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My shiny new (to me) road frame hopefully arrives tomorrow. Will be taking some bits off my old bike for now, but thinking of treating myself to some new wheels.
Had decided to go for Ksyriums Elites, but then I spotted the Stans Alphas. Alphas seem stupidly light compared to anything else for the price, so whats the catch? Will they fall apart on contact with the first pothole? Also considered those cheap superstar numbers that come in at same weight as the Mavics for half the price, but I'm thinking they might also be like noodles.
I weigh about 11.5-12 stone, and am no Cav power wise, but looking for some lighter options to get me up hills in summer. Will probably be using these as my main wheels as well, so durability is a consideration.
Also after a lightweight post and stem if anyone has any cheapish suggestions...
any thought appreciated
ta
the catch, i hear they wear quickly
Pro Lite Bracciano wheelset.
Can. Worms. Opened! 😕
Some people swear by wheelsets, some by handbuilts, some by low spoke count wheels, some by 32 spokes, some by deep section rims, some by low profile rims, some by clinchers, some by tubs, and some by tubeless!
The Mavic's you've suggested... Well some people love them. Personally I'm not a fan, but that's more to do with mavic hubs/freehubs being poor (IMO) than the rim or the weight of the wheels. The Stan's rims seem to get lots of praise, and can be built up very light, though I wouldn't go too low on the spoke count with them. Probably 24/28 or 28/32 F/R would suffice, because the rims are quite light. Also depends on the spokes used, and the quality of the wheel build too.
What are you going to be using the wheels for? Day to day general riding? Crit races? The odd sportive? Getting to work and back in all weathers? Cos obviously the intended use should/will have a big bearing upon sensible wheel recommendations.
I've got Planet-X AL30's on my road bike, slightly heavier than Superstar ones but were slightly cheaper at the time.
There are quite a few lighter options than Mavic for the price.
Shimano RS80's …… job done
Ultegra on Open Pro
Shimano RS80's …… job done
Another vote here.
handbuilt rim alternatives, ambrosio excellights and H Plus Son, my commuter has open pros and you can't go wrong with them either
hubs - blimey all kinds....
I have some Fulcrum 5s on my summer bike and they are great
I bought some Campag Zondas from wiggle for my roadie, general road rides, training, a few sportives and that sort of thing.I'll even race on them in the summer. I'm 82kgs and they are seriously light (mine are a few grams under the 1555gs quoted by campag), yes they have only 16 spokes at the front and 21 at the back but they seem strong enough not to flex although I havent but too many miles on them yet. The hubs are nicely finished and I've fitted them with Conti GP4000s, they pick up and hold speed very well. It does feel weird looking down and seeing so few spokes at the front though and you just have to trust the G3 thing and the hub flange at the back...
Originaly I was looking at the Campag Neutrons which are just superb, light and strong, I was also looking at the Vision Trimax 42s and the Easton EA90s but the Zondas are just very good value for money, they have hundreds of good reviews and a friend of a very similar weight has them and gave them them thumbs up so i wasnt buying them blind.
For £300 you could do a lot worse.
For light weight RS80's from planet x are great for the money at £319. If you want a burly build then go for hope pro3 on open pro rims for £300. Personally im a wheel smasher so run a mixture of mavic Aksiums and Hope SP-RS 5.0 carbon wheels depending on the ride.
thanks folks
Looking at mainly longish rides with mates, nothing to competitive, maybe the odd sportive. No commuting and have a spare set for when its really nasty outside. I'm trying to balance weight with durability. The rs 80s and Mavics seemed a good balance, both for around 300 quid
Under £300:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=29086
Very good, light wheels. Strong build and easy to service hubs
What about Velocity A23 or H-plus+sons rims ? - both have the wide internal rims - I've been seriously impressed by them - rims come in around 425-450g/rim for £45-55; built onto Ultegra or equivalent hubs - great wheelsets and can be built for around £250-350 (see JoeH at VeloCafeMagasin) -
the H+ come in 3 finishes - the best looking imho is the all black - it has an anodized black braking surface which does wear but you can prolong the 'blackness' if you use Swissstop Green or Yellow brakepads
I've got a pair of elites and I bloody love them. Stiff, light and comfy. And completely reliable so far.
Those Bracciano's have good reports... BUT...
No UK importer any more (Hotlines have dropped them), no Shimano freehub versions any more (Campag only), and no spares availability! Buyer beware.
The RS80 C24's would probably fit the bill very well for what you describe. Certainly better than the Mavic's anyway.
Zondas seconded. Superb value for money. I have raced and then Lejog'd a set and they are still going strong. The best thing has been them staying true despite a battering. Caveat, I weigh f.all.
Either get a factory wheelset with a low spoke count and shallow rims(aksiums) or a handbuilt set with 23mm rims (Alphas, a23s, H+Son Archetypes).
Only reason I'd go with Alpha's is for tubeless and even then I'd probably look elsewhere - they're light but wear fast and are flexy in low spoke count configs.
I have Ksyrium Elites and they're a very good wheel, they're stiff and light, although bear in mind that stiffness can show up any harshness in your frame (especially if run with 23's at 100+psi).
RS80's are a good option if tubeless ready is something you want and are a slightly more forgiving ride than the Elites but are a tad more flexy as a result so depends on your weight/power if they'd be a problem.
Personally I'm planning to switch to tubeless later this year once Schwalbe bring out the tubeless Ultremo (and someone else has tested them to make sure they don't have quality control issues :p ), wheels-wise I'm going to go for Pacenti SL23's for the rims and then depends on budget at the time for the hubs.
I've had a good run out of my Fulcrum Racing 3's, got 8000km out of them with no problems until I hit a car at 30Km/h 2 weeks ago 😥 Got knocked out by about 5-6mm when the bike bounced around but they've just trued up nicely this week, ready to carry on....
Rich
I ride an Alpha Pro wheelset at the moment.
Its a 1200 gram wheelset and I'm 13 stone, you do notice a little flex on the front end but I have on all of my previous wheels inc zipp 404's
Apparently the rims wear quickly. Ive not noticed this, but they are relatively new.
I'm setting them up tubeless with pro 4's at the weekend so I hope they will prove to ride even better than they do now.
+1 for Zondas
Handbuilts: I had Open Pro CDs on Ambrosio hubs, DT Rev spokes and alloy nipples. Cost £250 all in: light, strong, easily repairable.
Stans obviously :p
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stans-alpha-wheelset-1300g-road-tubeless-wheelset-for-250