Whats the best £ versus reliability at the moment? Seem to be a number of sales on so what would you recommend?

Merlin are doing a bundle deal on the shimano 501 with tyres tubes and 105 cassette for £136. I do have tyres and cassettes but spares are always good.

Anything out there to rival that? Will I get super annoyed at riding wheels that weigh a ton (only ridden nice wheels to date….)

501s aren’t well sealed, you need tiagra or ideally 105 for that.

Hmmm how about pro lite Garda? Can’t seem to find many reviews

No idea. R501 is good for the price, handbuilts may last longer and be worth re-building.

Many cheap factory wheels are essentially disposable.

I always use the 501’s in the winter. Normally get at least a couple of years out of them ( fronts longer) despite salt/ crud etc. Makes the summer bike and wheels feel even better. Good value IMO

It seems 105 on open pros is likely to be over £300 quite a bit more than I wanted to spend…may go for those shimanos

£225 at merlin.
http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-105-hub-on-mavic-open-pro-rim-59395.html

Actually. Ignore me rear is out of stock. Pretty sure I saw others in stock elsewhere at a similar price when I was looking.

Rose bikes have got some 36h ones at a bargain price

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/road-wheel-set-28700c-mavic-open-pro–105-5700-401814/aid:401816

mavic aksiums at decathlon – £145 a pair

sorted

I have just got a pair of these for the winter bike, and tbh if they only last a season I’ll be happy, but I suspect with a bit of tlc they’ll be ok for 3ish depending on my mileage.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-wh-r501–28700-c-road-wheel-set/aid:100100

Dt78 I’ve got a pair of shimano 500 or 501 little use £60 posted with tyres and tubes if ur interested.

Got my Open Pro on 105 from Rutland Cycling for under 200 quid earlier in the year. Worth looking to see what they’ve got.

Open sports have marginally more metal = better for winter

I wouldn’t be that concerned about hub life as you are going to get through rims pretty quick as well riding through winter. One of the reasons I moved to a disc braked commuter. Rims weren’t lasting more than about 2 years.

Planet X always used to be good for cheap wheels.