Best Value for money Carbon Wheelsets?

[Argon Man]

I am looking to upgrade and get me a set of Carbon wheels for racing with, however being the tightarse that I am, what do you guys think are the best value for money going around, I want good quality for as cheap as possible.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

How much are you willing to spend? Tubular/Clincher? How deep?

 

[Argon Man]

Probably $2000 aud max

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

HED Jet 6 (clincher) or Stinger 6 (tubular) Both are 1500USD which is 2092.49AUD. Pretty close.

 

[Argon Man]

yeah not bad, prefer clincher

 

[Pietro]

Probably $2000 aud max

Look at either Edge or Reynolds. Opt for DT hubs, great rims and hubs. If yer gonna race on these, make them tubular.

 

[Argon Man]

Look at either Edge or Reynolds. Opt for DT hubs, great rims and hubs. If yer gonna race on these, make them tubular.

Thanks, never had tubulars before, A bit nervous about stuffing up the gluing on tyres bit.

 

[davidg]

Light, cheap, strong. Pick any two.

Two cents worth

Before you spend your hard earned cash, decide why you want them. Carbon clinchers are not light, and the deeper dish (more aero) you go, the heavier they are.

 

[Pietro]

Thanks, never had tubulars before, A bit nervous about stuffing up the gluing on tyres bit.

Gluing tubies is not hard. Plus $2000 is a lot of $ to save about 400 grams..about a pound.

 

[HeftOnWheels]

Take a look at Neuvation.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Take a look at Neuvation.

Neuvation is an incredible value, but like with any Taiwanese products (hubs/rims) reliability is a gamble. And Neuvation is made mostly for the U.S market, our boy here is in Australia, and if he has a warranty issue I'm sure he would rather deal with a local company than having to ship to and from California. You're better off buying from companies that manufacture their own rims/hubs like HED, ZIPP, or REYNOLDS(DT Hubs) All of which are heavily supported in Australia.

 

[Argon Man]

Does anybody have experience with Spinergy

 

[brunob]

Sonic Hyper PFC, belgian handmade wheels. clincher full carbon rim
don't know whether they are available everywhere.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Does anybody have experience with Spinergy

Spinergy is one of the most warrantied wheels on the face of the earth. Stay away. There are a few people here and there that swear by them, but few and far between.

Sonic Hyper PFC, belgian handmade wheels. clincher full carbon rim
don't know whether they are available everywhere.

Very limited availability, even in Europe. Hand laced in Belgium, but that's where it ends. You could basically plug "Sonic" into what I said about Neuvation.

 

[Argon Man]

Thanks RDV4, The spinergy's looked like good value, but I will leave these be, another with good price is token, any thoughts?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Token is just another cyclist/cyclists with an engineering degree that didn't want to get his hands dirty, so everything is manufactured in Taiwan. Same schit different day.

 

[James Jordan]

Thanks RDV4, The Spinergy's looked like good value, but I will leave these be, another with good price is token, any thoughts?

We sell quite a few Spinergy and Token wheels in the shop where I work. I have to agree with the comment regarding Spinergy wheels; one problem after another, unless you are a 50kg lightweight who is only willing to use the wheels for those very special races and accept that you will need to true them about every 100km.

Token are good value, in regards to durability but are not the lightest or the most aero. My suggestion is that you try Boumeester.

http://www.bouwmeesterwheels.com/

They are only available online, but Mello is a great guy and very helpful. I have a set of his older rims that I built up on a set of DT 240 hubs that are my race and big ride wheels and could not be happier. His older hubs looked a bit like those of American Classic and as I have broken quite a few of those went for the rims only, but I have seen the guys from the Savings & Loan Team on the new ones and they look sweet and the guys reckon there nicer then Zipps. Hoping to invest in some deeper wheels for my TT bike later this year.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

YES!!! There you go Argon Man. Support your local wheel manufacturer. I've also heard nothing but good things about Boumeester, I just couldn't remember the name. Nice work James!

 

[Argon Man]

cheers thanks

 

[cyclestationgiuseppe]

You can never go wrong if you get a wheel built by your local shop based on your weight. Pick a hoop and the right spokes and you are good to go. Campy and Fulcrum as well as Bontrager wheels have been the best wheels out of the box in my experience.

 

[cyclestationgiuseppe]

I forgot to mention I recently saw a set of Dura Ace tubeless wheels and the guy who had them was 6ft 180 and had rode tubulars for the last 10 years and swore the DA's were better...beside the fact they were gorgeous and I drooled all over them.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

You can never go wrong if you get a wheel built by your local shop based on your weight. Pick a hoop and the right spokes and you are good to go.

Yep, no doubt. Bouwmeester can build him a wheel based on his weight and riding style. And they're local (Australia)

Campy and Fulcrum as well as Bontrager wheels have been the best wheels out of the box in my experience.

In my experience those wheels have given warranty departments the biggest headaches, especially Fulcrummy and Buttrager. Unfortunately they don't tell the customer that you're a lucky S.O.B. if your wheels last more than two years without issues. Campy is much better in recent years, but still expensive as hell.

I forgot to mention I recently saw a set of Dura Ace tubeless wheels and the guy who had them was 6ft 180 and had rode tubulars for the last 10 years and swore the DA's were better...beside the fact they were gorgeous and I drooled all over them.

Tubeless wheels are a joke, especially for road racing. There is a reason why 99% of the pros race on tubulars. If you flat with tubeless or even clincher at a full clip, you're going to either ruin the rim, or crash. I've seen both.

 

[Argon Man]

Checked out the Bouwmeesters on the web and these appear to be excellent value and quality, just what I am after, now to convince the missus into letting me spend the dough!

 

[llamma]

I have been looking at these wheels and they may be closer to you in Aussi land.
http://www.bikesoul.com/index2.html
Seems like a good deal but I have not ridden them.

 

[tri3tim]

Consider Williams

I've been riding Zipp 404s and Mavic carbones for the last few years. I took a chance on a smaller company called Williams and bought a set of carbon clinchers for $999 USD and their 30X for $489 USD. I've put a few hundred miles on each and they are great wheels (to my surprise). I've intentionally "beat them up" a bit and they remain true as can be. Here's their URL: http://www.williamscycling.com/index.html