buying some better wheels

reacher

i want to upgrade to some better wheels for next year , i'm thinking to spend around 300 pounds or so ,or will i have to budget more than this to get something tidy i'm totally confused as to what to buy any suggestions , also will it make a differance at that price range or do i need to spend a lot more to get any benefit ,
my bike is a dave hinde with the mavic standard wheel set on it ,

Mettan

Hi - arguably the best performing wheels in that sort of price range are the Shimano RS80's - plenty of happy owners on this forum - if I had £350 quid to spend, I'd certainly buy some. (Other options include Fulcrum 3's, Ksyrium Elites, various Pro Lite and Sram ones) - I'd go for the RS80's though.

amaferanga

What sort of riding are they for? If you want full carbon for £300 then you could consider buying some of the Chinese carbon wheels from the likes of Yishun or Xiamen Farsport.

oldwelshman

+1 for shimano, try Merlin cycles they usually have some great offers on wheels. I paid £100 for wheels for winter bike and they are very strong, lvery little fles and very strong. They are well good enough to race on. The ultegra wheel look good but slightly more cost but well good enough to race on also.

unixnerd

The main thing I dislike about Shimano wheels are the cup and cone bearings. They're fiddly and messy to service, old technology. Whenever I do a set I always worry that I've made them too slack or too tight.

I prefer wheels with cartridge bearings such as Mavic and Pro-Lite Braccionos. My mtb wheels are cartridge, got bearings for a quid each on ebay and very easy to change.

oldwelshman

unixnerd wrote:

The main thing I dislike about Shimano wheels are the cup and cone bearings. They're fiddly and messy to service, old technology. Whenever I do a set I always worry that I've made them too slack or too tight.

I prefer wheels with cartridge bearings such as Mavic and Pro-Lite Braccionos. My mtb wheels are cartridge, got bearings for a quid each on ebay and very easy to change.

Ah that old chesnut of cartridge bearings.
I hate them with a vengence for good reason.
I had a very expensive, apparently reputable control tech BB bearing run dry after one year, not possible to service the bearings, and recently I had a very expensive headset start to go noisey again it went dry, at least with this I managed to dismatle the bearing seal and re grease it.
It is not difficult to maintain and adjust bearings, tighten unti yhey feel tight, then back off about 1/8th of a turn and tighten and check no excessive play in the bearing.
Personally I prefer servicable bearings, each to their own I guess, but I am more than happy with my wheels and as yet have not had to service the bearings after a few thousand miles use.