What lightweight road wheelset?

Looking for a new wheelset for my ‘summer’ bike. got Mavic cosmic Carbones at the moment, but they’re terrible in crosswinds, and i think the disadvantages of them uphill far outweigh their benefits on the flat.

So can anyone reccomend a good lightweight wheelset, possibly up to about £900 / £1000 but 600/700 would be better 🙂

Ksyrium SL

Novetech hubs on eBay, Alpha rims if you want alu clinchers, Gigantix/Planet X if you want carbon tubs. CX-Rays or Revolutions.

1000-1250g depending on rim choice, and c£400.

Thats the sort of weight i was looking at njee, and that price is perfect!
cheers!

*facepalm

Why facepalm?

Take your pick of hubs here, various sellers with different colours and spoke hole options.

American Classic do some excellent lightweight wheels at very reasonable prices.
http://www.amclassic.com/en/products/roadwheels/magclincher.php

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/road-wheels/factory-road-wheels/shimano-dura-ace-7900-c24-cl-wheels-pair.html

I’d go C24’s to, or Cole’s maybe

techsmechs – Member
*facepalm

?

i got a pair or roval fusee sl 25’s for £300 bloody good weight and pretty stiff for the money plus they have dt swiss 240 guts 😉

the novatech with revs and stan’s alpha rims is a good option i built a set for a guy 2 months back bloody light and stiff and roll quite too the rims are a little soft so took a good hour to build but well worth it for the cost 😉

Shimano Dura-ace? Love mine – do what I want 🙂

I’ve got RS80s which are really nice but only £300 I imagine the equivalent dura ace 25mm or 35mm wheels are lovely. Within your budget on planet x

lots to consider, I cans see a few nights of research taking place in the near future!

Cheers
Steve

I’m going for Alpha 340’s on American Classic hubs, pretty much along the lines of these

Novetech hubs look like a good option, I’ve built a wheel up before for the turbo trainer but not sure I trust myself to do a ‘proper’ build.

I would use the Ambrosio Zenith hubs (same a nova tech) hole count will depend on weight. If you are my weight 85kg then 28F and 32Rear will be durable with Stans alpha rims and sapim lasers or X-rays spokes front (2x) and lasers NDS rear (3x) and Spaim race DS rear (3x). Alu nipples can be used if the if coppaslip is applied to prevent siezing.
The weight for the build above will be c. ~ 1395g for the pair. Cost ~ £320 (depending on who builds them) with sapaim lasers/race spokes. More for X-rays

A build like this that weighs 1250g is only goin to happen with lower spoke counts.

The use of Velocity Helios hubs 24H (2x) front and 28 Rear (2x) will change the weight to 1263g. Cost of these will be about £400 depnding on who builds them. Use of Sapim X-rays again will add a bit of cost.

Lighter can be built with sapim laser DS rear but you will only save ~20g and get a less stiff wheel. Using X-rays will actually add a little weight (a few grams)but have areo benefits. A 1000g build is only possible wil even lighter rims and lighter hubs but you best be light for that and deeper pockets and be durability will suffer.

The Cycle Clinic

the novatech with revs and stan’s alpha rims is a good option i built a set for a guy 2 months back bloody light and stiff and roll quite too

How does a wheel “roll well”?

i) weight isn’t everything

ii) weight isn’t everything

had some AC’s for a while, and whilst light, the bearings in the front hub were about 11mm OD. lasted about a week, then ultimately died due to constant fitting/refitting of sealed bearing distorting the hub shell.

light. but not all that good.

same front hub as that linked by haze in fact…

as you can see, hub shell is smaller than QR flange, so bearing about the size of a pea.

had some AC’s for a while, and whilst light, the bearings in the front hub were about 11mm OD. lasted about a week, then ultimately died due to constant fitting/refitting of sealed bearing distorting the hub shell.

Yeah, I’ve had similar with the bearings on my Sprint 350’s. Tiny. They run at the loose end of the scale anyway but they have a habit of wearing and rattling, mine have been replaced a couple of times. When they work though, they’re very good wheels. 🙂

The bearings on my 420’s are fine though – much bigger.

A 1000g build is only possible wil even lighter rims and lighter hubs but you best be light for that and deeper pockets and be durability will suffer.

Planet X 250g tub rims get you pretty close.

Can definitely recommend the Novatech hubs. They just seem to spin forever!

Some names cropping up here and there in the thread that have been known to be great for the first few months of use then cause problems soon after.

If the OP is under 10 stone,enjoys replacing bearings quarterly,waiting around for freehub body replacements and is happy to go for a pair of 350-400 quid wheels (when his budget was more than double that) then he has a great selection above.

If he wants to fit and forget,then the mavic and shimano options listed above might be worth a look.

350’s is what i had. ended up moving them on.

light, but not very stiff, and bearing issue was ridiculous.

