Economical Wheelsets?

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

What's wrong with the Excellights? I'm 70kg. Would they be fine in that case?

What, you mean like these?

Nothing wrong with the Excellights at all. I'm building up a set for myself next week, 28 hole for a hilly ride set, and I'm 85kg. But for the application that SoulCycling mentioned I wouldn't recommend a lighter rim or lighter spokes for a rough road set. The Excellight is really only 30g lighter than an Excellence anyway, but the Excellence shape is more of a box section and slightly thicker extrusion=tougher.

 

[SoulCycling]

What, you mean like these?

Nothing wrong with the Excellights at all. I'm building up a set for myself next week, 28 hole for a hilly ride set, and I'm 85kg. But for the application that SoulCycling mentioned I wouldn't recommend a lighter rim or lighter spokes for a rough road set. The Excellight is really only 30g lighter than an Excellence anyway, but the Excellence shape is more of a box section and slightly thicker extrusion=tougher.

Where do you get your Ambrosio rims? I'm having a hard time finding them.

 

[Anonymous]

The mavic open pros with ultegra is a good recommendation above...I second it...I have been riding them for years and they are the proverbial bombproof wheels and cheap...likewise, there is some place online that has open pros with the dura hubs for 400 or so a set...

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Where do you get your Ambrosio rims? I'm having a hard time finding them.

I get 'em factory direct for OEM use, order about 100 at a time. Not many options for the general consumer in the US because there's no US distro. Torelli sells the Excecllece renamed as the Triumph, but you'd have to get your bike shop to get them for you.

Ital-Tecno has some Excellights in stock, but no Excellence, and from what I understand their stock is really weak, worth a try though.

 

[Wallace]

I bought a pair of Ambrosio Nemesis from Ital-Techno, but it took them months to get them to me. I'd call them up, and the guy there would say "I have them and will ship them out tomorrow"--and then the rims wouldn't arrive. The guy lied to me about five times, always promising the rims were on the way. So I gave up on the place. Then suddenly, about three months later, the rims arrived. I think the only way that place stays in business is that they have some products (Ambrosio rims, for example) that no one else carries. I would avoid them if there's any other way to get what you're looking for.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Yeah, stay away from Ital-Tecno. Talked to Ambrosio about them, and there's some gray area there. Torelli definitely has a bunch of Ambrosio Excellence in stock rebranded as Triumph, and Torelli is as legit as they come.

 

[Stahlman]

Economical wheels

Hi,

I used Mavic Aksium for training; they are heavy but run smoothly, and no reliability issues at all. You can find these around used - for about ~US$150 a set.

I can also recommend RoL D'Huez, which are super light and stiff, great for climbing and racing. I used these last season and they are very good indeed.

http://www.rolwheels.com/rol_dhuez_wheels.php

Also check out RoL Volants.

A friend of mine swears by Spinergy Xaero; the composite spokes provide a very nice, compliant ride. These can be had for about US$500.

P.

 

[biker jk]

+1 for the RoL D'Huez. That's one fine wheelset at a great price. Their stiffness provides great confidence cornering and descending and light weight make them an excellent climbing wheel (around 1470 grams with rim tape but without skewers).

 

[biker jk]

Your "durable" wheels should be Ambrosio Excellence, not Excellight, and DT Comps, not Revs. With those Ultegra hubs that set can be had for roughly 600 bucks and still be in that weight range of 1650. I build with Ambrosio rims exclusively, but I use Edco hubs, slightly more expensive because of the Swiss cheese.

Would you recommend the Ambrosio Zenith hubs?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Would you recommend the Ambrosio Zenith hubs?

Made in Taiwan, you can tell by the price. Ambrosio uses these in a couple of their cheaper production wheels, never seen it sold separately though. The majority of Ambrosio's wheels use Miche hubs made in Italy, better hub, but more expensive. You get what you pay for I guess.

