Road wheelsets for £100/150

Bgammon

have been looking for some time at wheelsets both second hand and new around the £100/150 price range.

any opinions on what to go for?

Is it better to go down the made up route of rim and then hub, or off the shelf factory wheelsets?(Fairly experienced at taking bikes to bits)

Would I also be right in saying that Mavic Aksiums are the wheel of choice in this price range? Have read up on these wheels and of course got the odd horror story of spokes ripping off. Have seen some wheels built up around the Mavic CXP 33 aero rims that looked preety good and light.

Looking for the holy grail of light wheels that are not too expensive!

using road bike for alternative training to rowing, so on the fairly heavy side 83kg, or thats what I am lead to believe reading up on wheels and there designed weights.

Any help appreciated

warrior4life

I'd get some planet x model b wheels.. They get great reviews, i'v had 2 pairs and they are light, fast, cheap and strong..
I would take them over alot of wheels that are twice the price.. 8)

Cranks

Mavic rims are good, coupled together with shimano hubs which are servicable at home. Strong set of spokes like sapim or dt.
Unfortunately Light, strong and cheap do not exist.
Give here a try for an option.

daveclow

i went for mavic aksiums, really pleased with my purchase too!

warrior4life

Cranks wrote:

Mavic rims are good, coupled together with shimano hubs which are servicable at home. Strong set of spokes like sapim or dt.
Unfortunately Light, strong and cheap do not exist.
Give here a try for an option.

Erm yes thay do... Planet x model b. Halo wheels also do great wheels, 9/10 in cycling plus...

just like everything in life its doesnt have to be a big name brand to be good.

Cranks

Ask Mr Bontrager that! Its his expression and he's an expert. Maybe you are?

keef66

I think he said Light, Strong, Cheap.....choose two. Which still holds true to some extent. It's all relative though. I'm sure the Planet X model Bs are light, strong and cheap enough for the OP with his budget

alfablue

I am your weight, my Planet-X model B's have been great, very smooth bearings, very light for the money, have stayed true (had them 16 months now).

dboden

I have had Planetx before and yes they are nice.. and do tick the boxes.. Only one thing.. It still is quite annoying how the freehub gets chewed up!!!
If you want a 2nd hand pair of Mavic Elite, for only a few quid more, (far superior quality, in my opinion, and tick the boxes) pm me. (pics as below on my Felt).
Cheers

alfablue

dboden wrote:

I have had Planetx before and yes they are nice.. and do tick the boxes.. Only one thing.. It still is quite annoying how the freehub gets chewed up!!!
If you want a 2nd hand pair of Mavic Elite, for only a few quid more, (far superior quality, in my opinion, and tick the boxes) pm me. (pics as below on my Felt).
Cheers

The freehub chews up with the old (Shimano) 9 speed hubs if used with 10 speed, now they are 10 speed only hubs there's no problem.

ajb72

I have been running Fulcrum 7's this winter. Not quite as light as the Planet X wheels already mentioned, but you can pick them up for around £100 a pair.

They look pretty good, are reasonably light for the money but most importantly they have been bomb proof so far despite several potholes and a couple of crashes. My only negative comment would be the apalling noise the freehub makes when freewheeling - although it does act as as early warning system for horse riders and walkers I suppose!

warrior4life

Cranks wrote:

Ask Mr Bontrager that! Its his expression and he's an expert. Maybe you are?

Check the reviews, they agree with me.
I had a trek madone 5.0 with bontrager race wheels and they where total crap, spokes losening all the time, i sold them and paid £120 for planet x model b, the planet x where ligher and faster and they lasted a year until i sold the bike with zero problems.
Bikeradar give them a great review as well.

I now have a madone 5.5 that came with botrager race lite wheels, i read the reviews on the wheels and they where bad but i thought id give them a try, on the first ride out 3 spokes snapped in the front wheel, i got it fixed and flogged it...
I now have the new white halo mercury wheels and they are awesome! and they also get great reviews everywhere..

Below is the roadbike review, review of the bontrager race lite wheel.. 124 people who own the wheel have given their opinion and the results arent pretty
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheel ... 90crx.aspx

blorg

alfablue wrote:

The freehub chews up with the old (Shimano) 9 speed hubs if used with 10 speed, now they are 10 speed only hubs there's no problem.

