Wheelsets: what should I buy

[the_kman]

I've got about AU$500-700 to fork out on a new wheelset. Whats a good wheelset for all-round racing.

here is a few ive considered

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / Mavic Kysrium SL (if found cheap)
the various Shimano Dura Ace wheelsets
Bontrager x-lites
SRAM S30AL Race

come on wheel guru's i need a hand with this.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I've got about AU$500-700 to fork out on a new wheelset. Whats a good wheelset for all-round racing.

here is a few ive considered

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / Mavic Kysrium SL (if found cheap)
the various Shimano Dura Ace wheelsets
Bontrager x-lites
SRAM S30AL Race

come on wheel guru's i need a hand with this.

None of the above, especially not the Mavics. For the upper end of your price range I could build you a custom set with Edco Super G hubs, Velocity A23 rims, Sapim Race double butted spokes. Or if you have a local wheel builder have them build something similar.

 

[Parera]

Have you talked to a wheel builder about getting some handbuilts? You could probably do something with DT hubs in the price range you are looking at.

edit: Or just do what RDV4ROUBAIX said.

 

[richwagmn]

Off the shelf? What about these.

http://www.hedcycling.com/ardennes/default.asp?content=GP

Could also check out some of the stuff these guys have too.

Here's the A23 on 105 hubs.

http://www.shopatron.com/products/p...ber=WE7288/3979.0.1.1.79976.23719.0.0.0?pp=9&

 

[the_kman]

thanks for the posts guys. I rekon ill save a bit and get them ardennes. they left me drooling. sucks that i cant find too many second hand but ill bide my time.

 

[rph1960]

None of the above as RDV said. Have had Mavic, Shimano, Bontrager, American Classic and he built me the above set. No comparison. Don't waist your money, get RDV to build you a set and you won't be disappointed!!!

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I've got about AU$500-700 to fork out on a new wheelset. Whats a good wheelset for all-round racing.

here is a few ive considered

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / Mavic Kysrium SL (if found cheap)
the various Shimano Dura Ace wheelsets
Bontrager x-lites
SRAM S30AL Race

come on wheel guru's i need a hand with this.

None of the above. The mavics have one of the worse rear hubs made as do the sram wheels(cheapo version of crappy zipp hubs). Some Bonti had DT hubs but unique to those wheels rims/spkes. Hed wheels suffer from the same teeny bearing disease as zipp/sram.

At least the DA wheels have a decent hub but again, spokes tough(impossible) tofind and if ya kill a rim, fergetaboutit.

Find a good local wheelbuilder that can design ad build a wheelset specifically for you and your needs. Chances are they will
-work better
-use standard parts
-weight the same and




cost less.

 

[42x16ss]

thanks for the posts guys. I rekon ill save a bit and get them ardennes. they left me drooling. sucks that i cant find too many second hand but ill bide my time.

NOOOO! Don't do it Go for hand builts over factory, especially second hand!

Are these wheels for race day only, or some training rides as well? What kind of racing? Do you insist on clinchers or are tubulars an option?

If you want something fast and relatively inexpensive then the Edco/Velocity/Sapim combo is hard to beat. You may have to order Edco hubs yourself though. DT 240's and Dura Ace are also very good hubs too.

I'd also consider going for DT hubs/DT Comp spokes/Velocity Major Tom's (my current race wheels) but they are a tubular rim.

Please don't go second hand factory....

 

[richwagmn]

NOOOO! Don't do it Go for hand builts over factory, especially second hand!

Are these wheels for race day only, or some training rides as well? What kind of racing? Do you insist on clinchers or are tubulars an option?

If you want something fast and relatively inexpensive then the Edco/Velocity/Sapim combo is hard to beat. You may have to order Edco hubs yourself though. DT 240's and Dura Ace are also very good hubs too.

I'd also consider going for DT hubs/DT Comp spokes/Velocity Major Tom's (my current race wheels) but they are a tubular rim.

