Excellight etc v Shimano RS80's

macondo01

I have about £300 for some new wheels to upgrade from Shimano R500's.

I think my choice is to get some handbuilt wheels: Excellight Rims, Ambrosio hubs and Sapim spokes will weight about 1666 (I need only 28 spokes) for £250. They appear to workhorses, mendable, and reasonably light.


or if I go factory wheels some RS80's about £310

Any thoughts on either, or other options?

Cheers

ugo.santalucia

Excellight all the way. The price is very reasonable for that setup and the components are top quality.
If I had to buy the individual parts to build them myself, I would spend 230 pounds, so the price quoted is indeed very good.

The rims are light and that's the only weight that actually matters (if any does), hubs weight is irrelevent

Evil Laugh

I've got some hand builts on those hubs with sapim lasers and some of the dura ace carbon clinchers. I don't like the ambrosio hubs, they don't feel smooth and I'm gonna change them when I can be bothered to da.

The da cl24 wheels which are similar to the rs80 by all accounts are fantastic. They're fairly stiff and pretty robust. I've crashed them at 20 mph with no illl effects and on the silly steep hill near me in Forest Hill I can flex the handbuilts onto the break pads but not the dura ace. I'm about 13.5 stone. The dura ace have a very nice ride quality, they make my old steel bike feel like carbon when teamed up with open paves. Very enjoyable to ride. If the rs80 are nearly as good and you can deal with the cost they'd make a great everyday wheel.

Can't comment on the rims you're looking at but I'd think twice about the hubs. See if you can get some da7800 for a little more, the bargains are out there.

macondo01

Thanks guys anyone else some thoughts before I decide.

Not Another Hill

I can't comment on the hand built wheels but I upgraded from Aksiums to RS80s this summer and have been very impressed. The rim is the same that is on the Dura Ace carbon clincher. The difference is in the hub: Ultegra instead of Dura ace. It's a good hub but not as smooth as the Dura ace hub. Having said that I think for the money they are great value. Very stiff; no brake rub; spin up to speed fast. I raced on them this year and they were fine. They weigh 1435 grams which is pretty svelte.

Anonymous

The shimano hubs are as good as anything out there. The ride on that carbon clincher rim is brill, and as a bonus they are stiff too. For factory wheels parts are easily replaceable (they're Shimano FFS!!)...

I say the RS80s all the way.

They look miles better too!

Mr Dog

Can only comment on the RS80s. Bought mine from Ribble for around £340 inc postage at the start of the summer. Great wheel, nice and light. Can't praise them highly enough. Have stayed true. The DA CLs have a better hub and are pinch lighter too. 8)

pastey_boy

put a bit towards and get these, stupid light for the money and look solid bits of kit
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Ryde_ ... 360040595/

Anonymous

They look an interesting proposition. Completely untested AFAIK, would be good to see if anyone's tried them...

macondo01

Wow they are light pastey_boy 1345g ! Never heard of that make before. Interesting! Thks for the feedback all. Like Alex said anyone tried them?

pastey_boy

im going to be trying the ryde blade carbon wheels, they look awesome for the money and are over 200grams lighter than mavic cosmic carbones plus the graphics match my bike perfectly. may also get a set of the carats for the hell of it. i will report back in a few months

Bozman

I've got some RS80s and they're as good as the reviews state, they're on a level with wheels at twice the price, they really are worth the money.
One downside, they came pissed out of the box and required a true, apparently it's a common occurrence.

Evil Laugh

Same thing with my DA wheels, front was slightly out.

ugo.santalucia

Bozman wrote:

I've got some RS80s and they're as good as the reviews state, they're on a level with wheels at twice the price, they really are worth the money.
One downside, they came pissed out of the box and required a true, apparently it's a common occurrence.

SO, you've been sold a set of wheels which are not even true and you claim they're great.... on which grounds? That of being 100 grams lighter? Or that of actually rotating (as opposed to all other wheels which don't)
Isn't it the weight of half a cup of tea... or half a poo, if you prefer...

Anonymous

Heh heh, ^^ Luddite...

Ugo thinks we should all ride cro mo frames with downtube shifters and 36 spoke box section wheels.

He/she doesn't realise the pleasure element of riding a bike, only the practicalities.

Bozman

I'll stick with the "great" quote..I can only compare them to wheels that i own or have owned but they're stiff, light and run smoothly, plus the carbon laminate seems to do its job and for the price incuding a minor true - a top set of wheels.

andyhilton

RS80s. I have them on my bike and they roll well and have stayed pretty true all summer.

bendertherobot

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Bozman wrote:

I've got some RS80s and they're as good as the reviews state, they're on a level with wheels at twice the price, they really are worth the money.
One downside, they came pissed out of the box and required a true, apparently it's a common occurrence.

SO, you've been sold a set of wheels which are not even true and you claim they're great.... on which grounds? That of being 100 grams lighter? Or that of actually rotating (as opposed to all other wheels which don't)
Isn't it the weight of half a cup of tea... or half a poo, if you prefer...

Rotating mass is different to mass surely?

Anonymous

I work out the weights of the Ambrosio wheels to be about 2,100g dunno where the 1666 came from?!?

Rims - 2 x Ambrosio Excellight - 860g
Hubs - 2 x Ambrosio Zenith - 114 front + 268 rear - 382g
Spokes - 56 x Sapim CX Ray (14g each) - 784g
Brass Nipples - 56 x 1g - 56g
Rim tape - 20g

Total - 2102g


So the weight difference will be quite substantial!! (over 500g)

That will be rather noticeable.

giant_man

NapoleonD wrote:

I work out the weights of the Ambrosio wheels to be about 2,100g dunno where the 1666 came from?!?

Rims - 2 x Ambrosio Excellight - 860g
Hubs - 2 x Ambrosio Zenith - 114 front + 268 rear - 382g
Spokes - 56 x Sapim CX Ray (14g each) - 784g
Brass Nipples - 56 x 1g - 56g
Rim tape - 20g

Total - 2102g


So the weight difference will be quite substantial!! (over 500g)

That will be rather noticeable.

How did you get to 14g per spoke?

pastey_boy

spokes will be 300g max as 56x 299mm spokes come to 294g

amaferanga

56 CX Rays will weigh about 250g. They don't weight 14 grams each!

giant_man

amaferanga wrote:

56 CX Rays will weigh about 250g. They don't weight 14 grams each!

+1 - Exactly!!

pastey_boy

with alloy sapim nips and insulation tape as rim tape these wheels come in at 1540g approx

pastey_boy

does anyone know if the new mavic exalith coating will be available on separate rims such as an upgraded open pro ? wanting to build a set of wheels with ceramic rims but will hold on if a set of open pro exalith,sare on their way

Anonymous

Aaah, the description I looked at says 14g, hence the confusion...

http://www.dotbike.com/productsP5000.aspx

I thought that seemed bloody heavy!

macondo01

Quoted weight excellight, ambrosio and sapim (not cx ray, 28 spokes) is 1666g from Harry Rowland http://www.harryrowland.co.uk/7352.html (bottom of that page

I am swaying to the RS80's but another contender is some Eastons EA90 SLX second hand from a pal for £300. They get some good reviews.

Anonymous

The EA90 SLXs are meant to be good but they aren't as stiff. Bearings are good though...

Jut get the RS80s and be done with it

macondo01

Ha ha! I know I am tiring of my own deliberation! Found some RS80s for £314 posted - its them

Anonymous

Merlin?

macondo01

Absolutecycles on ebay