This is the case, I got some recently I planned using on another bike and found they were raised-spline 10 speed.

The chewing problem exists with ANY 8/9 compatible hub using an aluminium body to save weight, it is in no way PX specific. My DT Swiss 240s hubs have this same problem and they are not exactly budget hubs.

The PX are very nice wheels, I would go for them.

Aksiums are also decent and the weight seems to have dropped a bit since I had them. Good price here with free delivery.

Noclue

Just got a set of Fulcrum racing 5 for about £160 from cyclesports.co.uk seem like nice wheels but haven't had a chance to ride them properly yet

Bgammon

Cheers guys for all the advice, and thanks to the moderator for moving the thread to buying advice, should have looked a bit more thoroughly for that.

There are plenty more leads for me to follow now

cheers Bernard

passout

warrior4life wrote:

I'd get some planet x model b wheels.. They get great reviews, i'v had 2 pairs and they are light, fast, cheap and strong..
I would take them over alot of wheels that are twice the price.. 8)

I agree

giant_man

warrior4life wrote:

Cranks wrote:

Ask Mr Bontrager that! Its his expression and he's an expert. Maybe you are?

Check the reviews, they agree with me.
I had a trek madone 5.0 with bontrager race wheels and they where total crap, spokes losening all the time, i sold them and paid £120 for planet x model b, the planet x where ligher and faster and they lasted a year until i sold the bike with zero problems.
Bikeradar give them a great review as well.

I now have a madone 5.5 that came with botrager race lite wheels, i read the reviews on the wheels and they where bad but i thought id give them a try, on the first ride out 3 spokes snapped in the front wheel, i got it fixed and flogged it...
I now have the new white halo mercury wheels and they are awesome! and they also get great reviews everywhere..

Below is the roadbike review, review of the bontrager race lite wheel.. 124 people who own the wheel have given their opinion and the results arent pretty
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheel ... 90crx.aspx

+1 - Bontrager wheels are crap and I wouldn't use them if they were giving them away, total rubbish. PX Model Bs are great and light wheels, and cheap if you got them in last years sale ...

fixiebob

ajb72 wrote:

I have been running Fulcrum 7's this winter. Not quite as light as the Planet X wheels already mentioned, but you can pick them up for around £100 a pair.

They look pretty good, are reasonably light for the money but most importantly they have been bomb proof so far despite several potholes and a couple of crashes. My only negative comment would be the apalling noise the freehub makes when freewheeling - although it does act as as early warning system for horse riders and walkers I suppose!

I agree racing 7's great wheels my training partner got them on her Cannondale slice 105 and did some great TT times on them before she upgraded.

tigerben

I am big boned! (90KG +) and riding on pretty poor roads...... am looking for STRONG wheels as weight is not so critical!

Given the negativity on Bontrager wheels I downgraded my P1 Madone to the cheapy race wheels - I have yet to take delivery of my bike (110 days & counting) - but am torn between giving the wheels a chance or whether to maximise their resale value by swapping them straight away for a better option.

Can anybody recomend a strong wheel suitable for a big boned rider (budget up to £400 for the pair).

thanks

blorg

Fulcrums are meant to be quite good for heavier riders, so I have heard. I know a few heavier guys who have them, don't have any direct experience of them myself.

Also worth considering a set of handbuilt wheels, something like 32 spoke Open Pros on Ultegra hubs. Very nice wheels and much lower than your budget. Get Dura Ace hubs if you want to spend more. 32 spokes should be fine but you could even go 36 on the back.

tigerben

Thanks - I had always assumed that handbuilt = greater cost.

gabriel959

At this level, most wheels are much of a muchness. Personally I run Aksiums which are very reliable, run reasonably well and are cheap to replace for my winter steed.

vorsprung

tigerben wrote:

I am big boned! (90KG +) and riding on pretty poor roads...... am looking for STRONG wheels as weight is not so critical!

Can anybody recomend a strong wheel suitable for a big boned rider (budget up to £400 for the pair).

thanks

I weigh 85kg and make my own wheels. I use chrina ridga rims. You can get pretty similar wheels from here:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s178p0
The 105 hub versions are a bargain imho