Yet another wheel question. £200 to £300 ish

ChrisSA

Hi All,

I have been shedding all of my unused possession on ebay to get some new wheels.

Current wheels came off an Allez (Alexrims S500, unknown hub). Fine for training, but I'd like something better for sportives and triathlons.

From what I can see up to £200 doesn't appear to be much of an upgrade, and ~£300 at Ribble will get a bit more bang for the buck.

Comparing Shimano WH-RS80, WH-6700, Mavic Ksyrium Elite and Mavic Cosmic Elite. Any pros or cons to the selection? I'm ~70kg, bike is ~10kg with the Allez wheels (back wheel is at least 1800g).

In the next year I'll be looking for a tri bike, and the wheels should be good all rounders that will work on that too. I like the idea of the 30mm Cosmics, but it could be a looks thing.

Ideas?

Pigeons in flight

Hi there - unfortunately there wont be many people on here who have undertaken a comparative analysis of these wheels (myself included). You can find something approaching that in a recent C+ where the Kysrium Elites did well (they didnt review RS80's).FWI, I ride on RS80's and find them a revelation - light, good spinners and make easier work of climbing. Crucially they are cheaper on-line that the Elites. I have ridden Elites previously and would favour the RS80's over them.

marksteven

give harry rowland a ring, good hand built wheels for your budget & being hand biult, can be trued if the worst happens .

Monty Dog

Planet-X Bs are about the best deal for the money, otherwise you're going to have to go beyond £300 to get something as light / strong.

estampida

also check hope hoops

Pigtail

How are Ultegras?

With Edinburgh Bicycle having a sale on they can be had for around £250

Running running jump

I looked into this kind of budget wheels for my winter bike a year ago. All the main brands are going to sell you a set of wheels that look as flash as their £1ks wheelsets but few of the advantages. Dedicated spokes, coloured nipples, etc. Not great if you want them to last as these parts may change over time.

I bought hope pro 2 mavic open pro's. Very strong, very well made, very stiff, and supprisingly light 1500-1600g. They should come in within £300 as I paid less than that with a bit of arm twisting of my local shop. The only weakness is they don't look cool!

ChrisSA

Cheers chaps. The Edinburgh deal looks good, though Ribble have them for £240.

Monty - I have seen many posts raving about the PX-Bs. Are they that much better than other wheels at the same price point (RS30/Merano)?

Perhaps I'm put off by the low price - they are something I would use all the time, not just on occasions.

keyser__soze

If you can stretch to it go for the RS80s. Same rims as the Dura Ace wheelset (different hubs/skewers) and for a relatively low profile wheel one of those recent large wheel tests found they're very aerodynamic, on a par with a number of 50mm wheels.

Running running jump

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all shimano hubs cup and ball? Every cup and ball shimano hub I've had has not even lasted a year before it's worn out. Cartridge bearings is a must if your spending good money on wheels. I had one set of hope hubs last 3 years of hard mtbing and then all they needed was some new bearings and they were good to go!