are like knives. never seen a wheel that freewheels like it.

I bought a pair of Ksyrium Elite last year. Awesome wheels, strong and great value for money.

If it were my money I would be choosing between the Fulcrum’s and the Mavics.

I have rode Mavics for years, Elites, Kysrium ESs and now Kysrium SL Premiums and their mix of weight, stiffness and compliance suits my riding well.

For the last couple of winters I have been using Fulcrum Racing 5’s and for their money seem to be a much better wheel than equivalently priced Mavic’s. So I would be tempted to see how their mid and higher end wheels perform. I think my Fulcrum 5’s are stiffer than all my Kysriums but it doesn’t overly bother me.

I sold the only Easton wheels I had very soon after buying them. It was nigh on impossible to get the tyres on and off. Not what I needed in the Winter. May not be the same for all their wheels but turned me right off.

I would be Blazin-saddles yes but at the moment I’d really want them on interest free credit as we’re in the throws of getting a new kitchen and all my money is going on tiles, flooring and dualit toasters 😉

No probs.

Is that no probs for interest free?

some good comments there

Get another set of handbuilt wheels, dont be seduced by the bling colours and graphics it doesn’t improve your riding. Tune hubs ( mig mag?) open pros too good for the wife surely as good if not better than any of the factory wheels you have mentioned imo.

I just picked up a pair of Krysium wheels for my Scott CR1, not the lightest wheelset but strong and a good ride, so would recomend them.
I am not a regular road rider but have entered the dragon ride this year, and hopefully a few shorter time trials.

I have considered it Ed2001 😉

The Tune hubs/OPs/DT rev spoke wheels are by Paul Hewit and have been excellent. Tight, light, perfectly reliable and, as you say, the wife may not fully appreciate them…

My only concerns with them are the lateral stiffness. Ride quality is good but out of the saddle they could be stiffer. It’s a minor point I accept but the revolution spokes do produce a slightly flexy wheel IME. I’ve thought the same on MTB wheels I’ve had too.

Now, of course, I could change to a different spoke, to get a stiffer wheel, and I’m sure that’s possible without adding much (if any) weight but I think the latest factory wheels have some benefits that a handbuilt can’t quite match, such as straight pull spokes, and wide hubs, and a ‘integrated’ design.

I’m going to nip down to see Paul (Hewitt) and have a chat and see what he thinks. He knows his stuff and gives good advice I’ve found, without being biased in any particular direction.

Gary, Wish I could would help us both.

I was looking at the DA 7850 carbon laminates but tempted now by the RS80’s, same rim just with an Ultegra level hub for a decent cost saving.

the rs80s look nice and not a bad price.

Blazin-saddles are they 2008 or 2009 wheels? Might be interested if you still have them mid April.

I’ve got Tune Hubs on DT1.1 with Aerolite spokes and there seems to be very little flex – I run my brake pads quite close and there is no rub even when out of the saddle, and they weigh 1350g. Certainly comfier and lighter than the Kysrium SLs that I had before. I weigh just over 11 stone.

I thought that the other issue with factory wheels was cost of repair/availability of spares? They do look nice though…

I went through this a year or so ago, and basically concluded that:

1 – mavics are overpriced and heavy for the same price of other brands in the £500 range
2 – fulcrums I didn’t like the look of and I didn’t know enough about them as a brand
3 – campag weren’t even an option
4 – bontrager didn’t have one in my price range as I was upgrading from racelites
5 – shimano dura-ace, probably would have gone for these if I didn’t get the Eastons (a couple of mates have them and they’re nice)
6 – DT I had concerns about the longevity of their rims as their light weight was due to the lack of eyelets and had been known to fail on the spoke hole.

So, I went for Easton Orion 2s (I think they’re now the EA90s), which have been fantastic. Light, stiff, seem more than tough enough and accelerate very quickly. The velomax hubs are very very smooth too, and they use spokes that both my local road shops stock and build with. When I’m not using the aero wheels these are straight on the bike.

I’ve used Campag wheelsets since the late 90s and they’ve been great. Reliable, long lasting and pretty fast too.
Fulcrum is basically a company wholly owned by Campag, manufacturing in Taiwan and not scarey for Shimano owners. The wheels are broadly similar to the Campag range, except for the spoking pattern for the rear wheel.

I think I want the DA 7850 SLs but the issue is that Melin have the 09 Ksyrium Elites for £360 a pair and the cheapest DA wheel I’v found is £300 just for a rear.

