Hi guys

I’m after set of light road wheels for the wife’s bike
She weighs 65KG so don’t need anything overly stiff
She covers around 30mile (very very hilly) a week so durability not a huge concern
Nothing aero

Max budget is £450 I have narrowed it down to

Shimano RS80 £329 claimed weight F-669g R-903g
Supra RA30 Wheels £224 claimed weight F-675g R-870g LINK
Stans Alpha340 £280 claimed weight F-590g R-760g
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=77&products_id=520

Anything better ? any of them to avoid ?

Farsports will build you something nice for that money….. If not my RS80’s have been great.

In your situation, I’d be tempted by those Stans Alpha 340’s from Superstar. As she’s not heavy, and not doing that much milage, but the milage she is doing is very hilly, weight (or lack of it) is king. The Stans 340 rims are about as light as you can get without going to carbon tubular rims, and those Superstar hubs aren’t heavy by all accounts.

Though the Shimano RS80’s might be a better bet long term, easier to service and look after yourself, and by all accounts the rims are exceptionally light on them and the extra weight is in the hubs (as is normal for Shimano wheels) where it doesn’t matter so much.

2nd for RS80, not much lighter stuff for that money, I rode Paris Roubaix on mine, I’m 14 stone and they are still arrow straight.

Have a look at:

WHEELSMITH RACE23 – http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk (circa £450)
http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/shop/h-plus-son-archetype/ (I have just ordered these with sapim spokes circa £408)

both cheaper and lighter than mavic ksyrium elites which are the sort of benchmark at that price point.

I don’t understand this obsession with saving a few grammes. The idea that rotating weight is important has been discredited for a while now, and paying lots of money will have no discernible performance benefit…

Make sure you get her some nice light tyres and tubes. I’ve been experimenting with latex inners and while it’s wonderful stuff for tubes it’s just too fragile in regular use. The next best thing is Continental’s Race Light tubes, which are a bit more robust. They go well with Michelin Pro 3 race or light tyres.

I don’t understand this obsession with saving a few grammes. The idea that rotating weight is important has been discredited for a while now, and paying lots of money will have no discernible performance benefit…

Go away spoilsport. We all know we want shiny things are light just because. Real physics and stuff doesnt come in to it.

😀

Sorry, just woken up so am less than chirpy…

You’d be better off buying her some real top dollar tyres though.

Why? I’d say wheels will offer a significantly bigger performance advantage than some new tyres 😕

I’d get Novatec hubs on Alpha rims with Revolutions, <1300g and £350 or so.

I’d say wheels will offer a significantly bigger performance advantage

I’d like to see that quantified; people talk about ‘huge’ or ‘significant’ differences and never seem to be able to produce any kind of evidence for it.

For anyone riding 30 miles a week I’d get some lower-end Shimanos, a pair of Pro4s and pocket the other £250. Spending a load more money to drop a couple of hundred grams on a pair of wheels which don’t get a lot of use makes no sense.

But for £450 I’d go Alphas, Novatecs, 28h front with Revs or Lasers and 32h Comp/Race at the back 🙂

Cheers guys looks like shimano get some love and good point about the extra weight not being in the rim

Neej20 who did you use to build your wheels? (I’m also considering having some light bike rims on 240 hubs for the 29er so I could kill 2 birds and have 2 wheel sets built at the same time)

Cero AR30’s I’d say http://www.cycledivision.co.uk/product-info.php?pid133.html
£349, semi-aero, sub 1400g, good bearings and great reviews – what’s not to like? The only issue is getting hold of them, not sure when the next batch is due in

ill go left field and say .

planet X model b.

bargain understated wheels ideal for light people.

I’d like to see that quantified; people talk about ‘huge’ or ‘significant’ differences and never seem to be able to produce any kind of evidence for it.

My average speed went up by just under 3km/h when I swapped out the original Decathlon wheels and stuck on some Mavic Aksiums + decent tyres. Obviously that’s a pretty big change in quality, and diminishing returns will come into it if I decided to upgrade again…

mine went up 3kph after a cup of coffee.

I am in the same decision making point at the moment. RS80’s are currently getting my vote, although member GMF74 had a pair of DuraAce C24 wheels for sale earlier this week for the same cost as the RS80’s so you could take a look at his ad. (on STW).

