Are they still contenders. Need my wheels by March and I’ve narrowed it down to one factory wheelset. But then my builder mentions handbuilts. 👿

Dura Ace on Open Pro CD with revolutions…had their day?

What sort of weight would they come in at? I reckon you can race on pretty much anything, its the engine rather than the bike after all 😉

Right rims and spokes and you could built a nice stiff set I’m sure, and its probably easier to replace spokes on a hand built pair than on a set of Kysriums for example.

Ive got record on Open Pro (wouldnt bother with CD), nice, but my American Classics are miles lighter and just as comfortable, plus more aero, if a little flexy. If i had the money id go for something fancy from mavic which would trump open-pros on every count, but im poor, so i dont.

Handbuilts are great if your a wheel breaker, or a mile muncher (cheaper rim replacement) but you need a fancy set of handbuilts to beat a good set of factory these days, and Open pro just arnt that anymore (IMO, IMO!)

No lighter than 1525g

Guys like wheelsmith could do you a lighter set or a set of deep sections if you fancied. I’d go for whatever looks best personally 😛

how is the whole tubeless thing coming along on the road?

latex an all that i mean not tubs.

Well the factory set that tops my list are 1392g and tubeless ready.

Guys like wheelsmith could do you a lighter set or a set of deep sections if you fancied. I’d go for whatever looks best personally

There’s some lovely looking kit, but I need all the help I can to stay in the bunch. My 2012 race bike will be a looker purely down to it’s pure function over form?

http://www.justridingalong.com/news/2011/06/custom-road-wheel-builds/

you can go lighter it would seem. pricey though.

My 32h Handbuilts weigh 1320g and thats with brass nipples so you could get those lighter by going to 28h and Alu nipples. They are much better than any factory built tat!

Chris king R45 on Alpha 340s with Dt rev spokes!

vory vory interesting. I’ll see what my man says.

If they are for racing only, crits and stuff like that, you want light and aero. Aero for efficiency at speeds in excess of 25mph and to help you stay in the bunch with less effort, light to help with repeated accelerations out of corners. Durability/strength/quality of hub probably secondary if only for an hour race once a week for a couple of months a year.
Wheelsmith do some very light wheelsets at reasonable prices provided you are prepared to go with a Novatec hub or similar. Weights less than 1500g are worth aiming at.

I looked at this a few months ago.

You can get some really nice light handbuilts. I was looking at Stan’s Alpha rims on a nice light hub like novatech (njee of this board goes on about them 😉 ) They were going to come in <1400g but would cost somewhere around the £400-500 mark. I thought that the open pro rims came in reasonably heavy as do most hubs by shimano (not sure about dura ace though as they might have a titanium freehub and the weight is normally in the steel freehub of lower models).

I looked at the usual suspects of justriding along, strada and wheelsmith.

After looking at hand builts I started to look at factory wheels. Merlin and Planet-x have some really good option.

I contemplated some deeper rims (planet x own offering and the shimano RS80-C50) but decided I mostly race in a bunch and the only time I’m ever going to get off the front is when there is a massive hill to be climbed.

In the end I got some shimano RS80. They came in at 1520g but more importantly I got mine for £280 from planet X so had £120 to spent on something else. Factory seem much cheaper for a given weight, It’s a summer bike for me so things last forever. I’m also light (see the climbing comment) so don’t tend to flex and break things.

I will use my wheels for fast training, long solo rides, racing, sportives. If I was going to commute, use it as my sole all year round bike and use it in harsher conditions I think I would have gone for handbuilts. I’m assuming that when the rims go it will be uneconomical to replace and I will buy new wheels.

Please excuse the shameless plug as I work for the distributor for Soul Wheels but please have a look at the road.cc review of their S2.0 clincher wheelset. 1,330g with standard j bend spokes.

Link to the review: http://road.cc/content/review/48341-soul-s20-wheelset

If you’d like more info about product or where to buy please drop me an email to the addrss in my profile.

Cheers

Adam

Anything sub 1600g, black, and stiff….oh, and not Italian… 🙂

I got a set of the DT Swiss 240 hubs uber cheap in the Planet X sale and built them with CX rays and IRD/Kinlin XR300 (30mm)Semi Aero rims for under £500. They come in about 1510g for the pair.

IRD/Kinlin XR300 (30mm)Semi Aero rims

I wore through a cadence rim in a single winter. How are the aero’s holding up?

