Now then,

I need some new rims for one of my road bikes. Currently running Aksiums which are on their way out. Bike is used for training, the odd bit of commuting when I can’t face riding the commuter and possibly the odd bit of crit racing on a weekday night. Have looked around and not really seen much that has taken my fancy. Ultegra’s being the obvious choice but happy to consider other stuff. Hunts are never in stock, planet X has the Vision Team 35’s but they look to weigh a ton. Has to be 11-speed Shimano. Don’t really want to spend more than £350. I’ve got some Superstar pave 28’s on DT hubs and whilst the hubs are lovely I find them a bit flexy as a complete wheel

Any ideas?

You should be able to get RS81s for that budget, rather than Ultegra.

Lovely wheels – stiff, very comfy and light.

Cool – will have a butchers on the usual suspects.

Fulcrum Racing 3’s AKA Zondas would be my vote.
You can usually find them somewhere on special offer with GP4000s ii tyres for about £330 or less all in.

I’ve got the Fulcrums as above, I like ’em (doddle to service the hub too)

Either of those two ^ would have been my suggestion.

Had the RS81s, soooo much stiffer than the cheap Shimanos they replaced, and I’m a big fan of the bearing system, super easy to adjust.

Was considering the Zondas for my next build for similar reasons.

Or go hand built, thecycleclinic.co.uk

my zondas are reaching their end and I’m considering the same, some ultegras, another pair of zondas or the hand built route.

Handbuilt? Owen Wheels’ “Crystal Palace” wheelset with Sapim Race (instead of the usual CX-Ray) spokes are £360 and compare really well against pretty much all factory wheels at that price. Plus they’re wider rims, tubeless compatible, and handbuilt so easier and cheaper to repair if you crash, or replace when the rims eventually wear out.

Pic of the CX-Ray ones at https://www.instagram.com/p/BMRE9XijESZ

Full disclosure: I am Owen Wheels, and my website is in need of an update, but drop me a line at pete at owenwheels dot com if you want to discuss wheels.

A lot of talk about why handbuilt wheels are better at:
Why buy handbuilt?

Handbuilts on ultegra hubs would be my first choice. Harry Rowland builds my wheels and they have been truly excellent. I’m pleased with Mavic CXP33 rims but they are unfashionably narrow these are. Open Pros are lighter and I ride those too. Sapim spokes are the default.

I’d have gone for handbuilt, but I went with the fulcrums because they were £303 inc tyres and tubes at the time, on sale and 10% off Fulcrum stuff. The handbuilt ones I was looking at were about £360 and I’d have had to buy the tyres as well….and I was feeling cheap.

Another +1 for Malcolm at the Cycle Clinic
I’ve had light factory built and lightish handbuilt. Aside from losing a small amount of acceleration zip the handbuilts wins hands down for comfort, stiffness, and reliability.

There are a lovely set of almost new Zondas in the classifieds right now BTW (i.e. mine…)