Wheels under £500?

Elushion

What are the best wheels money can buy for between £400-£500?

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

I liked the Easton Tempest II mentioned in a thread further down.

But then of course it depends on what you want the wheels for, a set of 50mm deep planet-x wheels might be better if you prioritise speed over robustness.

Cheers, Andy

garyspain

Just had a pair built with dt swiss 1.1 rims on dura ace hubs
around 1500 g and £320 bargin!
All the hype about hand built wheels is right, they ride superbly

blorg

I am very happy with my DT Swiss RR 1450s - £379 from CRC.

This is the same rim that garyspain has above, with a DT Swiss hub and 28 DT Aerolite spokes. 1480g.

As Andy says it depends what you want them for, I was going mainly for lightness for climbing. Heavier deep section wheels could be better for flat.

thenumber8

probably these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360030874/

Elushion

I excel on the climbs, so maybe deep section wheels arnt the way to go?

andrewgturnbull

Elushion wrote:

I excel on the climbs, so maybe deep section wheels arnt the way to go?

Train your weaknesses!

wildmoustache

Elushion - I admire your style coming on and saying you excel on the climbs! class!

depends what you want them for and how many trips to the LBS you're willing to endure.

I'd say the new Dura Ace wheels look hard to beat as an all rounder for that kind of cash. Haven't ridden them yet I have to admit, but planning to add a set to my wheelery at some point. One major downside is they can only be run with Shimano or SRAM.

il_principe

Fulcrum Racing 1's

wildmoustache

jashburnham wrote:

Fulcrum Racing 1's

why would you buy those and not campag shamals or neutrons? only if you rode shimano or SRAM and didn't want the campag brand contaiminating things

F1s are a fair bit heavier and probably less aerodynamic than those two. I've always thought they are way overpriced.

il_principe

"Probably less Aero" - Very scientific that!

Fulcrum 1's are cheaper than the Shamals - not much heavier, are bombproof and look far far better. Had mine for nearly 3 years now and they haven't given me a single problem, no even need retruing.

Neutrons are on a par with Racing 3's really.

Plus Fulcrums can fit Campag or Shimano (with purchase of relevant freehub body) - useful for me as I have 1 Ultegra equipped bike and one Chorus equipped.

Oh and those gold Shamals look HORRIBLE.

redddraggon

jashburnham wrote:

Plus Fulcrums can fit Campag or Shimano (with purchase of relevant freehub body)

So can Campag wheels.....

wildmoustache

jashburnham wrote:

"Probably less Aero" - Very scientific that!

Fulcrum 1's are cheaper than the Shamals - not much heavier, are bombproof and look far far better. Had mine for nearly 3 years now and they haven't given me a single problem, no even need retruing.

Neutrons are on a par with Racing 3's really.

Plus Fulcrums can fit Campag or Shimano (with purchase of relevant freehub body) - useful for me as I have 1 Ultegra equipped bike and one Chorus equipped.

Oh and those gold Shamals look HORRIBLE.

I'm not knocking the R1s as in many ways they are fine... just not as good value IMO.

My shamals were under £500.

The R1s are a fair bit heavier actually. They typically come out at well over 1600g ... My Shamals are 1420g, and from what I can tell 1400g-1450g is typical for them. Have a look at weightweenies if you don't believe me.

On the aerodynamics ... there won't be much between them at all. But the R1s have giant spokes which is alomst invariably an aerodynamic no-no.

And you can get Shamals in Ti colour. I personally really like the gold but I know it's not to everyone's taste. Black is boring could be said about the R1s.

And the freehub point also applies to Campag wheels.

il_principe

Fair enough, wasn't aware of the campag freehub thing. If that is the case why don't they give you the choice at purchase though?

I run Fulcrum 0's on my Pinarello, they're lighter than the 1's and are also fantastic.

Horses for courses I guess.

wildmoustache

jashburnham wrote:

Fair enough, wasn't aware of the campag freehub thing. If that is the case why don't they give you the choice at purchase though?

I run Fulcrum 0's on my Pinarello, they're lighter than the 1's and are also fantastic.

Horses for courses I guess.

I've always really liked the look of the R0s in all red.

