Been looking for some wheels around the 2 hundred smacker mark, preferably less but every time I settle on some I come across a Google where someone says the rims are chocolate, spokes bust or the hubs blew up after 10 miles:
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe - relying on the name, better available for the price.
RS20s – Suspicious half price special offer, some say bomb proof equally as many some say spokes are laced backwards and pop.
Easton EA50s – break a lot.
Roval Pave SL – light but bit pricy.
Ultegra Hubs / Mavic CXP33 – bit heavy at 2k+ & dated?
Kore Gradient – difficult to get parts.
Planet X model C etc – 10speed only, I need 9.
Xero Centauri XR-210 – light, expensive.
Would like something ideally 1700g mark give or take that I can both train and credit card tour on (80kg me plus 15kg max), that might see a bit of canal path. I could likley be way off in my choices.
Now I’m reading about how I should be looking at min 32/36 spokes?
Can anyone vouch for some of those or come up with suggestions?
I have got a pair of Ksyrium Equipe and a pair of Ksyrium ES and I love them .
I have had them for 3 years and so far, I have had no problem with the bearings or spokes.
The wheels are as true today as they were when I got them.
Friends of mine have Fulcrum 5 and 3s and it's the same as me, no problem at all.
Have you looked into a pair of DT Swiss or Mavic rims mounted on some nice hubs?
You should be able to find some Hope Hoops RS.
Open pro plus shimano
I ran cxp33s on deore, and then moved to Open Pros on Hope XCs.
Well worth getting the parts on ebay, spokes on CRC and getting them built at LBS.
Could very easily get a superduper bargain
RS20s are about 1900g a grams. I've got a pair and they look good for the money but they popped a few rear spokes which took months to get replacements!
Now got Ultegra on Open Pros which are a similar weight but feel bomb proof, but look old fashioned so it depends what you want.
Got Fulcrum Rcae 3's on the cross bike are they are great
Just got some Ksyrium Elites for the road bike (£325 from Merlin) and very impressed. Might be worth just stretching the budget a bit
Merlin are still doing the Ultegra 6700 wheels for £229.95. Fantastic wheels at roughly half price!
Would avoid Xeros if I were you.
Also, probably better off with handbuilt set, the factory ones can be PITA when they go wrong, no interchangablility of parts, even getting a spoke at whichever bike happens to be closest to where it's broken can a problem.
My choice for £200 would be a set of CK classics off fleabay and a pair of open pros.
Those 6700s are 10 speed only I believe.
Now I know what I'm looking for I've seen some cracking deals on the bay for open pro builds that seem cheaper than I can source the parts. It's tempting though to have a crack at building some.