Shimano Ultegra 6700 or Pro-lite Bracciano wheelset?

Portrush Philly

I'm in the market for a new wheelset and this sort of budget (merlin £229.99 (Shimano) and CRC £249.99 (Pro-Lite)), I know neither is currently in stock but will be shortly, hopefully!

Which do I go for? I like the price of the Shimano given their RRP and look of them, weight, and reviews are good, but am a little unsure of going for a traditional ball bearing hub in terms of long term durability.

The Pro-lite again have recently had excellent reviews, very light, look good, handbuilt, and in contrast, quality cartridge bearings!

Any thoughts? does anyone own either wheelset who would be willing to offer their views on their performance, durabilty, and which might make a good purchase choice?

Many thanks

Aud Reekie MTB

Well, I can say I'm going for the Braciannos when they're back in stock!

Look forward to hearing what others have to say!

STEFANOS4784

Aud Reekie MTB wrote:

Well, I can say I'm going for the Braciannos when they're back in stock!

Look forward to hearing what others have to say!

Same here, i think, probably spot something else in the mean time though :roll:


Problem with asking on here is that everyone will recommend what they have then you'll get the odd one who heard that a friend of his wifes boss had catastrophic failure so don't buy them. To find someone who owns both sets of these wheels will be hard. Just go for some, otherwise you'll be going round in circles forever

gabriel959

that is some sound advice from stefanos, i wish i followed it more often!

Chris James

Portrush Philly wrote:

I'm in the market for a new wheelset and this sort of budget (merlin £229.99 (Shimano) and CRC £249.99 (Pro-Lite)), I know neither is currently in stock but will be shortly, hopefully!

Which do I go for? I like the price of the Shimano given their RRP and look of them, weight, and reviews are good, but am a little unsure of going for a traditional ball bearing hub in terms of long term durability.

Surley not? Traditional cup and cone hubs will last forever if maintained (and Shimano hubs are so well sealed that they don't need much maintenance either).

The Shimano hubs will last far longer than the rims / spokes etc on eitehr wheel.

ride_whenever

Chris James wrote:

Surley not? Traditional cup and cone hubs will last forever if maintained (and Shimano hubs are so well sealed that they don't need much maintenance either).

The Shimano hubs will last far longer than the rims / spokes etc on eitehr wheel.

That's not the advantage of c&c hubs, that's the problem. They haven't got replaceable races so once they do go you've had it, hence you have to do regular maintenance. The advantage is that you can strip them out and replace the grease really easy for the summer/winter. More importantly they're more freely running because you've got a sensible method of preload.

Cartridge bearings are much easier to live with because you run them into the ground and then replace the balls and races in one hit. The trade off is that they tend to only be at optimum smoothness for a period in the middle of their lifespan.

Daimler

I heard Pro-Lite's are good.

For anyone who is mechanically minded bearings can be easily replaced and adjusted and worse case scenario your LBS can these easily and cheaply.

many thanks

Chris James

ride_whenever wrote:

Chris James wrote:

Surley not? Traditional cup and cone hubs will last forever if maintained (and Shimano hubs are so well sealed that they don't need much maintenance either).

The Shimano hubs will last far longer than the rims / spokes etc on eitehr wheel.

That's not the advantage of c&c hubs, that's the problem. They haven't got replaceable races so once they do go you've had it, hence you have to do regular maintenance. .

As I said, with regular maintenance (actually not even very often due to excellent sealing) they will last pretty much forever.

You only wear out the races with stratospheric mileage or running the hubs dry. Replacement bearings cost buttons, but to be honest you won't need them if you ensure the hubs always contain grease.

How long do you thiink the rims will last on these wheels? How much are replacement rims? Anyone fancy rebuilding one?

Portrush Philly

Thanks to all contributers on this one, I'm still a little undecided, but the Pro-lites will probably get the vote from me due to the cartridge bearing factor and good reviews.

The current Shimano rear hub (Deore cup & cone) wheel on my commuter bike is about to die after 2000miles, and that is with regular maintainance, regreasing etc. The previous shimano hubbed wheel (XT) before that one went the same way as well as the freehub failing. Whereas the cartridge bearing mavic wheels on my MTB have always just worked without any fettling.

For that reason I am drawn towards the Pro-lites for my road bike, i.e. limited maintainance and if the bearings go, they're easily replaced and the whole wheel does'nt need rebuilding or replacing.

Chris James

Portrush Philly wrote:

The current Shimano rear hub (Deore cup & cone) wheel on my commuter bike is about to die after 2000miles, and that is with regular maintainance, regreasing etc.

Fair enough, although my commuter has had about 5000 miles on old style Tiagra hubs, and have only been regreased once using lithium car grease and run as smooth as butter.

My brother in law's Spinergy wheels on his MTB has only done about 1000 miles, his hubs feel like they have gravel in them, and his freehub has failed.

I suppose we both base our views on our experiences!

stevenb

The main difference for me is the Bracciano's being sub 1500g compared to approx 1650g for the Ultegra's. Over 1/4lb.....