I am looking to upgrade the original Fulcrum Racing 600db wheels on my 2020 Synapse carbon ultegra.

I am not a racer, and I weigh in around 12.5 stone and bike is set up with Conti GP5000STR and tubeless and typical rides are hilly c class roads, ranging from 25 – 100 miles.  Bike is running new ultegra di2 12 speed.

Budget up to around £1000, looking for suggestions, please !

Hi Iainc, I’m just in the same process as you. Bought a BMC Roadmachine but the wheels (Mavic open pro) are quite heavy. I’ve looked at a few sets, loads of carbon to choose from but I’m looking at alloy. Scribe Wheels always get good reviews, but I’m thinking of going to a local wheel builder and getting some DT Swiss R500 rims onto Bitex hubs for about £350. Hope 20five always get decent reviews and will be will within budget. Keep an eye on eBay shop outlets (trisport resort is Wiggles outlet/Wheelies is tredz outlet and Sigma have an outlet too)

Like you, not a racer either. But I would like something that can take the crap roads and be quite reliable. I’ve been advised to avoid Mavic.

good info, much appreciated

DB600s you say….? (Drums fingers in anticipation of bargain 2nd hand road wheels for the Tempest)

Love my Zipp 303s, supremely comfortable on low pressure tubeless, lifetime warranty as well. Freehub isn’t too noisy, unlike the Scribes, the engagement is a bit slow but can’t say that bothers me.

Just don’t buy them from Tredz, they sent me a pair from two different batches with different graphic shades, I didn’t notice until I’d ridden them a couple of times and Tredz and Zyro said tough shit.

downshepFull MemberDB600s you say….? (Drums fingers in anticipation of bargain 2nd hand road wheels for the Tempest)

:)

if you want Alloy take a look at Moonglu – you should be able to get your choice of DT Swiss rims built onto Hope Pro5 hubs for a little over £500.

I was very close to hitting the button on this a few weeks ago but then spotted a set of Reynolds carbon wheels on Wiggle reduced down from £1300 to £500 and went down that route instead.

They’re for my best summer bike which will hopefully never see a wet road.

https://www.certini.co.uk/components/wheels-spares/roval-alpinist-slx-disc-700c-wheelset–blackcharcoal__93683

Silly light for an alloy setup and half your budget

I have the below on my Aethos, very impressed with them, tubeless is dead easy, proper warranty as well.

https://www.certini.co.uk/components/wheels-spares/roval-alpinist-cl-ii-700c-road-wheelset–satin-carbonsatin-black__88987

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/roval-warranty

I’ve been really happy with my Just Riding Along alloy wheels. I wanted lightweight and wasn’t bothered about aero. They’ve been great. At your budget, you can go for the carbons in a choice of depths.

Mahi Mahi disk brake wheels

Those Rovals with DT hubs would be tempting though

Handbuilt Ultegra/Dura Ace hubs, Sapim Laser/Race spokes and a decent stiff rim would be my suggestion. I like Mavic CXP33 rims as they are stiff and ride better than my carbon wheels (they are built for heavier riders, but I like them as they are slightly aero). Open pattern carbon rims could also be in budget. Weight difference is not so big a factor alloy vs. carbon, but ride quality is fabulous on Surrey roads. And yes, the Dura Ace/CXP33’s were our team spare wheels for three seasons and have done Paris Roubaix.

https://dcrwheels.co.uk/signature-wheelsets-2/ should see you right. Strada are another good builder. Or Harry Rowland http://www.harryrowland.co.uk, who is traditional, but has built three sets of my wheels and they have all been fabulous and all are running as true as the day they were delivered.

I can’t look past the Prime 38mm wheels I bought for under £300 used.  Noticeably quicker at high speeds, but dramatically more comfortable than the Fulcrum Racing 77 DB alloy wheels they replaced (which I was not expecting) as well as about 400g lighter.  That’s probably the right depth for general riding I reckon.

probs a silly question, but looking at those Roval ones, which do look tempting, the hub description, as follows :

Hub: DT Swiss 350 Straighpull Center Lock, Star Ratchet 36t internals (10 degs), 100x12mm & 142x12mm, Shim. RD. 11SP HG freehub

will that be compatible with a 12 sp Shimano cassette ?

Have a look at the VEL range at Sigma Sports?

Still can’t tell you how they ride, because using them felt a waste while really struggling with long covid fatigue, but I bought my first pair of semi-aero carbon 50 RLs for ~£360 in Nov ’22.

Don’t pass over Shimano, in my experience reasonable weight, extremely durable, a good price and excellent backup from Madison/Freewheel. They’ll match the rest of your kit too!

“probs a silly question, but looking at those Roval ones, which do look tempting, the hub description, as follows :

Hub: DT Swiss 350 Straighpull Center Lock, Star Ratchet 36t internals (10 degs), 100x12mm & 142x12mm, Shim. RD. 11SP HG freehub

will that be compatible with a 12 sp Shimano cassette ?”

Think you need the Microspline freehub for 12 speed

I’m looking at the Vel RSL2 wheels as a summer upgrade for my Defy. RSL2s over the basic RSL because of the DT Swiss 240 hubs.

My best bike is running Dura Ace 7400 and CXP33 rims. Great wheels. Remember, the important weight is at the rim/tyre. Hubs not so important for weight.

