Wheelset recommendations £300 to 400 budget?

topcattim

I broke my existing front wheel irreperably yesterday (got stuck in the ramp on the way on to the Yarmouth-Lymington ferry - lesson learned, never ride your bike onto a ferry!)

I'm now in the market for a new front wheel, and would be really grateful for some advice. I am about 147 lbs and not a particularly powerful rider, but I have good endurance and am a pretty good climber. I ride sportives and cover about 4000 to 5000 miles a year, mainly in the summer. I ride an Orbea Bira/Onix which I bought about 5 years ago for £1300. I need a single pair of wheels to use all year round, rather than having a different set for different purposes.

I currently have a set of Easton Orion II, which were probably mis-sold to me (they are marketed for the bigger, stronger rider, which I'm not!) I'd like to match/upgrade from the Eastons.

Firstly, there is no logic that says I have to have matching front and rear wheels, is there? (Apart from the travesty against style of having a non-matching pair!)

And secondly, any recommendations? I note that the Shimano RS80 seem to be recommended quite frequently on here. The pair is in my budget, and of course just the front wheel is even cheaper! Any views, or alternatives? Thanks.

JRooke

Get yourself a nice pair of Ksyrium equipes while they are still dirt cheap at merlins

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... EQUIPE.htm

Arghyrou

If you can stretch is planet x R50's are well worth it. Lighter than all the above, deep carbon rims and look good aswell . I love them, reckon you can get pro 50's for 400.

amaferanga

Arghyrou wrote:

If you can stretch is planet x R50's are well worth it. Lighter than all the above, deep carbon rims and look good aswell . I love them, reckon you can get pro 50's for 400.

Tubs probably not a great choice if they're to be his only wheelset though.

Arghyrou

Fair point amaferanga, Planet x's are pretty durable though. I use them everyday in the summer, with conti giros. Never had a puncture in a year. Couldn't ride them in winter though.

arlowood

cadseen wrote:

I think the RS80 are good wheels from what I keep hearing, not tried them myself, if i was in the market for non-deep section wheels I think I may try them. Merlin are still doing these at a very good price http://tidd.ly/e3f20c37

I have just gone for deep section training wheels, I never used to worry about fast wheels for training, but as i get older I am thankfull for any nhelp i can get

:roll:

I have experienced the benefits of switching to the Shimano RS80's. Replaced the standard Mavic CXP22's on my Spesh Secteur Elite.

Amazing difference - silent freehub and 500g weight saving - feels like you are floating over the road surface. Can't recommend them enough

topcattim

Thanks for the replies so far. Looks like the RS80s seem a good choice. Cheapest price seems to have been Merlin cycles recently but sadly they're out of stock at the moment. Will keep looking.

Interesting to see the Mavic Ksyrium Equipes being recommended as well. I had wondered about them too, but wasn't sure whether they would end up being an upgrade on my existing (one functional) Easton Orion IIs.

Benjamin Hall

Onix bikes has RS80's at £347, 3 sets left.

http://onixbikesonline.com/Shimano-RS80 ... 04359.aspx

Im looking at wheels at around the same price point, and the rs80's come out pretty well.

How about Kinetic?

http://www.shop.kinetic-one.co.uk/2011- ... -512-p.asp

Benjamin Hall

Or these. http://www.burls.co.uk/shop/american-cl ... p-820.html

Benjamin Hall

Or these. http://www.burls.co.uk/shop/american-cl ... p-820.html

topcattim

thanks for those leads, Benjamin. Still leaning towards the RS80s, but can anyone advise about the practicality of the rims? I see them described as deep rims - will they be ok for everyday riding (although not in the depths of winter when the winter bike comes out) and how much will I notice any side winds (I'm a light-ish rider, somewhere just under 11 stone).

Bobbinogs

The spec is here and you can see that they are the C24 version, as in 24 mm rim height. I would not class this as deep section myself. I use them for all kinds of riding every week without any problem since January (I have since fixed my winter wheels so will swap to them this December).

I did a century a couple of months ago and the wind was horrendous (26mph gusting to 45mph) and I did find them susceptible to the cross winds then but this could have been because they are light and/or anything would have struggled (I certainly did when hitting the headwind) so I put this down as an anomaly.

Bottom line, big thumbs up from me.

topcattim

Thanks Bobbinogs. That's really helpful in two ways. I hadn't thought they were deep section, but had been distracted by confusing them with the C50s in the probike kit deep profile section. So your response helps clarify this.
Also the recommendation re your every week riding helps as well.
Think I'll order a set...

Bar Shaker

I got my Mavic Elites for £400, a couple of months ago.

