Replacing my 2007 Mavic Aksium wheelset

lewisph
lewisph Posts: 8
edited April 2012 in Road buying advice
Due to the fun on Hong Kong's roads, my wheels that came with my bike are now done. The current wheels are a 2007 Mavic Aksium wheelset and have done well over 15,000 km's, I've not had any issues with them either racing or spinning along whilst in Melbourne.

I want something that's going to perform to the same level as a minimum and where possible improve performance. I'm now hauling myself up a lot more hills in Hong Kong than in Melbourne so any help is very much appreciated! As the bike itself is relatively old and not the lightest thing going I'm not sure that breaking the bank is going to make too much of a difference - they'll be a threshold where the bike (and also the rider) isn't complementing the wheels.

I've been looking at the following
- Shimano RS20 (currently priced at 120 pounds)
- Campagnolo Khamsin (125 pounds)
- Fulcrum Racing 5 (200 pounds)

The Shimano's are half price, normally retailing at 220, but the Khamsin's have a great write up although a little weighty. Any help / advice is greatly appreciated!

Comments

  • ajb72
    ajb72 Posts: 1,178
    You haven't put them on your shortlist, but have you checked out the latest Aksium wheelset? Still bomb-proof but now come as a set complete with tyres. All on your list look like decent options, but are you running Campag or Shimano on your bike?
  • lewisph
    lewisph Posts: 8
    I'm running Shimano Ultegra, how much difference will that make? (and please excuse my ignorance!)

    I should probably add that the downhill speeds on low quality HK roads require bomb proof wheels. The Aksiums are 142 pounds on Wiggle and don't get as good a rating as the Khamsin's on the bike radar reviews? Still worth a look in? Thanks for the reply
  • kurtgunby
    kurtgunby Posts: 29
    I have recently purchased a set of fulcrum 5's and they are doing great, still true and running very smooth plus they have a rather satisfying hub noise :)
    You can get them a lot cheaper than 200 pounds, check out www.bike-discount.de
  • ajb72
    ajb72 Posts: 1,178
    lewisph wrote:
    I'm running Shimano Ultegra, how much difference will that make? (and please excuse my ignorance!)

    Campag wheels have a campag only freehub I believe, so will not suit your ultegra groupset. Fulcrum, despite being a Campag owned company are available with either Shimano/Sram or campah freehubs, so would be fine. Mavic are the same of course, available in both fittings.

    I wouldn't be put off by one bad review of the Aksiums, you'll find hundreds of good things said about them. The Fulcrum 5's similarly get rave reviews it seems, and i am personally a huge fan of Fulrum, having owned Racing 7's and Racing Zero's. It's a personal thing of course, but I also prefer the spoke layout in the rear Fulcrum wheel sets, as opposed to the G3 layout on Campag's wheels.
  • Mike39496
    Mike39496 Posts: 414
    lewisph wrote:
    I'm running Shimano Ultegra, how much difference will that make? (and please excuse my ignorance!)

    I should probably add that the downhill speeds on low quality HK roads require bomb proof wheels. The Aksiums are 142 pounds on Wiggle and don't get as good a rating as the Khamsin's on the bike radar reviews? Still worth a look in? Thanks for the reply

    Have you got a link to the £142 Aksiums? I can only see them for £171.