Budget wheels - Which ones?

rob1mitch

Im looking for some budget wheels not sure which ones to go for.

Looking at the sub £150 market ( but nearer £100 )

Fulcrum 7s or Shimano RS10, RS20, RS500

New to all this so go easy on me.

pbt150

I own a pair of RS20 wheels, very happy with them. No doubt the next post will be someone saying they have Fulcrum 7s, which are also very good.

If you shop around either pair will be in the £120 ballpark, the other wheels you listed are a bit more 'budget'. One point that might matter is that Fulcrums are very loud, Shimano wheels are much quieter. But both of those wheelsets would probably make you happy.

topdude

How about Planet X and Mavic Aksium ?

JohnnyAllez

Have you looked at Merlin for Shimano wheel prices? Always been the best deals when I`ve looked May allow you to go up one step with the prices being good? My mate bought a set of RS 20s from them earlier in the year, he`s happy with them for the price.

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/

gonzalez gomez

I'd go for the RS10's at £110 from chainreaction

joeyhalloran

I would second the PLanet X wheels, very good for the price.

bhickey

I bought Fulcrum 7s from Merlin at about £115 a few months ago to replace the Alex Rims that came with my Spec Allez (now my winter bike). Not an expert on wheels but they are a significant improvement.

billysan

My vote would be for RS20's. Shimano hubs at any level are good. Ive not owned the 20's but have had 30's and 80's and have been very happy in each case.

You can get the 2011 RS20's from this seller for £123 posted.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2011-Shimano-WH-R ... 3f032a1ffd

RDB66

PX Model Bs...Cheap, Lightish, Sealed Bearings and a very good winter training wheel.

thel33ter

Planet X model B

ben16v

pro lite bracciano from ribble

daveydave43

+1 planet X model Bs

ribble are doing decent deals on shimano R500 as well, £70, which is a bargain.

ajb72

Fulcrum 7's are pretty weighty, but are bombproof and seem to have very good bearings.

Mine still look brand new despite using all winter last year, so I would have no hesitation recommending them. They are noisy though, although no worse than my HED's or even old Mavic Kysrium ES.

sturmey

I'd go for the RS10's at £110 from chainreaction

Really?

Why would you want to do that when you can get 'em loads cheaper elsewhere?

xrayted

All I can say is that all my cycling is on a budget so choices have to balance the amount of money available.

When I bought a Trek X01 Cross bike a couple of years ago I bought Shimano RS500 as a cheap wheelset for quick swaps so I didn't have to remove to knobbly shod bonty OE. I think that they cost about £80 from CRC and have done a few thousand miles as my cross bike became my winter bike etc. There have been no issues and they have remained true and free running all the time. I recently trashed a rear Aksyum and chose Shimano RS20's as a repalcement based on my experience with the RS500's.

I have seen problems with broken hubs on Aksyum rears, but in 4 years mine have served me well until a pothole took out the rear. A set of Ksyrium Equipe wheels on another bike have remained true and free running but I think that the rims are wearing out fairly quickly and have thrown up burr's on the braking surface after a couple of relatively low mileage years on my Sunday best Felt.

When I look at the Shimano wheels, even the cheapest one's, they seem to display a quality and attention to detail which other manufacturers do not. The braking surfaces on Shimano wheels seems a lot more durable than Mavic which translates into a more secure ride in wet weather etc. I recently picked up a pair of Easton EA3O wheels which obviously came off a Cube bike and so far they seem OK, but it's too early to comment.

I would have liked to buy a set of Shimano Dura Ace or Mavic R-SYS, Ksyrium Elites etc but as I said initially my cycling is on a tighter budget. I must add that I cycle with people with much bigger wallets than me and equipment to match and I cannot see any difference between their performance and mine but I do over 8000 miles a year and test my equipment on the roads almost every day.

As far as RS500 at the price they are a steal, but RS10 and RS20 are also worth a look.