It's worth shopping around and having a haggle.

racingcondor

+1 on the RS80's.

BBH

How are the elites?? esp in comparison to rs80's??

Despite the RS80's having good reviews I've heard they are not fit and forget wrt maintenance

Steve_b77

Just the thread I was looking for, pointing me towards the RS80's even more

marin_maniac

My money would be on these :

http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/shop/velo ... -wheelset/

or these http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/wheelprices.htm (stans ZTR alpha)

123oldman

tomcattim Have you decided upon a wheelset yet or still debating the decision?

I'm in exactly the same boat, tis a shame Merlin haven't got the RS80's in stock as I think I may have bought them.

Fulcrum R3's are now looking possible favorites along with AC aero3's, although they may end up costing me a few £££ more..

Let us know how you get on,

Oldman

cjcp

I had some Ambrosios handbuilt for me. Used them on the commute, over cobbles in Flanders and weekend rides. Lovely wheelset.

billy whippet

With risk of being a bit boring - Open Pros with ceramic coating - strong and unbeatable but not particularly light or sexy... Love mine though

topcattim

123oldman wrote:

tomcattim Have you decided upon a wheelset yet or still debating the decision?

I'm in exactly the same boat, tis a shame Merlin haven't got the RS80's in stock as I think I may have bought them.

Fulcrum R3's are now looking possible favorites along with AC aero3's, although they may end up costing me a few £££ more..

Let us know how you get on,

Oldman

Went for the RS80s, which arrived today at home. Only trouble is, I'm still at work!
Plan to nip off work a bit early and take them for a ride. Will let you know how I get on.

FSR_XC

A number of people in our club have changed wheels recently. As usual, we've all gone for different choices & all rave about them. Here's 3 that fit your price range

Planet X Carbon 20's - full carbon, tubs, with a massive weight saving (less than 1300g), sealed bearings, with recommended max weight of 80kgs

Mavic Ksyrium Elites - light weight wheel with composite, bladed spokes, always getting excellent write ups, great for the 'bling' factor, sealed bearings and great reputation

Hope RSSP 3.0 Aero - 30 mm aero profile, strong wheel, bladed spokes, sealed bearings, within a few grams the same weight as the Mavics, with a rather noisy (standard for Hope) freehub (stop pedalling and everyone knows your there) and British made.

I think we all looked at the RS80's, but for different reasons bought the others. For me it was the ease of maintenance from sealed bearings.

topcattim

New wheel report. Did a 22 miler tonight just to see how the RS80s felt. I'm sure very much of it was new bike blling effect, but took 10 minutes off my time over the same route yesterday (which, I acknowledge, was a gentle Sunday morning pootle).

But the main thing was the feel. Incredibly smooth, almost unimaginably so. And the ride was "positive", not sure how to describe it differently, other than that it reminded me of the moment I had my first ride on a proper road bike and realised just how much energy was wasted on an ordinary bike in "up and down" motion, rather than "going forward" motion. Same sort of thing happened today, where the bike just felt that much more positive, that much keener to go forward. As I said, I'm sure much of it was new bike bling effect, but right now I'm a very happy chappy.

Will take the wheels out over a standard lunchtime route tomorrow and see how they and I fare against my previous PB.

123oldman

topcattim So how did you fair against your previous PB with the new wheels?

How much difference would you say in comparison to the original Ritchey Pro's ?

topcattim

123oldman wrote:

topcattim So how did you fair against your previous PB with the new wheels?

How much difference would you say in comparison to the original Ritchey Pro's ?

I was nicely on track to beat it by 60 seconds or so (over a 56 minute PB, which had stood for 3 or 4 years) but then got held up by two sets of roadworks and a slow van. In the end, I made a season best but not a PB.

It wasn't me with the Ritchey Pros. My previous wheels have been Shimano R550 and Easton Orion II (most recently). They just feel so much more responsive, smooth and positive than the Eastons. I'll admit to being fairly limited in my experience of bikes and wheels, but the RS80s have really changed the feel of my current bike (which I've been riding for 5 years now) very much for the better.

topcattim

Final post on this for me. Did a 36 miler today and took 3 minutes off my PB. Again, there will be factors other than just the new wheels - rode with a friend who is a bit faster than me, so that kept me motivated. But where in the past I'd have struggled to keep up with him up the hills, I was matching him...just.

So, over a 55 minute ride, I reckon I'm a minute faster. Over a ride just shy of 2 hours, I'm 3 minutes faster. Clearly there are always other factors, but I'm not about to sniff at a 2 to 3% improvement.