Please don't go second hand factory....

Umm, the Hed Ardennes are pretty decent wheels. I'm not sure about their hubs but I don't think you'll find many people unhappy with their products.

I have the Hed C2 rims laced to DT240s. Very happy with the rims. The wider rim profile does make quite a difference in ride comfort and I can, from experience, say they're quite sturdy.

I'll even put in a word for an older set of Bontrager Race Lites I have (paired spokes). Over 12,000 miles and I've never had to put a spoke wrench to them once. I believe some of their hubs were even sourced from DT.

Too many people on this board reflexively hate on anything Specialized, Trek or Cannondale or any of the other big mfgs do - which confounds the people who have stuff from these companies that has worked well and lasted a long time.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

HED builds are good, rims are good, but the one glaring issue with them as always been their Sonic hubs. People have to realize that HED doesn't come from a road race background, they made their name in Tri where "built to last" is somewhat of a foreign notion. I remember just a few years ago the early incarnations of HED's Sonic hubs were so bad that if you looked at them wrong they'd explode. They've gotten a little better over the years, but it's still a flawed design.

Since the beginning of this forum 2.5 years ago there's been about a half dozen people complaining about HED's Sonic hubs. Not a great track record. And richwagmn, I believe you ended up with your custom build because of hub issues with a stock HED set, no?

 

[Notso Swift]

thanks for the posts guys. I rekon ill save a bit and get them ardennes. they left me drooling. sucks that i cant find too many second hand but ill bide my time.

Since you mention prices in A$ I am guessing you are an Aussie look up TWE wheels on Ebay, he is sydney, couple of club guys roll on themn and are all happy

 

[Parera]

Find a good local wheelbuilder that can design ad build a wheelset specifically for you and your needs.

I don't think this can be emphasized enough. The great part about having a local wheelbuilder is that they will stand by their product. They have a vested interest in making sure your wheel is built strong and true, that it is reliable; they know that they can't get away with a poor build because other riders in the area will quickly find out. Instead, a wheelmaker worth his salt will bend over for the customer because they KNOW that a happy customer will send their buddies in for some handbuilts down the line.

My wheelman has already touched up my 105/A23s after 100 miles, and wants to see me again in a month or so when I'm closer to a thousand. He also keeps me a little baggie with my name on it in his shop which contains half a dozen spare spoke so in the event I do bust a spoke there won't be any problem; no waiting around for a shipment to come in. Just ask anyone that has ever busted a Mavic spoke the nightmare that is, and you realize why so many people stick with local wheel builders.

I used to think "yeah yeah handbuilts blablabla quiet hippie!" because you hear the same lines about "buy local" for produce and other foods. But there is a very practical reason for a cyclist to do it, and really, it's often cheaper/same price for a better wheel when you have them made for you.

 

[Boeing]

I've got about AU$500-700 to fork out on a new wheelset. Whats a good wheelset for all-round racing.

here is a few ive considered

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / Mavic Kysrium SL (if found cheap)
the various Shimano Dura Ace wheelsets
Bontrager x-lites
SRAM S30AL Race

come on wheel guru's i need a hand with this.

Fulcrum Racing 1 sounds about right for you

 

[richwagmn]

Since the beginning of this forum 2.5 years ago there's been about a half dozen people complaining about HED's Sonic hubs. Not a great track record. And richwagmn, I believe you ended up with your custom build because of hub issues with a stock HED set, no?

Yes. People here and on other forums indicated problems with HED hubs. Besides, how can you beat a DT240?

My comments weren't specific to HED. I was referring to the automatic assumption on the part of some people here that ANYTHING from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, etc is automatically a piece of junk. It's irritating and it seems like nothing more than snobbery.

