Now due to working away i have been unable to get much riding in which has unfortunately led to obsessive upgrade dissorder! Its the turn of the wheelset on my trek emonda. Many hours have passed searching for the perfect balance of price, ride quality, and of course looks. Needs to be good for 100mile sportives, hilly club rides and carrying a 14 stone mamil with some finess. £460 eurus, £350 rs81. Love the da c24 and racing zero but its gonna be hard enough explaining tobthe missus as it is. Any advice or experience of these choices would be much appreciated

Eurus are stiff, very stiff in fact. Would recommend them over Shimano wheels for larger guys. I had the 2 way fit version (tubeless on road bikes is as much if not more of a benefit than on MTB’s IMO) and only sold them when I got some Reynolds Assaults.

My experience of all Shimano wheels with the bonded carbon/ally hybrid rims is they’re not that stiff, and aside from the C24’s they’re not very light.

Eurus are also basically the same as Racing Zero’s but without the flashy carbon hub sleeve or ceramic bearings, both of which you can live without happily.

I’ve used Eurus since 97 and currently on Shamal Ultra. They’re very reliable, quite fast decent wheels. The Eurus are now on my CX bike and doing the job just fine.

Have you checked out Hunt Wheels – they look the business too?

I did look at the hunt wheels and agree they look fantastic, none in stock until end of june though unfortunately. Nearly went for cero ar30s but saw on some forums there were some reliability issues, also a very narrow rim. Thought eurus might be a good bet, i suppose i was just wondering if anyone thought the rs81 c35 was up there on the climbing front as ive heard theyre a smooth ride

13.5 stone here and found the C35s more than stiff enough, not a jot of flex into the brakes when stamping up hills. Couldn’t really comment on smoothness though, felt fine but I was on a synapse with 90psi 25c tyres so not sure if it was the wheels or the tyres or the frame.

I had some 2011 eurus wheels. Nice wheel set but spokes can be hard to get if you damage one. I went from these to Reynolds assults which are also nice but I’d say the eurus spin smoother.

Oh bugger! Just seen Merlin do handbuilts, dura ace hub with open pro rim for under £400. I was about to flip a coin on eurus/rs81 and now this!!!