Anyway, weight is significant, but maybe not for the actual riding bit of cycling – it’s more the “my bikes got xxx bits that weight yy grams” discussion – and that’s probably more important! That’s how I justify ally bolts and I need those Alligator cables…….

im contemplating a new set of wheels…..

even though they are aero im stuggling to justify paying to add weight to my bike 😀

bout 1900grams in weight 🙁

RS80’s are fantastic.
Switching from Aksiums with OEM tyres to RS80’s and GP4000s took 1.4lbs off my bike for under £400. The ride change was very noticeable, bike feels fasteer, times are faster and they are so comfy – the carbon seems to damp the road buzz and they make a cool ‘swoosh’ noise!

Unless you’re racing the only two reasons to buy aero carbon wheels are the looks and the noise, anything else is just like people desperately citing reasons to shave their legs :p

If you can find a pair these are the muts nuts for that budget
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/wheel-sets/product/review-mavic-ksyrium-elite-wheelset-12-45785
ive been using them for three years there light and solid

[Quote]Neej20 who did you use to build your wheels? (I’m also considering having some light bike rims on 240 hubs for the 29er so I could kill 2 birds and have 2 wheel sets built at the same time)[/Quote]

I don’t have them, just what I’d get. Would build myself though.

[Quote]I’d like to see that quantified; people talk about ‘huge’ or ‘significant’ differences and never seem to be able to produce any kind of evidence for it.[/Quote]

Don’t have numbers, just don’t think tyres are a huge differentiator on the road. MTB I agree with you.

Ok I’m ordering wheels today and I’m going for something a different than anything mentioned in the thread so far…

I’m ordering some light-bycycles rims for my 29er (to be built on 240 hubs)
So at the same time I’m going to order either a complete 24mm carbon wheelset with novatech hubs or just the rims and have them built up on different hubs.

The complete wheelset is a bit of a bargain they are light and have the bling factor just not sure about the hubs.

Should I go for a complete build or source different hubs and spokes ?

Don’t have numbers, just don’t think tyres are a huge differentiator on the road

I’d disagree to some extent; I think the effect of wheels is generally over-rated, but tyres can improve things a little.

I think we all over-rate the effect of bought in performance upgrades…

but tyres can improve things a little.

i would say more than a little, was running Michelin Pro3’s until i destroyed them, now running Conti Ultra Sports as they were cheap and what i could get.

They are crap, they don’t go round corners, hard to get to speed, you feel all the crap on the road.

Yes i have gone from an ok tyre to a crap tyre, but depending on the starting point, it can make a big difference.

What i would caution, how often do you want to change things, light tends to mean disposable. my current tyres are crap but they are also very durable, 3.5k miles and the back tyre is just starting to flat across the centre. other tyres i have destroyed in less than 2k miles

Womp, which 29er rims are you going for, narrow or wide? Also interested to hear about which road rims. Currently looking at 50mm carbon clinchers and the wider 29er rims. Haven’t decided on hubs, that’ll obviously be another couple of gb of Internet searching….

I’m going for the wider rims, I was originally going to go for the narrow rims as they are lighter but after reading several very long threads on these rims it seems the wider rims are better with a tubless set up (LB also market the wide rims as tubless ready), I run RoRo 2.25 snakeskin with orange seal, also if you order make sure you request the new process rims

My opinion on hubs is Chris king / hope for excellent blingy hubs, 240’s for lighter well made not as blingy and cheaper

I’m still after recommendations for road hubs as I’m not well versed in roady components, what is the road version of the 240 hubs ? Eg light, well made, not silly expensive

Novatech are silly cheep and light. Can’t say outright how reliable they are but mine haven’t put a foot wrong so far.

As for the OP, 30miles, then low end shimano’s, why get anything more to save maybe a few seconds/kJ a week? If you want to spend the money then Njees suggestion’s what I built, they’re really light for the money and weren’t anywhere near £350 (more like 250).

£65/rim (wait for a £10 off £75 on CRC), £70 hubs (sokin on ebay), £30 (from Rose) DT rev spokes and some KCNC Ti QR’s for some bling.

For just a little more?
http://www.justridingalong.com/custom-hand-built-wheel-sets/in-stock-handbuilt-wheels/american-classic-micro-58-and-205-road-hubs-laced-to-notubes-ztr-alpha-340-rims.html

Thanks Womp, you’ve clearly got a shed load more will power than me to go wading through those super threads!

Interested in hearing your feed back once you have them.

Ya, 240’s look good to me (for road and mtb), not many deals around on ’em though. I’ve got 3 pairs of Hope hub’d wheels and really rate them but want to go a bit weight weenie, don’t think I could handle the Hope clickety on the road bike either!