Help me set a budget for new wheels

topcattim

My Orbea Bira cost £1300 which included a slight reduction in price 18 months ago. So I'm confident the Onix carbon fibre frame is worth treating to a few component upgrades. I know that the best place to start would be the wheels.

It currently has Shimano R550s which seem to retail at about £75 to £90. My question is, how much should I reasonably be expecting to spend to feel a difference, without spending massively over the odds for my quality of bike and also my riding style and skill. (I've been riding about 4 years properly, am just about to turn 40, currently ride about 100 miles a week, with the odd sportive thrown in during the summer aiming to finish in the top third to half of the field...next year I fancy trying a bit of time-trialling).

I realise this is a tricky question, but don't want to look around for the best wheels in, say, the £150 bracket only to discover that I don't really notice the difference. Similarly, I don't want to spend £450 and then discover that, with my standard of riding, I'd have been just as happy with a £150 set.

Oh, and of course, any specific recommendations re actual wheels will be much appreciated!

Steven Martin

What sort of use? Will more aero wheels be more advantageous that super light ones? Are you a light rider where Easton Ascent II may be a good upgrade, or are you really powerful and might flex these every time you accelerate?

I am sure there will be 100s of recommendations along in a minute....

dcj

You ask for a budget so how about £500 for ready built, less for shop built.
You ride 100 miles a week and ride sportives so you're worth it

I like the Mavic SSC SL but I am sure loads of people will tell you ready-built wheels are too expensive.

If you know anyone with a compatible set of light wheels see if you can borrow them for a test ride.

fizz

I have the same wheels on my Van Nicholas Vardar, I asked about this a while back via a friend of my other halfs who works in a bike shop.

Response I got back was soemthing in the £500 to £600 mark would give you benefit that you would actually be able to notice.

He said that the R550 are Ok for what I'm using them for 100 - 120 miles per week in summer and sportive or two. I decided I'd save my money and concentate on loosing weight of me as I think that would make a difference to and I dont have the money to upgrade the wheels ATM.

topcattim

Steven Martin wrote:

What sort of use? Will more aero wheels be more advantageous that super light ones? Are you a light rider where Easton Ascent II may be a good upgrade, or are you really powerful and might flex these every time you accelerate?

I weigh about 70kg and am more of a climber than a powerful speed merchant.
Its interesting that, something in the £500 range has been mentioned a couple of times. I was hoping I'd be able to notice a worthwhile difference for something a bit less than that.

maddog 2

decent handbuilts - say OPs on Ultegra hubs, built with DT rev spokes - would be lightish, and perform well. Shouldn't cost more than 250.

Spend more and you'll get lighter/tricker hubs (DT, Hope, King, Tune) but marginal extra benefit in terms of riding performance, as the rim+spoke weight is more influential.

If you want aero then factory wheels would be the obvious choice (although it's not impossible to build a wheel that is aero eg. CXray spokes etc.)

I'd give Paul Hewit a ring and tell him what you want (budget, riding style, weight, racing etc.) and he should be able to give you some options and prices. You can then go away and compare these options to the factory stuff.

You can gaurantee they'll be well built wheels. 8)

topcattim

maddog 2 wrote:

decent handbuilts - say OPs on Ultegra hubs, built with DT rev spokes - would be lightish, and perform well. Shouldn't cost more than 250.

That sounds a bit more hopeful for me with regard to budget; mayb handbuilt would be a good way to go?