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So i might have £250 to spend on some spanky new wheels for the road bike.
what would you buy. for some reason i like handbuilts but factory wheels do seem to offer more (do they?)
Cheers.
I have a pair of [url= http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Ultegra-6700-Clincher-Wheels-Pair/SHIMWHFR615?utm_campaign=Googlebase&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=Googlebase&gclid=CKf0gLvf4bACFcQKfAod2Hg6zA ]Ultegra Clinchers[/url] and they're fantastic for the money...
What do factory builds offer 'more' of? I generally think they offer less, but there you go...!
What do you want to use them for? If you can handbuild yourself, then I'd seriously consider.....
Sokin 20/24hole hubs 288g/pair off ebay (or the pair off classifieds yesterday) £50-70
Stans Alpha 340 rims £160/pr
DT revolution spokes £40 from Rose
That will give you an approx. 1300g wheelset for £250ish
Stans alpha rims (£80 each, £75 if you wait for a CRC discount code)
Novatech hubs (sold as sokin, mr ride and a few others on ebay for about £60/pair)
DT spokes
£75+£75+£60+£25 = £235 (assuming about 24 spokes/wheel at 50p/spoke from Rose)
~1150g, semi aero (they're deeper than open pros and shimano factory rims anyway) and under £250. If you wanted more aero then you could spend the remainng £15 on upgrading to aero spokes. Add on some KCNC or MtZoom QR's from XCRacer for another £35-£40 as I've had bad luck with ebay QR's.
What do factory builds offer 'more' of? I generally think they offer less, but there you go...!What do you want to use them for?
less weight, more choice. other than alphas there doesn't seem to be much in the way of development since open pros (could be spouting shite again)
using them for 'club runs', poncing & sportives mainly. don't race & don't intend to.
I can build build wheels if i need to...
Fulcrum racing 7 or 5 but hold out for some 2013 ones as they have been re-dsigned
other than alphas there doesn't seem to be much in the way of development since open pros (could be spouting shite again)
Pretty much, DT tried but the first eyelet less design wasn't reliable, and the replacement was heavier than open pro's.
what TINAS said - I went 32H 105 on the back for reliability, 1500gm, cheap as chips, tubeless is great.
And I dunno about all brands or current issues, but I remember some real expensive PITA problems getting mavic spares back in the day....
[url= http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=65&products_id=520 ]cheap alphas[/url] (just check the build before riding and loosing a child).
I had this same budget and challenge.
Went for these.
dt r1900
Got them for c. £200 unused second hand.
Strong and stiff..
the downside to those SS wheels is the straight pull spokes are (according to SS) made specifically for them in the required length so spares could be tricky. Put me off buying them earlier in the year.
I think actionsports.de do hand builts.
Just a question, anybody running Alpha's on 20H hubs up front suffering stifness issues at all? Or are they stiff enough built well?
FWIW Superstar do their own brand hubs built onto Stans Alphas (20/24H) for £250 and they come in at £1350 the pair... Tempting, if I had the money!
I'm on 20H up front, working fine for me at 12 stone.
yep, I've got some 20f/24r alphas (superstar). I'm around 80kg. I was a bit worried at first but the front wheel has been fine so far, only done a couple of hundred miles so far, its still as true as when I first got it. The rear has gone out of true by a couple of mm but still fine.
I'm fairly sure they are re-branded Novatech hubs that Superstar use.
I have some of the SS wheels and they're great light weight wheels for for the money.
The only gripes I have is the SS rim tape - it's too thin if you use lightweight tubes. The tube 'forces' the rim strip into the spoke hole and punctures, also the rear lacing is uneven, 8 x 16, so its needed truing a couple of times, which isn't a problem as I have a jig, but would be if you didn't know how to do it.
The rear going out by a couple of mm is alot. I would get that seen too. If you use Sapim spokes the build will cost less and they are just as good, infact I prefer Sapim Laser over DT revs as they are easiier to build with (you have to do a fair bit of bending of DT revs at the elbow to get them sitting right on a 2 cross or 3 cross build). I would also use a 2.0mm/1.8/2.0mm spoke like the DT comp or Sapim Race on the drive side rear.
Personally I would not go for super light weight for the OP as he/she is not racing/TT. Also all the builds suggested assume he can build them himself/herself. If he can then great but if not those builds will go over budget.
An alternative to the Novatec hubs are the Miche Racing box or Primato. They do weigh 440g for a pair but are well finished, have quiet freehubs and use larger bearings than most hubs front and rear (6001) so they are durable. There is a downside however. The U.K distributor only sells in pairs of the same drilling so I have had to go through Miche and buy of them to get the 24H version and the front and rears individually. Not something an individual can do though. These hubs are also O.K for radial lacing as it does not invaliadte the warranty. The novatec hubs are probably O.K for radial lacing but I do not use them I cannot say for sure.
Velocity A23 rim 28H 2x front (or 24H radial) and 28H 2x or 32H 3x rear on the Miche RG2 (racing box)They also cost £70 for a pir of whjatever drilling you want. Grant some novatec are lighter but other Novatec's are heavier.
24Hole version of the Miche hub is not normmally avialble in the U.K but I have a couple comming on order.
I think the velocity A23 28H front (or 24H front) with 28H or 32H build with Miche hubs and velocity A23 rims come in between 1600 and 1700g (1009g for a 24F with 28R)with brass nipples but will be reliable and sub £250. Save some more weight with Alu nipples. Use some of the lightweight Novatec hubs and more weight will be saved but at the hub where it matters least.
A note on the Open Pro's, a good rim but the last one's I had weighed a whopping 480g!
+1 for Fulcrum racing 5 as I got some on My Allez along with a 105 groupset and these additions have transformed the bike, it a lot smoother and the wheels are stiff, strong and responsive. I gave the bike a good clean the other day and checked the wheels for alignment and none of the spokes were loose still as true as the day they went on.
Some of these cheap light weight hubs like Sokin/novatech e.t.c work but use small bearings which wear out more quickly and can have axle allignment issues sometimes. Lightweight hubs from the likes of Tune are alot better but cost alot more.
I was looking at the same thing today, and found some good reviews for these Pro-Lite wheels:
[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=29086 ]Crc link[/url]
£283, so not too shabby
Anyone tried them.
Alot of factory wheels are pretty good. The only issue is propriority parts but as the like of Fulcrum rarely go wrong this is not much of an issue.