Interesting post. I just bought m first road bike in over 20 years and the Mavic Aksiums I specced look pretty heavy then at about 1800g. That’s ok though. I am not racing and don’t intend to. Just interesting to see what is regarded as light in the road world.

http://biketechreview.com/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance

While i’ve got the link copied….

Not going for those light tubs from China on ebay?

I was looking at some dati hubs (64g F and 194g R)and 50mm deep section carbons (379g) around 1250g

Also recommended this guy http://www.boydcycling.com from the guy at http://www.bikehubstore.com

…and here’s an interesting experiment; look at the minimal differences in time over an hours climb despite all the jiggery pokery.

How much time does extra weight cost on Alpe d’Huez?

Mavic Cosmic carbone SL’s are what I use, been fantastic, straight, true, unfaulting.

Steer away from the Lightweights, they’re sh*te.

I have Open Pro CDs on Ambrosio Zenith hubs, DT rev spokes and alu nipples. Weighs about 1500g and are completely true even after my usual crashing through every pothole on the road.

Rose bikes were cheap for spokes and nipples, Spa Cycles cheap for the hubs. Rims from Wiggle IIRC. I had this guy build them: http://www.tayloredcycles.com/

Total cost was about £220.

nothing wrong with handbuilts in theory but open pros seem heavy.

nothing wrong with handbuilts in theory but open pros seem heavy.

Sure, there are lighter rims, but they are tough as old boots. I’m happy to carry a few grammes for increased durability.

Chris, I borrowed Nicks light wheels and ripped the spokes out at the rim.
Sure Open Pros seem heavy, Alphas are 100g lighter but no eyelets. In the light! of my 12 stone I’m not too sure.
The crits are on good tarmac, but the open road events are quite the opposite.

Steer away from the Lightweights, they’re sh*te.

These seem ok….

These seem ok….

Hang on a minute……….. 😕

🙄

Sure Open Pros seem heavy, Alphas are 100g lighter but no eyelets. In the light! of my 12 stone I’m not too sure.

Stan’s make mtb rims as well without eyelets. I abuse my 355 (old crests) a lot more than I abuse my road wheels. They’ve been going strong for 2 years now. I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem.

Does anyone favour stiff over light?

I switched back to my open-pros instead of lighter AmericanClassics for a run up Alp-duez. I knew id struggle (unfit) and would be pulling and twisting the bike all over the place and my AC’s just flex too much for that length of climb.

Anyone got any thoughts on the Road Hope Hoops? I may be after new wheels and am drawn to them as I have something similar on my MTB.

Please excuse the shameless plug as I work for the distributor for Soul Wheels but please have a look at the road.cc review of their S2.0 clincher wheelset. 1,330g with standard j bend spokes.

Link to the review: http://road.cc/content/review/48341-soul-s20-wheelset

I’ve had the Soul S2.0 wheelset for around 3 years now and they’ve been great! Very light (and cheap 3 years ago direct from singapore) and have never missed a beat. Only recently, they’ve started creaking when putting power down on climbs. Also think its time to replace the bearings.

Also have a set of Soul S3.0 which I bought in May. A bit more aero but still 1400g. These have been great until last week, when the freewheel started making a weird buzz every so often. Need to open them up and take a look.

Anyone got any thoughts on the Road Hope Hoops?

A club mate tried some, they were tubs not clinchers, he said they were ok, nothing special.

I ride factory wheels now (Ksyrium SL) since I’m a bit lardy – 13st – for a racer and I have bust lots of handbuilt wheels in the past. I ended up with some Record Hub and Ambrisio Excellence rims with Sapim CXray. Great wheels, very stiff, indestructible. Just worn out the rims eventually and moved onto factory wheels.

Hope hoops are decent enough but bloody heavy. I had pro III’s on open Cd’s and they weighed a ton. Nice wheel apart from that though

Lightest set I’ve had are a set of Tunes on some DT rims (can’t remember the model). 1300g’s but not cheap. I’ve got a pair of C24’s at the moment and they’re nice and light, although I favour my carbon FSA’s over them for stiffness and aero’ness (?)

Done it. Settled for the 1392g Giants. Ordered the SRAM force groupset, Deda service course kit, Flite, Keos, Vittorias. All going on my old TCR Advanced 1 frame.
Should be a nice little Tuesday night pocket rocket.

I’m surprised you didn’t go for disc hubs, seeing as they’re going to be everywhere this year 😉

Discs! Pah, I fart in their general direction.