@ Iainc, my BMC is 12 speed Shimano running a 12 Speed CS R7100 105 cassette which is compatible with 11 & 12 speed hubs

I have three sets of wheels from Scribe, and would buy more if I could afford to.
Both alloy and carbon in various rim depths within your budget.
I absolutely love my carbon 3850’s as a great compromise.
https://scribecycling.co.uk/
And the sister company Silt do MTB.
https://siltmtb.com/

Another big fan of JRA, two sets and both have been faultless. My roval slx wheels were a disappointment, if the tyre lost all pressure, the bead wouldn’t stay locked on the rim ( tubeless ) which was dangerous ( big puncture going down hill ) – this was about 5 years ago so maybe they have redesigned the rim. Never had this with any other tubeless wheel sets. I really liked my mavic wheels which replaced the rovals but the flat blade spokes rusted within two years, they were replaced under warranty. Also very impressed with the giant SLR2 ( 35mm ) carbon wheels that came on my defy but they are quite expensive when bought separately.

some great ideas and lots to think about, thanks

Go carbon wheels all the way. Posh alloy wheels won’t feel much of an upgrade.

Carbon 40-50mm rims are a great all rounder, and will supply a bit of aero goodness.

I’ve had several pairs of Hunts over the years, and don’t have a bad word to say about them. Readily available hub spares, bearings etc.

A decent set of wheels will completely transform the ride.

I would have recommended the Prime carbon wheels that I have, but they’re not gonna be a wise buy at the mo with no warranty.

But Hunt have some semi-decent discounts and are probably very similar.

SALE

Pick your profile depth and weight I suppose.

LBS have also suggested an alloy set :

DT Swiss ER1400 alloy w/ DICUT hubs

or for similar dosh :

HUNT 30 Carbon

any experiences ?

There are some very mixed reviews of hunt free hubs.

Hunt bearings, gone again 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Second attempt!
Speak to Matt at Arrow wheels, he built me a set of AGRS carbon wheels with Hope hubs. Primarily use them for the broken lanes south of Glasgow/Ayrshire and the odd wind farm/Aberfoyle gravel trek. Also use the 5000S TR with zero set up problems. Quality wheel builder and an excellent warranty. Reviewed on STW by Amanda, there’s a link on his website.

^^^ nice one, thanks

Any way to borrow or rent a set? Do any LBS let you test drive bling wheels?

I’ve had Hunt Carbon Aero 40s on my bike since last September, they have yet to explode into a ball of flame under regular use in all weathers. Bought in the sale including rotors and tyres for less than your budget.

On 30mm Pro Ones tubeless, the ride is great. I really like them.

The freehub makes a racket if that is important.

Find a recommended wheel builder in your area and go and speak to them.

One thing – check maximum rider weight if you’re at the upper end.

I bought a pair of Scribe wheels. Lovely things, but didn’t last the first week of riding. My fault, the all-up weight was around 15kg above maximum.

Recently rebuilt the rear wheel with brass nipples and round double-butted spokes. Much happier now, but not as light, obvs.

I recently have been looking too with a similar budget. The problem is that there’s lots of brands out there but very little independent testing or data, just anecdotes. Since there’s a lot of factors to picking a good wheel (e.g. aerodynamics, stiffness, comfort, crosswind susceptibility, aesthetics, durability) it’s hard to pull the trigger.

For me:
– Zipp 303’s are out since they are hookless and popping in an inner tube in has saved my bacon before with tubeless
– Shimano wheels are out since they performed badly in the independent comparisons I read, e.g. https://road.cc/content/feature/are-expensive-carbon-bike-wheels-it-297537 (heavier and slower than other wheels)
– Hunt have too many people reporting poor durability
– The Vel RSLs seem like good value (“not terrible” according to this guy who seems to know what’s he talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvvt78RGsDo) but I’d prefer more durable and less noisy hubs, while the RSL2s are overkill and in contrast perhaps too quiet with the DT Swiss 240 hub!

This is the only good independent site I found where they reviewed a lot of carbon wheelsets: https://intheknowcycling.com/best-carbon-road-bike-wheels/
For your budget, they say Bontrager Aeolus Pro and Zipp 303 are the best. Originally I was leaning towards the Roval Rapide but they are panned on that site, so I’m currently leaning Bontrager Aeolus Pro.

£400 ISH for some carbon rimmed/ nova tec hubs?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276179273364?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=78auDSzORBm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=a9M6NJdMTVq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Cut out the middle man and buy direct from China. Winspace Hypers or Elite Drives if you want to buy “off the shelf”. Light Bicycle or Farsports if you want to spec your own.

I would buy these:

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/components-c9/wheels-c126/aeolus-pro-51-tlr-disc-road-wheel-p31795

I bought the Ultegra R8170 C50 wheelset in 2022’s Black Friday sales from CRC. £700 for the set. Them being a couple of seconds slower and a few grams heavier is completely immaterial to me, as my belly is the overriding factor in my performance. They match the group set, they’re extremely well made, they’re not stupid hookless, they’re cup and cone making them easy to service, and crucially – the hubs are quiet. I hate noisy freehubs on a road bike.

Merlin are currently doing the pair for £900.

Zipp 303’s are out since they are hookless and popping in an inner tube in has saved my bacon before with tubeless

You can use a tube with 303s rims as long as the tyre is tubeless compatible. So a tube will get you home on a punctured tubeless tyre.

I’m happy with mine. Very comfy at low pressure with 28mm GP5000 AS TR.

Agree with diggery, I split the side wall of a GP5000S hitting a flint using Giant SLR2 hookless rims. Quick and easy to put an inner tube in and ride 30 miles home

Orro have some reduced Fulcrum carbon hoops on their site if you search for wheels.
I bought some wind db40s last year and they’ve been lovely