Which wheels for £250?

ravey1981

I am building up a planet x pro carbon bike using a new frameset and some parts from my old bike (until I can afford to upgrade them)

I'm looking for some new wheels. My max budget is £250 for the pair. They need to be shimano compatible and clinchers.

The area where I live is pretty hilly so I'm thinking lightweight would be better than aero type rims.

Any advice appreciated

STEFANOS4784

No offense mate but if you visited the forum more often you'd know the answer


Call some bloke at some wheel building place


Personally, i'd keep an eye out on the classifieds on this site, and look for the lighter the better IMHO

ravey1981

helpful...cheers :roll:

pianoman

Or how about either of the top two on this page:

http://www.geoffsmithcycles.co.uk/wheels.html

That's light weight under £250! Then again, I wonder about the durability of these wheels.

Otherwise, save some money and buy Fulcrum 5's - a bit heavier but renowned for their stiffness. Remember, stiffness is still important even if you're climbing. More stiffness=more power transfer=MORE SPEED

Then you'd have around £75 left over for Ultremo R1's

STEFANOS4784

Sorry mate was a bit,ass-holey, :oops:

alfablue

ravey1981 wrote:

I am building up a planet x pro carbon bike using a new frameset and some parts from my old bike (until I can afford to upgrade them)

I'm looking for some new wheels. My max budget is £250 for the pair. They need to be shimano compatible and clinchers.

The area where I live is pretty hilly so I'm thinking lightweight would be better than aero type rims.

Any advice appreciated

Well,strangely Planet-X model B's. Mine have been excellent, smoothest rolling hubs I have ever had, very light for the price (1650g for £125), and half your budget - you would have to spend all of the £250 (or more) to get lighter. If you want 32 spokes, then Model C's, same price, around 100g heavier.

STEFANOS4784

Actually was guna suggest model 'b's before my stupid comment, not had a lengthy experience with them though

Clockworkali

Hi, i am about to buy a carbon sl frame as i couldnt turn down 20% off. I have fulcrum 5 wheels on my existing bike and while they may not be the lightest they have been very reliable and stayed true for well over a year now and the bearings are very smooth.

ravey1981

all food for though, thanks guys, so far then I'm looking at:

Planet-X model Bs

Fulcrum 5's

and I've also found ultegras at merlin for £229

Looked at reviews of the xero's and a lot of people are saying they are very flexy so I think i'll discount those...

Any further ideas appreciated

2alexcoo

The type of wheels you should be buying depends on how much you weigh.

For example, I'm somewhat of pie predator at 95kg. So I ride 32 spoke handbuilt wheels - Open Pros on Dura-Ace 7800 hubs, built with Sapim Laser spokes. I think they're around 1700 grams the pair.

My backup wheels are an old pair of Fulcrum 5s, which are the 2006 versions with 24/27 spokes, as opposed to the 20/24 they have now. They are very solid, but a bit heavy at 1850 grams or so.

I also have a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon, which I bought as a complete bike with Model B wheels. I gave the wheels away in the end, as they were far too flexy for my liking. For lighter riders, they are unbeatable value though.

If I was buying wheels for £250, I would get Open Pros built onto Ultegra hubs. I would only look at wheels with low spoke counts (eg 16/20 or 20/24) if you are a lot lighter than me!

ravey1981

Im relatively lightweight (just under 11stone) so I'm not too hard on wheels...

passout

alfablue wrote:

ravey1981 wrote:

I am building up a planet x pro carbon bike using a new frameset and some parts from my old bike (until I can afford to upgrade them)

I'm looking for some new wheels. My max budget is £250 for the pair. They need to be shimano compatible and clinchers.

The area where I live is pretty hilly so I'm thinking lightweight would be better than aero type rims.

Any advice appreciated

Well,strangely Planet-X model B's. Mine have been excellent, smoothest rolling hubs I have ever had, very light for the price (1650g for £125), and half your budget - you would have to spend all of the £250 (or more) to get lighter. If you want 32 spokes, then Model C's, same price, around 100g heavier.

Agreed. Go for some model Bs and a top notch pair of tyres. Unless you are spending much more anything you get won't be better. Their A57s are good if you want a training apir of wheels or if you are heavey.

bigmat

Maybe I've been lucky but I have had no problems with my Xero XR1's. Still true after a couple of years of riding and no noticeable flex (I run my pads pretty tight to the rims and have had no issues sprinting / out of the saddle). I'm not exactly light either (85kg).

My bro has the Model B's and they seem like a good wheel as well, maybe better value (I got my Xeros imported from the States when the £ was strong so got a much better deal than seems to be available over here).

magliaceleste

I'm about the same weight and have been running Fulcrum 5 Evos for a couple of years on my winter bike. Still going strong.

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i have the xero xr-210 wheels . theyre light ,look good and are very stiff. im 16 and a half stones and they dont flinch and they come in at just under 1600 grams but the ultegras from merlin at £219 look an amazing deal and can be run tubeless too and as always they have easy to maintailn smooth and long lasting bearings. might get a pair for the summer at that price

pastey_boy

i apologise not a clue what happened there although im sure my message got across :oops:

STEFANOS4784

pastey_boy wrote:

i apologise not a clue what happened there although im sure my message got across :oops:

Sorry, did you say something?

Velonutter

I have some Fulcrum 5's on my winter training bike (If you didn't know then Fulcrum are made by Campag) they are a nice reliable wheel, but at 89Kg they do flex when I am climbing hills, have been over some reel pot holes and still remain true.

wildmoustache

My experience of Xeros is that they are 5hite. i had XCR-1s and one other model I can't remember the name of. flexible and anything but solid with average hubs. that said, they do feel light and comfortable to ride.

I'd take campagnolo sirrroccos or Shimano basic wheels over them any day.

newbies tend to concentrate on weight but 200g or so is nothing compared to a wheel that is stiff/strong, reliable and has fast hubs.

owenlars

Get Jim Walker at Enigma to knock up a set of Ambrosio Rims on Ambrosio hubs.