Best budget wheelset ?

redmaxi

A friend of mine does a lot of tri and sportif's and asked me what i thought of mavic's cosmic elite wheelset, i don't know - i'd go for campag. Can anyone recommend these suckers or similar for 400-500 euro to fit shimano.

Ryaner

Easton SLX 2009 is you can wait until next month. Little more expensive though but they are one of the lightest sets you'll find at this price point. Next being DT Swiss ones.

DirkVoodoo

Shimano Dura Ace 7850 CL Wheelset

Lumen

I've just had an interesting exchange with Derek of wheelsmith.co.uk about handbuilt wheels.

Some IRD Niobium Aeros (30mm) in 20/24 on nice hubs would be light and on budget, and an interesting alternative to the usual Mavic stuff. He reckons those rims are comfy but strong enough to cope with Irish roads in a low spoke count.

Or something else.

Quigs Snr

The Shimano RS80 aren't bad either at 400 euro...

rob1891

Anyone here got experience of Soul wheels from Singapore? They have pretty good feedback on other forums ... 1330g low profile clincher for ~450 USD. I'm not riding much at the moment, but once I get back into it I think I'll be trying a set.

redmaxi

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Shimano Dura Ace 7850 CL Wheelset

After some extremely careful considersation and much gnashing of teeth he eventually went for the above wheelset. Just thought i'd let ye know and thanks for the good advice !

DirkVoodoo

Good man! I'm half regretting not getting them now. Let us know how you get on with them.

sy

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Good man! I'm half regretting not getting them now....

Did you get the Mavics Dirk?

DirkVoodoo

I did indeed sir. Only one spin so far but I was a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I was expecting more of a performance boost from a wheel upgrade. Don't get me wrong, they are great and all, but I think the cost per unit performance increase isn't justified (for me anyway).

I blame Lumen!

sy

When you start racing they will come into their own

DirkVoodoo

Looks like I got them at the right time anyway, just checked Ribble and they rocketed back up to 740 euro delivered. I think the price I got them at the were worth a gamble anyway.

On a side note, I was impressed by Ribble. Ordered Sunday (so technically monday), order was processed quickly and despatched tuesday, arrived thursday morning, well packaged and with the free park tool pump as promised.

Repolho

This is probably a stupid question, but what differance does the wheel make? Is it just for weight saving?

Chips Lovell

Repolho wrote: »

This is probably a stupid question, but what differance does the wheel make? Is it just for weight saving?

Stiffness, reliability and hub quality are probably just as important, if not more so, than weight saving. Aerodynamics can also be a factor.

bbosco

Another alternative is getting a set handbuilt. I got a set of Ambrosio Excellight rims (which apparently Boonen used in Paris-Roubaix 2007) with Ambrosio hubs. ACI spokes, 32H front and rear, laced 2x front and 3x rear. Built and delivered for 300eur from www.wheelsmith.co.uk.
They have loads of different builds and will go through all the options with you.

redmaxi

bbosco wrote: »

Another alternative is getting a set handbuilt. I got a set of Ambrosio Excellight rims from www.wheelsmith.co.uk.
They have loads of different builds and will go through all the options with you.

How're you getting on with them bbosco ?, do you know what they weighed in at ?.
I'm thinking of getting a set built on Record hubs in the spring as they seem like great value.

bbosco

redmaxi wrote: »

How're you getting on with them bbosco ?, do you know what they weighed in at ?.
I'm thinking of getting a set built on Record hubs in the spring as they seem like great value.

Really happy with them so far. Hard to describe these things but the bike just feels more sprightly.
I was thinking of the Record hubs but Derek from Wheelsmith more or less talked me out of them and I went for the Ambrosio hubs instead. The Records will be lighter of course, but Derek recommended the Ambrosios for reliability and performance. I got the feeling the Records weren't worth the extra money for my needs (but bear in mind reliability was a much higher priority than weight for me).
I stupidly forgot to weigh mine when I got them and I'm not going to take off the tyres and cassette just to do that at this stage. I added up the weights from a combination of Weightweenies and the Ambrosio website and I think they came in at something like 1780g the pair.

Lumen wrote: »

I've just had an interesting exchange with Derek of wheelsmith.co.uk about handbuilt wheels.

Some IRD Niobium Aeros (30mm) in 20/24 on nice hubs would be light and on budget, and an interesting alternative to the usual Mavic stuff. He reckons those rims are comfy but strong enough to cope with Irish roads in a low spoke count.

Or something else.

Lumen, sorry, I didn't notice this post when I originally replied. Did you end up buying from Derek?

Lumen

bbosco wrote: »

Lumen, sorry, I didn't notice this post when I originally replied. Did you end up buying from Derek?

Not yet. I have been dithering over Powertap vs non-wheel power meters; PT currently dictates my wheel options and somewhat forces me down the handbuilt route. I was a bit keen in Cinqo (as a cheaper SRM alternative), but now that I've ordered my third main bike I need something that transfers easily, so I'm back to PT for the time being.

In any case, my handbuilt wheel experience is currently limited to a rear 32h Open Pro/PT built by Cycleogical, and a front 28h Open Pro/7800 built by Parker International.

I recently got my PT serviced by Humphries - they replaced three bearings at the cost of €60, and re-trued the wheel which was badly affected by the abuse I've thrown at it (general bunnyhopping and cyclocross practice). The wheel has gone out of true quickly in the past, and suffered a whole load of broken (aero) spokes just after I bought it, necessitating a full rebuild with straight gauge spokes. I'm now treating it more carefully, and hopefully it will fare better.

The front Parker wheel hasn't seen nearly as much (ab)use but is still perfect.

Obviously rear wheels are much differently loaded, and should be expected to give more trouble all else being equal.

Sorry for waffle, the upshot is that I'll continue shopping around for the time being (I'm happy with the Parker wheel but they don't do PT builds), and that I appreciate your posting your experiences of wheelsmith - probably next on my list.

As a counter to all this high spoke handbuilt stuff I've heard many accounts of lightweight low spoke count factory wheels staying perfect for ages...

redmaxi

Thanks lads, I was thinking of building a set myself and as I couldn't find Ambrosio Excellights for sale anywhere I did a quick tot up of Open pro rims, DT Rev spokes & Record 32h hubs. They weighed in at 1481g (without rimtape) and cost e322.
Interesting to hear his disapproval of Record hubs, once the market leader par excellence.

bbosco

redmaxi wrote: »

Thanks lads, I was thinking of building a set myself and as I couldn't find Ambrosio Excellights for sale anywhere I did a quick tot up of Open pro rims, DT Rev spokes & Record 32h hubs. They weighed in at 1481g (without rimtape) and cost e322.
Interesting to hear his disapproval of Record hubs, once the market leader par excellence.

Sorry, I might not have been clear. Derek didn't disapprove of Record hubs. He wouldn't build them if he did. He simply indicated to me, that for my needs and with my priorities and budget, it wasn't worth the extra £100 for the Records, even though they are a superior hub.
I was trying to keep my total build in around €300 and I originally wanted Centaur hubs but Campy stopped making them. The Ambrosio hubs seemed to tick all the boxes for my budget.
The build you're thinking of sounds fantastic. Best of luck with it.

redmaxi

In fairness you did make it make clear enough, I over generalized there.