I’ve just about worn out the basic wheels that came with my roady, but when looking at replacing them I’ve no idea what’s what…

Shimano seem to do an R500, a R501, then an RS20, RS21, RS30, RS31 etc etc… Then there’s the Ultegra 6700s (prob a smidge out of my price range).

– Can anyone explain how the Rs compare to the RSs?
– And how the model numbers compare within the Rs and RSs?

My mate rates his Mavic Aksiums, I’m tempted to grab a pair of those but again I’ve no idea how they compare to other brands/models.

I’ve been advised against Fulcrums, but I’ve no real idea why…

Budget is under £200, preferably under £150.
Usage is mostly riding with mates, but I do the odd amateur Tri/Crit/TT, etc…

Is there a “Hope Hoop” equivalent do-it-all wheelset for road bikes? Nice mix of lightish/strongish etc </moon_on_a_stick>?

Any help much appreciated 🙂

Fulcrums seem to be rated in my Club. I think it because they do the job cheaply and very well. Mavics are also a good choice. Some folks will suggest hand builts but I can’t see the point anymore as good factory built ones are cheaper and just as reliable.

For that price range I would be looking at the Planet X AL30’s

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPPXAL30/planet_x_al30_wheelset

Light weight, roll well and get very very good reviews. I am running them on the winter bike and also on my carbon Ribble for everyday rides.

Factory wheels:
Shimano are progressively lighter and more expensive in more or less the order you’ve put (with some having deeper, more aero rims which makes them seem out of order for price/weight). If you can find Ultegra wheels in budget then they’re good wheels.

Fulcrum are much the same, but have a noisier freewheel.

Mavic are also much the same at the cheaper end – their models change a bot each year, so be careful about what you’re actually looking at – Aksiums seem to have dropped around 50g per year, so a 2013 set of Aksiums could be about the same as a 3 year old pair of low-end Krysiums

All of the above use non-standard components, so it may be hard to find spokes in a hurry.

Alternatives built with J-bend spokes are PlanetX AL30s, Superstar Elites (although these are pretty new so not many opinions around) http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/index.php?cPath=77&osCsid=rfmt0jtt45jts5kgjds7djp6t1 and Swissside St Bernards http://www.swissside.com/shop/st-bernard-wheelset (I believe the wood-effect stickers can be peeled off).

I know nothing about handbuilts or road Hope Hoops.

Thanks for input so far 🙂

Am I right in thinking that the number in the Shimano RS range relates to the depth of the rims? In other words an RS20/21 has a 20mm deep rim and an RS30/31 has a 30mm deep rim, etc etc?

And the 0 or 1 on the end indicates this years model/last years model, etc etc?

I’ve got Shimano (a few year old Ultegras) on the winter road and I use Fulcrums on the summer bike.

Despite having hardly any spokes the Shimanos are seemingly stiffer possibly down to a slightly deeper rim and they are very quiet, which is really quite nice in a chaingang as you don’t feel guilty coasting 🙂

The fulcrums spin up to speed a lot quicker than the shimanos they are marginally lighter, but I do find out of saddle grunting the brakes are rubbing the rims so they must be more flexible…but the freewheel is also utterly annoying.

Talking to the mechanic at Merlin, he said they get loads of Fulcrums back for warranty replacement/repair but hardly any Shimano.

I have Ultegra 6700 and Dura Ace 9000. After doing lots of number-crunching and reading every review out there, I came to the conclusion that both represent the best value/performance in their respective price-points.

Very pleased with both… Mavic seem to be a shade more expensive, or a shade heavier. I’m put off by the amount of stories I hear about corroding nipples cracking the rim on lower end Mavics too.

There’s a hope hoop pro3 on open pro, no idea what they cost.

People love to knock Mavic but I’ve had ksyrium SL/ SSC etc through their various facelifts and never seen a crack in the rim.

Talking to the mechanic at Merlin, he said they get loads of Fulcrums back for warranty replacement/repair but hardly any Shimano.

Funny, when I was looking for a set of wheels I got told the opposite. By a mechanic at Merlin.

For what it’s worth my best road wheels are a set of Mavic Ksyrium SL’s which are just brilliant, but they should be for the money. I also have some Fulcrum 5 CX wheels for commuting and winter riding and they too have been brilliant, really tough and survived the worst I could throw at them. Fulcrums are hand finished I think, I’ve been very impressed and would buy their top end wheels now.

another vote for hope hoop pro 3’s on open pro, think i got mine for £220 but they lighter than many at a similar cost, i do keep an eye on the eyelets though, corrosions is a worry in the winter, great hubs though

My main decision recently was to go sealed bearing rather than cup and cone, because I’m lazy and incompetent with a cone spanner.

After looking at Fulcrums and Mavics, I decided to spend my whole wheelset budget on just a rear Hope Hoop, because I know I can rely on their hubs, and I like the open pro rim. Will pick up the front at some point this year, but my front shimano hub is fine for now.

(However, these got a lot of love on a previous thread, and I’d probably have gone for them if they were in stock: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPPXAL30/planet_x_al30_wheelset )

Two winters on Shimano R500’s with no sign of play and just one true up. £67 from Merlin at the time. Bargain. 😀

Just to wrap this up, I eventually went for the Shimano RS20s (£111 in Ribble’s sale).

Wanted to support the LBS, and would happily have paid ‘x’% more to do so, but they wanted more than twice the price 😯

Not top of the range by any means, but seem a decent balance of weight/durability/price and are well within budget.

R-500 was the old shimano cheepest
R-550 was the same but straight pull hubs.

The newer ones RS20/30/80 etc are newer models, the number relates to the equivelent groupset (20 is cheep, 80 is ultegra/DA), I think the ‘1’ indicates it’s 2013 model and the freehub will take a dura ace 11 speed cassette.

I’d either go shimano (cheep + relaible) and generaly have lighter rims and heavier hubs which makes them feel better. Or handbuilts, 105 and open pro rims would be well within budget, possibly lighter, and easy to get spares for. Downside they’re not as fast in the real world as they’re as aerodynamic as a brick.

[edit] skim read the thread and missed the last post!

Thanks for that, it’s helped put the models in context for me.

I’ve a suspicion that I’ll use these for 12-18 months and then possibly bump them down to be winter/training wheels and get something a little more flash further down the line.

The RS20 should still be a step up from the basic ones that came with the bike anyway 🙂

I’ve a suspicion that I’ll use these for 12-18 months and then possibly bump them down to be winter/training wheels

And you’ll know you’ve become a real roadie when your hack winter wheels are old Mavic SSC on Campag C Record 😀