I think they do give you the choice of shimano or campag at purchase. I've actually got 2 freehub bodies so can use them on either shimano or campag, but when you include changing the cassette over you're as well off just buying another set of hoops IMO...

agnello

you can run the shimanos with a campag freehub body

assume we're talking 7850 CLs Dura Ace

I've just trashed a pair and would hesitate to recommend them. front tube blw up descending the glandon. now this could be bad luck but i wonder why they got so hot (i've been down a lot of mountains).

also the rear one went out of true and is practically impossible to reset.

had the original ksyriums for over 5 years never shifted 1mm out of true. lack a bit of stiffness though.

the shimanos look quite elegant though and are stiff. not sure where I would go instead - maybe handbuilt if i could find a decent builder

wildmoustache

agnello wrote:

you can run the shimanos with a campag freehub body

assume we're talking 7850 CLs Dura Ace

I've just trashed a pair and would hesitate to recommend them. front tube blw up descending the glandon. now this could be bad luck but i wonder why they got so hot (i've been down a lot of mountains).

also the rear one went out of true and is practically impossible to reset.

had the original ksyriums for over 5 years never shifted 1mm out of true. lack a bit of stiffness though.

the shimanos look quite elegant though and are stiff. not sure where I would go instead - maybe handbuilt if i could find a decent builder

I had wondered how the carbon-alu laminate rim would hold up on a hot mountain descent.

tell me more about the campag freehub for them... where can it be bought online?

James1823

Mavic Ksyrium SLs

Probably can get a set of last year's version for under £500 and I am pleased with my set. Cornering, descending, sprinting, coasting are all a massive improvement after the Equipe.

guinea

If you can afford the extra few quid the Shamals are great wheels. The Titaniums are gorgeous.

I went from Fulcrum 5s and can, with my hand on my heart, really notice the difference.

il_principe

guinea wrote:

If you can afford the extra few quid the Shamals are great wheels. The Titaniums are gorgeous.

I went from Fulcrum 5s and can, with my hand on my heart, really notice the difference.

I should hope so given the price diff...

guinea

I know there is a big diference in price, but I am never really sure how much more performance you get for your money.

Is a carbon bottle cage better than an alu one. Will I notice the difference? Do carbon cranks make me faster? Do light wheels make me climb better? Is Super Record worth the upgrade from Chorus?

Buying any component comes the risk that although your bike is 'better', you can't actually notice any improvement.

Elushion

I have never had a wheel custom built before, but I think the Mavic CXP33 rim looks great. How would I go about getting a wheel set built up on these rims?

Cajun

Absolutely fantastic wheelset:
http://www.speeddream.com/
$679US

PeteinSQ

Cycling plus reviewed wheels back in May and they rated those dura ace ones mentioned earlier as the best by far. As you excel on climbs I assume you aren't heavy but if you are they suggested fulcrum racing 3s as a good way to go and they're a lot less than £500.

wildmoustache

PeteinSQ wrote:

Cycling plus reviewed wheels back in May and they rated those dura ace ones mentioned earlier as the best by far. As you excel on climbs I assume you aren't heavy but if you are they suggested fulcrum racing 3s as a good way to go and they're a lot less than £500.

but what about the mysterious mountain descending issue? are these wheels safe on long hot descents?

agnello

I hope they're safe and I was unlucky!

I will probably be 5h1tt1ng myself next time I pop off the Galibier or similar though.

Have you heard of any other people having blow outs WM?

Great having light climbing wheels but pretty useless if you can't come down again! :?

wildmoustache

agnello wrote:

I hope they're safe and I was unlucky!

I will probably be 5h1tt1ng myself next time I pop off the Galibier or similar though.

Have you heard of any other people having blow outs WM?

Great having light climbing wheels but pretty useless if you can't come down again! :?

no i haven't. but given their lack of mass would be useful for climbing ... if they can't be safely used for descending ...

they have a very thin alu rim ... shimano make a virtue of this as it allows rapid acceleration and low overall weight. my question is whether it compromises safety under extreme heat.

I remember shimano advertising these hoops being subject to the biggest wheeltest ever where huge numbers of riders had been provided with them to ride around prior to the official release. I wonder if they included novice riders who brake a lot on mountain descents?

agnello

who you calling a novice

i was on the marmotte and there was a lot of traffic. it was hot, I'm 81KGs.

apart from the blow out these things go out of true easily and you can't buy spare rims.

sure they're great for a couple of hours around Castle Coombe or whatever C+ testers do on them