I am thinking of upgrading my Fulcrum 5s and was wondering what options are out there. Ideally lighter than the 5s (1743g)

Ultegra are dead cheap but not much lighter than the 5s

Hunt are interesting and available at £400 which is top end of my budget.

Any other options? Handbuilt?

On my winter bike: Velocity A23 asymmetric rims, Novatec (A291SB/F482SB) hubs, Sapim Laser spokes (D-Light on NDS), 24/28 spokes, 1520g.

Parts approx £230, I’m sure someone could build them up for you to bring it in under £300. I built my own.

Someone will be along shortly to say not to do this but that’s a starter for you 😉

ps – I do have mine tubeless too, A23 rims are “tubeless ready”

HED Ardennes Plus are tubeless, and come in various flavours.

Thanks chaps,

Hed a bit out of my budget I think.

I was considering velocity rims and some cheap off ebay/ used Hope hubs. There was a new 28h hope hub for£50 that I failed to pull the trigger on. Same seller has a 24h for £50 but I’m near enough 14 stone so think 24h might be pushing it.

The idea of handbuilt does appeal, I had some novatec hubs before and wasn’t that impressed how are yours?

IANAE but I find Novatec hubs fine. Others don’t. They’re not my “best” wheels so for these a hub is a hub and if/when the bearings are shot I change them*.

*or rather get someone else to, I did it once and it was emotional 🙂

SOme campagnolo wheels are “2-way fit” or some similar term – pretty sure that means they’ll take tubeless tyres

http://www.hopetech.com/product/stans-alpha-mono-aero/#tech

http://www.hopetech.com/product/stans-alpha-mono-aero/#tech

I have those and they are great 😀

Re Novatec hubs I had some before and the rear had more resistance than the front from new. Both were smooth but rear didn’t spin as long/freely and it annoyed me.

Those Hope/Stans look good but I wonder can I get away with 24 spokes on the rear when I’m a bit of a biffer at 85kgs?

I am leaning towards ultegra (ignoring the fact that they are 20 spokes on the rear!)

Am I being daft in thinking a factory wheelset with a low spoke count is fine but handbuilt wheels with a low spoke count is asking for trouble? I know they are built the same but I have the vague assumption that a wheelset designed from the outset to have 20 spokes will be stronger.

Sorry to be cheeky and please ignore if it’s of no interest but I’m going to be selling my H Plus Son Archetypes on Miche Primato hubs in a couple of weeks time. Will be complete with tubeless valves and tape and Hutchison Fusion 3 tyres (one of these is has seen some repairs). They’re nice wheels that run true and smooth. They’d definitely be an upgrade but I can’t honestly say that they’d be a lot lighter than Fulcrum 5s though, I think they’re around 1600g.

If you were to go for something other than handbuilt I’d definitely recommend Campag Zondas. Very light, very smooth, very stiff and very good value but I’m not sure if the 2 way fit means you can run tubeless or if it means you could use tubular tyres. Worth looking into though.

Can email pics of the H Plus Sons if you’re interested.

Cosine wheels by Wiggle? I have their alloy 32mm deep wheels at sub-1500g with a set of Schwalbe Pro Ones. Like them a lot, though the hub bodies are quite small/slim so I don’t know how long the bearings will last.

Those Hope/Stans look good but I wonder can I get away with 24 spokes on the rear when I’m a bit of a biffer at 85kgs?

You can’t! – 85kg buffer here who couldn’t keep them straight! they do however do 32h versions albeit with j bend spokes/hubs rather than straight pull for under £400 which I’ve done thousands of miles on inc. loaded touring.