I have Ambrosio/ novatech hubs, DT rev spokes, alu nipples and Open Pro CD rims. Weight without QRs is a smidge over 1500g. They are very strong, fairly lightweight, and cost me £250 including build. I’d be wary of going much lighter unless it was a special pair of wheels for racing.

reggiegasket – Member

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/wheels/road-wheels/factory-road-wheels/shimano-dura-ace-7900-c24-cl-wheels-pair.html

+1

Have been very reliable on the ‘best’ road bike.

I have a pair of the Easton EC90 TT (56mm) tubs for the TT wagon and like these a lot. Obviously not for everyday riding but I’ve found Easton kit to be reliable so it might also be worth looking at their shallow rim offerings?

And what about everyone’s current favourite, Enve?

Zulu-Eleven – Member
i) weight isn’t everything

ii) weight isn’t everything

^^^This^^^

I settled on stans, light-ish front hub and 105 rear, 24/32H, as light as I wanted to go light but durable for minimum £££, and the ride of tubeless, which to me matters more.

.

If he wants to fit and forget,then the mavic and shimano options listed above might be worth a look.

Hahahahahahahahahaha! Good one! Mavic; known for their easy serviceability, supreme reliability and availability of spares.

We had a Ksyrium ES in our workshop for 7 months awaiting a spoke. Not multiples, not a rebuilt. A spoke.

Then there’s the R-SYS debacle, with the serious injuries, the recalls and the customers being given Aksiums to tide them over whilst they make a less dangerous product.

If the OP’s worried, build 2 sets, perhaps one set on 50mm tub rims and one set on Alphas (or Open Pros), you’ve then got 2 sets if something goes wrong. Hubs are sufficiently cheap that if something breaks just order a whole new hub and swap the appropriate parts, don’t fanny around waiting for spare freehub bodies.

Guesses on the cost of a Dura Ace freehub body?

I would still stick with the ustom build for the OP. One poster sugessted Ambrosio hubs, DT rev, Alu nipples and Mavic Open pro. A fine build and I am doing something similar for a customer soon but I would suggest a couple of changes. Sapim Laser spokes, they are cheaper, just as good and the same guage. Ambriosio exellight rim, just as strong as the open pro (perhaps even more durable) or perhaps the DT Swiss RR465. The Open pro is no near 425g as advertised. Try 470g I need to check this on another set of scales to be absolutley sure but not 425 for sure so is not the light weight rim it is supposed to be. Still a good rim though and builds a fine wheel.

There are so many options but get a wheel appropriate for you weight.

If the OP’s worried, build 2 sets, perhaps one set on 50mm tub rims and one set on Alphas (or Open Pros), you’ve then got 2 sets if something goes wrong. Hubs are sufficiently cheap that if something breaks just order a whole new hub and swap the appropriate parts, don’t fanny around waiting for spare freehub bodies.

Think you’ve got a point, but given the OP wants to move away from a proper aero set of wheels, and has a sizeable budget, I’d just buy some much nicer hubs to start. Something such as the DT 240S, which are as you know brilliant hubs, and spares are easily available, then build onto lightweight rims of choice. Probably be 24/28 f/r for me, Stans Alpha’s (which is spend money on tubeless tyres for), probably Sapim CX Rays up front and NDS rear, DT Comp (or Sapim equivalent) DS rear.

If I had the money!

Yep, I’d concur with that, and to be honest that’s what I’d get if I wanted to spend that money. It was more the notion that buying a factory wheelset would be more sensible due to reliability and availability of spares that’s daft IMO.

But yes, King R45s, DT240s or Tune Mig/Mags would all build into great wheelsets whilst being more of a known quantity and would still be a way ahead of Ksyriums if it were my money.

Will they come in lighter than Kysrium SLs?

Will they come in lighter than Kysrium SLs?

Yes by quite a bit I imagine.

Yes by quite a bit I imagine.

Actual weights front and rear please!

I have two pairs of pretty decent handbuilts (ceramic OPs on Tune Mig/Mags) built by a very good builder, and they are excellent wheels – reliable, fairly light, serviceable etc.

…but my Dura Ace 7850 scandium tubeless wheels are better performing wheels. Just more direct and taught. I think handbuilts have their place but the 7850s win when it comes to pure performance.

tracknicko – Member
had some AC’s for a while, and whilst light, the bearings in the front hub were about 11mm OD. lasted about a week, then ultimately died due to constant fitting/refitting of sealed bearing distorting the hub shell.

same front hub as that linked by haze in fact…

Dammit, just as I thought I’d finally settled on something!

Anyone else with a similar experience, quick Google seems a bit mixed?

Are the carbones really that bad ? Hope not as I’ve got some coming on my new roadie 🙁

http://www.light-bicycle.com/carbon-road-bike/carbon-road-bike-rim/page/2

from 350g depending on the depth of rim you want.

they also do some nice MTB rims too (there’s a huge thread on mtbr about both their 26 adn 29er rims)

and a silly cheap seatpost.

although as to whether it’s made of cheese (particularly sharp point cheese, should the worst happen) is another thing, although the rims have been well recieved on MTBR, however rims brakes will have their own set of issues.