What wheelset for about £200

The Silver Surfer

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice on buying a wheelset for around £200.

'On One XC' are down to £180 from £300 which seems like a bargain but then again a lot of their stuff is reduced so am not sure if its a bit of a ploy.

'Sram X9' or '506 Race' is another option but the few reviews I could find on them aren't the greatest.

'Superstar AM' seem reasonable and give loads of options to choose from when buying.

The list goes on - its a minefield for someone who doesn't know much about wheels, I ride hills, tracks and trail centres, so a bit of everything.

Any advice or pointers appreciated. Thanks.

The Spiderman

I have been looking at this price range too.I was looking at Hope Hoops Crest on Pro 2 evos,lovely wheels with a generally favourable reputation but over £300 by the time you add skewers.The Superstar Swich/Crest offerings are a very good price but I`ve seen some hit and miss stories on build quality and bearing durability.

So I went on ebay today and bought a pair of BNIB Roval Control AL which weigh 1575g for £160! RRP £400)

These appealed for their tubeless rims and DT swiss hub internals,aswell as the price.

ryanincontrol

Fulcrum red metal 5 can be had for less than £200.

Neal_

I'd recommend Superstar wheels based on my experience, see my post below for why. Wider AM rims are stronger and give a better tyre profile so I'd pick the £160 AM wheel set or the £220 Stans Flow wheel set. No bearings last forever so don't be put off by stories of them failing, search "prorider superstar bearings" on eBay for cheap and good quality replacements.

Neal_ wrote:

I had an off recently buckling my front wheel and sending the chain into the rear spokes on my Superstar wheelset (Switch Evo hubs and AM-490 rims) so took them up on their free truing service and damage repair scheme. I sent them back using Parcelfarce for £12.60, so they were insured and tracked, and just got them back a week later with 8 spokes replaced and both wheels trued at no charge! That's damn fine service in my eyes and a bit of a bargain considering it would cost about £15 per wheel for a LBS to true them, I'm sure replacing the spokes would be more again.

...no haribo though

UnworthyPapaLazaru

The you have the tube/tubeless decision to make with new wheels! Tubeless might cost more (and you may need new tyres too) but it might be worth considering.

Merlin are worth a look

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... ke-wheels/

Factory or custom builds, but you are more likely to get exactly what you want with a custom build...

The Silver Surfer

ryanincontrol wrote:

Fulcrum red metal 5 can be had for less than £200.

Thanks, are they any good?

The Silver Surfer

Neal_ wrote:

I'd recommend Superstar wheels based on my experience, see my post below for why. Wider AM rims are stronger and give a better tyre profile so I'd pick the £160 AM wheel set or the £220 Stans Flow wheel set. No bearings last forever so don't be put off by stories of them failing, search "prorider superstar bearings" on eBay for cheap and good quality replacements.

Neal_ wrote:

I had an off recently buckling my front wheel and sending the chain into the rear spokes on my Superstar wheelset (Switch Evo hubs and AM-490 rims) so took them up on their free truing service and damage repair scheme. I sent them back using Parcelfarce for £12.60, so they were insured and tracked, and just got them back a week later with 8 spokes replaced and both wheels trued at no charge! That's damn fine service in my eyes and a bit of a bargain considering it would cost about £15 per wheel for a LBS to true them, I'm sure replacing the spokes would be more again.

...no haribo though

Cheers, sounds like a good service and I read a good bikeradar review of these wheels. I might get them..

The Silver Surfer

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The you have the tube/tubeless decision to make with new wheels! Tubeless might cost more (and you may need new tyres too) but it might be worth considering.

Merlin are worth a look

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... ke-wheels/

Factory or custom builds, but you are more likely to get exactly what you want with a custom build...

Thanks for the link. I hadn't even considered going tubeless but I suppose I should check it out before buying.

Ryan Jones

Sun Ringle Black flag wheelset's for less than £200 today with the promotion code, tempting for myself actually