Ye see, I have this 'friend'............!

velo.2010

...And he's looking at getting a pair of decent lightweight wheels for next year but doesnt(cant) want to spend the world on them.

Now he's spotted these Bontrager X-lites 08/09 model that are used but apparently in excellent shape with little use. He cant get a straight answer from a couple of shops/distributor on how much these retail/retailed for new, but E675-750 seems accurate.

Now how much should he offer for the S/H set, hoping that a few of you have bought some bargain wheelsets in your time. He has an idea but wants some validation. If he's not certain he wont buy. Cheers.

Quigs Snr

Take them if you get them for free or for around 100 euro, otherwise walk away. I like Trek but I don't rate Bontrager. If these are the 08 X-Lite Aero, they weight about 1750 grams. Hardly lightweight or bling bling, similar to Fulcrum 5's which are better built at around 200 euro and not a lot lighter than the askiums which are cheaper again.

I am guessing your mate wants about 300 for them. I got a mint, practically unused set of older Kysrium SL's with brand new Conti Attack Force tyres and Dura Ace Cassette for 220 on adverts 2 weeks ago. Can't believe no-one picked them up on this board, they were there for a good few days.

For not a lot more money I would get these at nearly half a pound lighter and considerably better looking...

http://www.slanecycles.com/productdetail.aspx?id=4161&subid=280&catid=67

velo.2010

Thanks for reply. Wheels are 1500g and recieved some good reviews plus 'He' wants to match up the wheels to his Trek. The set itself are 'as' new and might be worth a look if price is right. I will certainly keep an eye on the Shimanos you recommend.

ps Did I say 'I'?

Quigs Snr

I think they come in just over 1500 claimed weight then (about the same as those RS80's). At that weight they are light enough and must be the non-aero model (which are crap) in which case they would have RRP'd at £499 sterling in 2008. If they were Kysrium SL's with a cassette and tyres you would be looking around 350 as an average price, the Bontragers are less desireable, so expect to pay less. Between 250-299 would be a decent price perhaps.

You obviously have a price in mind, what are you thinking ?

Edit.. yup £499 was their new cost...

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/wheel-sets/product/race-x-lite-wheelset--24045

velo.2010

We're on the same page Quigs. I wont pay what I dont think they're worth. Haggle time.

Lumen

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Take them if you get them for free or for around 100 euro, otherwise walk away. I like Trek but I don't rate Bontrager.

Whilst I would never doubt your knowledge of wheels or your experience of Trek products, I read recently...

Blorg wrote:

For what its worth I have had entry level Bontrager wheels of paired spoke design and they have been among the strongest wheels I have ever used. They have NEVER needed truing which is not something I can say of any other wheelset I have used including ones far more expensive, both strange factory jobs and more traditional lacings.

That said, Blorg does have a massive man-crush on Lance which may have clouded his memory.

velo.2010

@ Lumen, well there hubs(Bont) are pretty respected.

And congratulations our mighty emboldened one.:D

blorg

Quigs probably has more experience with the higher end Bontrager wheels, mine are Bontrager Select. Not a light wheelset at all but they have been very solid.

Quigs Snr

To be honest, I don't doubt that the Bontragers are a fine wheel, I know certainly that after one of our riders broke a zipp on Stage 2 of the RAS he had no trouble getting to the finish in skerries on the same Bontrager X-Lites that Velo is looking at. They are even pretty strong having survived 3 heavy crashes on the way as Robfowl will attest to, after all he did sew up this riders arm after stage 8 !

I should clarify that when I say I don't rate them, I am really saying I don't like them, mostly because I am a label whore and also because some of their earlier stuff in particular was very bland looking and overweight for the money. That has changed in recent years with some very decent high end models coming out. One of our lads has some very nice deep section clinchers of theirs (which look like rebranded HED's), and another has a groovy standard set with red spokes which are super light and have crazy red spokes.

But its like this.. the VW Passat and the Skoda Superb are the same car more or less. But people will generally go for the VW if the money is the same, therefore the Skoda needs to be cheaper even if they are as good or better on paper, its just what the market dictates. In this respect you could think of Bontrager as Skoda which although less fashionable is at least as good at what it does, if not considerably better than some of the VW's of the world.

So if you are buying secondhand Bontragers I personally think you should pay less, but that doesn't mean that they are a lesser wheel. Because they tend to be bundled with Treks and don't have that individual recognition as a wheel maker, they don't make as much secondhand as the Mavic, Zipp, Campag, Fulcrum etc... wheels do. If I put Mavic wheels up on the club site for sale they are gone in no time, Bontragers and other more bespoke brands tend to linger.. Its a label thing at the end of the day.