The 09 Elites look like a new product and at 1550g they are in the ballpark. The DA wheels are a tad lighter at 1514g

This might not help but I’d go for handbuilts; Tune hubs on ceramic OPs.

You’d be forkin mental to waste £500 on some factory hoops.

Ksyrium = rubbish *FACT*
Shamals = marginally less rubbish *FACT*
Shimano = social exclusion *FACT*
Fulcrum = camapgnolo = marginally less rubbish *FACT*

You will not find a better wheel (for that price) than Tune/DT with CXrays/DTAero on OP.

no that was helpful MTT 8)

care to expand on your assessment though?

😯 er OK then…

I’d be here years going over Factory Vs Handbuilts, if you do want to read into it go to WeightWeenies and do a search. I reserve the right to make bold statements of fact and then slink off. The marketing blurb and shiny graphics generally lead people toward factory offerings which are typically made up of components from other manufacturers or from their own range but a bit further down and not badged up quite so nicely. Look at campagnolo and their record hub for example; a superb bit of engineering, arguably one of the best hubs available – £200 on OP’s. Campag then add a different body and some inferior rims and market them for £400 – £600, you may save a small amount of weight. Ksyriums were made for people who don’t know any better, they are an absolute insult to the wheel buying public.

Did this last year and chose new bont race x-lite.

I must agree with MTT about Ksyrium wheels.

aP and MTT can you explain why the Ksyrium always get such good reviews if as you say they are in fact rubbish?

funny your looking for this as im going the opposite way im after getting rid of my ksyrium es wheelset and replacing them with a set of handbuilt jobs 😉

Ksyriums can’t be that rubbish, I’ve raced cross for 4 seasons on the same sets of SL’s, they’re still straight, the bearings spin like the day the left the factory and they’ve never had a broken spoke. this is on 4 seperate pairs.

GaryM they’re 2009’s. give me a shout to see if I’ve got them when you’re ready.

Ksyriums are overpriced and heavy.
Ksyrium SL Premium 1480g £655.95, Shamal Ultra 1395g £584.29

good stuff MTT 8)

Who has ridden a good handbuilt and a good £500ish factory and can comment on whether they perceived a difference?

I’ve ridden the former but, as I said, I am tempted by the latter. Whether that is mainly marketing or possibly engineering I don’t know yet.

aP it’s not just down to weight in a wheelset.

To say ksyriums are rubbish is silly , they are as stated overpriced ( certainly sl premiums, sl’s far better value )and a little heavy now compared to some of the competition but they aren’t rubbish.
I would take a look at the shimano’s, I was just riding with two guys tonight who race regularly and know their stuff and they really rate them. ( I personally would listen to their views more than many people ). Have you also thought about some nuetron ultras Ive got and old set of nuetrons which I use for training and they are truly bombproof and fairly light so the ultras should be worth a look and around your price mark. Having said that I would still go handbuilt.

Laughing my ass off at the Kysirium haters. Have you ridden a pair for a few seasons? Nope didn’t think so.

I bought Es when they came out. 18,000 miles, 3 bearing sets, 5 rims and about 6 pairs of tyres down the line, they are still going strong, day in day out all year round come rain or shine.

The only reason they’ve been through so many rims is because i live in the Peak District and Peak road grit is death to any braking surface, and because some bint ran me over snapping the front rim under her car, the hub still runs true and fine to this day, though i did have to replace a few spokes when i fitted the new rim.

I’ve never had to do more than tweak the occasional spoke to keep them straight and i’m still on the original freehub body. They might not be the lightest wheel on the market, or the cheapest, but they are one of the estrongest, most durable and easiest to service.

SO not bad for an all in cost of about £900, 5p a mile…

sounds like triggers brush lol

beat me to it firestarter 🙂

sq how much did it cost for a new rim putting on btw ? and did it get done local or by mavic

have you ever had a spoke replaced too and how much if so also was that lbs job or mavic

cheers

Triggers brush, cheeky bastards. 😉

Firestarter, pay to have people touch my bike? You must be joking…

The rims cost about £40 give or take, swapping over is no different to any other rim, just tape it to the current rim, wind out all the spokes and then start laying them over to the new rim. 30 minutes for a front, a little more for the rears.

I do have spare spokes, 3 different sizes a couple of each, and i’ve never had to replace one in all the time I’ve had them, apart from rebuilding the front when it was driven over, they were toasted, but the hub was fine. Swapping a spoke is a 2 minute job.

I’m genuinely very pleased with them and see no reason to replace them.