Wheels about £250: Ultegra 6700?

Joycie

Having never upgraded wheels before (Boardman Team Carbon Fi) and after coming off the bike a few weeks ago and buckling the standard Ritchey Pro DS wheels that were on the bike I'm thinking about grasping the opportunity!

I'm looking to spend about £250 and was thinking about the Ultegra 6700 wheelset.

I notice that there seems to be two types on the go at the moment. I think it might be the 2011 version and the 20112 "grey" version.

Is there any difference with these apart form the colour?

Are there any other wheels I should be considering about this price (or less)?

Thanks

Mettan

They're good quality, well-speced, well made, light-enough wheels - however, although they're advertised as accepting both tubeless and clincher tyres, I found them profoundly hard to get normal clincher tyres on them - (other people might have different experiences though - one or two people on this forum have them). I ended up selling mine due to the ease of clincher tyre compatibility - Another option are the Braccianos for £255

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/default.a ... ROLWHFR280

solboy

speak to Harry Rowland and he will build you a set on Ultegra hubs for that sort of money.

bondurant

+1 for Harry Rowland. He built me some Open Pros on Ultegra a few months ago - love them

Joycie

If I lived closer then I'd think about Harry (interesting website - he appears to tell it straight!) but if I was going for the hand built option I'd quite like to meet the person.

I'm guessing that rider weight/build plays a part in the art of the perfect wheel and I'm only 54kg so it's probably best to see the customer.

I'm not overly swayed towards the Ultegra as it's a SRAM set up I've got on the bike and Mettan's comments on the ease of fitting a tyre puts me off the 6700's - last time I tried to change a tyre on my Bontrager wheels I was pleased at having completed it in under an hour!

I'll have a look at the Bracciano's as they seem to get good reviews per the Ribble site. Slightly over my budget with postage but guess that's always the way with cycling

bondurant

Beyond your stated budget but if you want to meet a builder http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk builds great wheels and is close-ish to you (as in, within a few miles!)