 

[biker jk]

Made in Taiwan, you can tell by the price. Ambrosio uses these in a couple of their cheaper production wheels, never seen it sold separately though. The majority of Ambrosio's wheels use Miche hubs made in Italy, better hub, but more expensive. You get what you pay for I guess.

Total Cycling's online store (UK) seels the Ambrosio Zenith hubs separately. Front and rear can be bought for a total of US$110. Interestingly, they sell Miche RC2 hubs (front and rear) for just US$86. Is that the bottom of the range Miche hubs (they weigh 460g INCLUDING skewers)?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Total Cycling's online store (UK) seels the Ambrosio Zenith hubs separately. Front and rear can be bought for a total of US$110. Interestingly, they sell Miche RC2 hubs (front and rear) for just US$86. Is that the bottom of the range Miche hubs (they weigh 460g INCLUDING skewers)?

Wow! Great price on those RC2's!! I built up an OEM version of those last year. Great hubs! I'd go with those if I were you. Those Ambrosio's aren't so bad either, think they're made by CHOSEN. Go with the Miche hubs. Great deal!

 

[ethnik]

for folks in North America cycles Marinoni in Montreal are an official distributor for Ambrosio, and they have NO problems providing rims.

If you live on the west coast Campione Bike Shop in Vancouver are the west coast distributors, and again they likewise have no issues getting inventory.

you poor folks south of the border are really underserviced!

Give Marinoni a call (or get your shop to do so), you should be easily be able to get what you want.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

for folks in North America cycles Marinoni in Montreal are an official distributor for Ambrosio, and they have NO problems providing rims.

If you live on the west coast Campione Bike Shop in Vancouver are the west coast distributors, and again they likewise have no issues getting inventory.

you poor folks south of the border are really underserviced!

Give Marinoni a call (or get your shop to do so), you should be easily be able to get what you want.

If you've ever talked to Ambrosio, they're quite possibly the worst company to deal with in the entire industry, It's no wonder they have no US distro. Big shame, because their rims are a cult classic amongst pros and ams alike. Ask them one question and it takes 8 emails to ask why they haven't answered the question yet. Italian speakers would probably fair better. Anyway, I've been dealing with them for the better part of a year, and I simply gave up and changed rim suppliers. Just liquidated 60 Nemesis rims to Competitive Cyclist this week.

Forgot to mention, a warning to anybody in the US wanting to deal with Ambrosio as a distro. My very first order from them last year was only about 70 rims, It took them over half a year to ship. That's totally ridiculous! Learning Italian might just be the difference maker, or having mob affiliations, but to wait 7 months for 70 rims isn't acceptable at all no matter what the language barrier is.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I have a friend of mine who is getting into cycling, he has everything but the wheelset. He's a starving student so he can't spend too much and he's looked at the following:

Fulcrum Racing 5
Shimano WH-RS30
Mavic Aksium

Recommendations? Anything else that he should look into?

Find a local wheelbuilder who can design a wheelset specifically for him and his needs. Like a 105 hubset, Velocity rims, DT spokes. Better made, probably cheaper, standard parts....

 

[flyor64]

I've posted a couple of times that I'm considering building my own wheelset...but unfortunately I'm the cost of the materials quite prohibitive...so I'm back looking at factory built or shop-built wheelsets.

The Shimano Dura-Ace C24s caught my eye as very reasonable compromise between weight, performance, and price.

Anyone here have experience, in the postive or negative, with this wheelset?

 

[Kimono]

+1 for the RoL D'Huez. That's one fine wheelset at a great price. Their stiffness provides great confidence cornering and descending and light weight make them an excellent climbing wheel (around 1470 grams with rim tape but without skewers).

I just got the Rol D'Huez this year and they're excellent. Light, stiff, and stay true. Subjected them to a beating last weekend on the Hell of Hunterdon's 15 mile sections of gravel / potholed "roads". True as an arrow afterwards... amazing

 

[mherm79]

mavic aksiums get my vote. great price, look good, roll well and are strong.