In response to the OP I pointed out that I had ridden a set of Bontrager Race Lites for 12k miles and never once had to put a spoke wrench to them or service the hubs (which still spin nicely). If Trek for instance, makes nothing but total crap, how is that possible? Was I just lucky? Same with old 5200 carbon frame I had. Nothing went wrong. Again, just lucky I guess.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Yes. People here and on other forums indicated problems with HED hubs. Besides, how can you beat a DT240?

Phil, Edco, Alchemy, White, Tune, PMP, King, C-4, Extralite, Campagnolo, Miche, Shimano. Most are on par, if not better. I'd say this is a pretty good list of DT's competition, though 240's are a fine hub.

My comments weren't specific to HED. I was referring to the automatic assumption on the part of some people here that ANYTHING from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, etc is automatically a piece of junk. It's irritating and it seems like nothing more than snobbery.

You have to understand the difference between the consumer perspective and the mechanics perspective. What you're picking up isn't snobbery really, usually someone with more technical experience than you, and usually a grumpy wrench with an opinion, and usually right. Rich, I worked at a couple WREK dealers for about 6 of my 20+ in the industry, most of it where you live, my opinion hasn't changed about them or all the other big brands out there, I've seen 1st hand how junk their stuff is.

In response to the OP I pointed out that I had ridden a set of Bontrager Race Lites for 12k miles and never once had to put a spoke wrench to them or service the hubs (which still spin nicely). If Trek for instance, makes nothing but total crap, how is that possible? Was I just lucky? Same with old 5200 carbon frame I had. Nothing went wrong. Again, just lucky I guess.

Yep, luck. I've seen your same exact bike fall apart under probably smaller and lighter riders than you, but WREK does have a killer warranty, they do take care of their custies, more often than not you'll end up with a really good deal on a replacement. 12k mi is nothing for a wheel set, come back and let us know in 50k, if you make it that far. I have no confidence Bontrager wheels, you ended up with a trouble free set so far because the mechanic who built your bike took the time to re-tension and true the wheels. Most, if not all of the Bontrager wheels that I pulled out of boxes were usually out of true with really uneven tension, sometimes up to 40%. That's bad, really bad.

 

[the_kman]

hmmm thanks for the comments everyone.

I gotta say that the mid-level gear Ive always ridden on (for 8 yrs) id ride it to the death. Id only clean it every fortnight/month and i dont think ive even checked my bearings or grease anything unless something broke.

So i really think id be wasting my time with custom wheels. Ill still use crap wheels for training i suppose but im still swaying to factory wheels for racing.

 

[Parera]

hmmm thanks for the comments everyone.

I gotta say that the mid-level gear Ive always ridden on (for 8 yrs) id ride it to the death. Id only clean it every fortnight/month and i dont think ive even checked my bearings or grease anything unless something broke.

So i really think id be wasting my time with custom wheels. Ill still use crap wheels for training i suppose but im still swaying to factory wheels for racing.

You're not making any sense. People turn to handbuilts for reliability yet you seem convinced that a machine built wheelset will offer you less maintenance headaches. I don't understand...

 

[the_kman]

oh... i guess ive always associated custom built with perfectionists :| id imagine id ruin them as oppose to factory ones which are probably (in my eyes) meant for punishment.

guess im just noob :/

 

[slartiblartfast]

I don't know if you would be able to get the HED Ardennes wheelset new for under $700 AUS. I got mine for $1000 AUS a couple of years ago. They are very nice wheels although when I broke a spoke I had to wait several months to get a new one through the same Australian distibutor I got the wheels from originally so beware.

 

[Notso Swift]

I hear the distributor has changed recently (May), I do not specifically know if they are any better or worse, but you may find there was a reason they changed...

 

[DirtyWorks]

I didn't see this mentioned, some of the retail wheelsets have no spare parts so a minor failure can mean a new wheel.

You have to think much longer term too. Spare parts may have been around for a year or two, but nowhere around years later when something breaks on the rarely used wheel set.

I've got mountain bike forks in my shed reminding me of the industry's planned obsolescence every time I go out for a ride.