Suggestions for new wheels?

Gabbo

Hi,

I currently own a lower end Specialized Tarmac (Sport) with DT Swiss Axis 2.0 road wheels and am looking to make a worthy upgrade.

Ideally, I am looking to keep within budget (£400ish) as I would like to invest in some decent road tyres at the same time.

Suggestions are welcome!

u05harrisb

Take a look at some handbuilts! your best bet really though before you ask these questions is to think what do you want. faster reliable flash? decide what it is your really after. if your after a flash set then thats cool your money and youll get some nice wheels for 400 however you could get a little less flash but build to your spec wheels that will suit you better as you can choose hubs lacing rims etc. another good idea would be to use the search function on the forum as you will fine millions of threads about handbuilts factory wheels in addition to guys like yourself looking for similar wheels

Best of luck
Ben

bikeit65

Looking for new wheels can be difficult as there is such a huge amount to choose from, factory, handbuilt etc if you are looking some handbuilt wheels speak to ugo.santalucia on the forum he a fantastic wheel builder and a really good bloke to deal with.

cycleclinic

With handbuilts you will have to have a chat with the wheel builder to decide what you want. Alot is doable for £400 with tyres.

Radial spoking on the front is just pointless. It offers no real world advantage over 2x lacing so you might as well stick with that. Rider weight, condition of road surface and width of tyres to be run all will influence rim choice. Also rim choice will be affected by spoke count. Low spoke counts make sense only for wheels for TT, racing or fast road riding and then the advantage is small and that is maximised by picking a tyre that is as wide as the rim chosen. Aerodynamic wheels make some sense for those that spend alot of time above 20mph and low spoke counts (20H, 24H) in my opinion need a deeper V rim. For training wheels go with more spokes rather than less but it does depend on your weight. Hub choice also effect wheel stiffnes and therefore spoke count and type of spoke used. Talk to a good wheel builder first.

A handbuilt wheel is serviceable, spoke replacement is cheaper and if a new rim is needed due to acrash or brake wear then these are 1) available and 2) cost effective. Factory wheel with straight pull spokes are really quite expenive to put right if they go wrong.

A chap has just e-mailed about his 2 week old crashed Fulcrums 3-. It needs a new rims apparantly at £116 and possibly new spokes to if they are damaged. An expensive crash.

smidsy

Bikeit65 wrote:

Looking for new wheels can be difficult as there is such a huge amount to choose from, factory, handbuilt etc if you are looking some handbuilt wheels speak to ugo.santalucia on the forum he a fantastic wheel builder and a really good bloke to deal with.

+1. Ugo is doing some for me at the moment.

arlowood

Bikeit65 wrote:

Looking for new wheels can be difficult as there is such a huge amount to choose from, factory, handbuilt etc if you are looking some handbuilt wheels speak to ugo.santalucia on the forum he a fantastic wheel builder and a really good bloke to deal with.

+2 for Ugo. Was looking for some stiffer wheels for climbing but did not want to spend mega bucks. I'm also quite "chunky" at 85kg so wanted a spoke count that would be pretty robust.

Ugo did me a set based on Mavic Open Pro rims with Novatech hubs - 28/32 front/rear spokes. Have been riding them since May and I love them to bits - stiff in the climbs and free running.

Drop Ugo a PM and ask his advice based on what you want out of your wheelset.

cycleclinic

If you are the same weight as me or as the arlowood (or a bit heavier) and use your bike for club riding but not racing then the above OP build would work but I prefer the Velocity A23 rim or Dt Swiss RR415/465 combination as the rims are simpley better (more consitant weight and tension is more even for a given measurement of true/roundness). Novatec A171/F172 (F272 foir campag) hubs work well or the Miche RG2/Primato. Build 28H 2x front with Sapim laser and rear 3x Sapim laser NDS and Sapim Race DS and you will have a wheelset that weighs ~1690g, has good stiffnes, durability and will cost ~£270. That leave you plenty of money for tyres and a lot of change. These are my most common road wheelsets I build. Cost will go up if more expensive hubs are used like Dura ace or campagnolo record if you use campag drive train.

Lighter sets can be done depending on rider weight and if V section rims are wanted then there are more possibilites. V rims make sense though if you want low spokes counts for TT or racing.

smidsy

I opted for Ambrosio hubs and rims with DT competition spokes if you want another suggested build for good all round wheelset for not silly money.

cycleclinic

Ambrosio Zenith hub are just rebadged Novatec A171 and F172/272 hubs. Ambrosio then jack the price up. so no point in buying ambrosio hubs. Ambrosio rims though are there own and are worthwile. DT spokes are just more expensive than Sapim for the same quality. I see no point in spending more than you need on a wheelset just for branding.

ugo.santalucia

thecycleclinic wrote:

Ambrosio Zenith hub are just rebadged Novatec A171 and F172/272 hubs. Ambrosio then jack the price up. so no point in buying ambrosio hubs. Ambrosio rims though are there own and are worthwile. DT spokes are just more expensive than Sapim for the same quality. I see no point in spending more than you need on a wheelset just for branding.

DT swiss are expensive in this country because it's a Sapim market, but elsewhere they are at the same price point as Sapim, I don't source them in the UK. Sapim is fashionable in the UK, DT Swiss is fashionable in the USA... they are both excellent... I prefer to use DT as all my tools are designed around DT spokes... the gauge is calibrated for Dt spokes, the punch is rounded with the same curve as DT heads and so on.
As for Ambrosio hubs, yes, they are 171/172 rebadged, but I disagree that they cost more than Novatec 171/172, the price is just about the same

smidsy

Ugo, Don't worry - I am not. :-)

Cycleclinic - thanks for your assessment of my choices. I however am happy with what I have ordered and did so in full light of the facts.

cycleclinic

I am glad you are happyI did not mean to suggest you have bought badly as you have not. It ust my observations on prices of components.

As for the pricing of ambrosio/novatec hubs looking at the price on RSI website and Whiskers there is a bit of difference which has to be passed on (~£15 difference for a pair at trade price).

I think DT is expensive because Madision distribute them. They have no competition in distriution of there spoke and they have a very good brand repuation which is what you are paying for. That said if you buy them from outside the U.K, that is probably best.

ugo.santalucia

thecycleclinic wrote:

I am glad you are happyI did not mean to suggest you have bought badly as you have not. It ust my observations on prices of components.

As for the pricing of ambrosio/novatec hubs looking at the price on RSI website and Whiskers there is a bit of difference which has to be passed on (~£15 difference for a pair at trade price).

I think DT is expensive because Madision distribute them. They have no competition in distriution of there spoke and they have a very good brand repuation which is what you are paying for. That said if you buy them from outside the U.K, that is probably best.

Purely academic, as nobody sells badged novatec cheaper than Ambrosio... Not even Chinese businesses on eBay... :shock:
There are some unbranded around, which retail cheaper, but no branded ones

cycleclinic

That's my point exactly ugo. Ambrosio may be the cheapest branded "novatec" hubs about but they more expensive than the same hub without branding. So in this case you can really see how much the brand is worth. Although I own plenty of branded bike kit sometimes just for the brand.

ugo.santalucia

thecycleclinic wrote:

That's my point exactly ugo. Ambrosio may be the cheapest branded "novatec" hubs about but they more expensive than the same hub without branding. So in this case you can really see how much the brand is worth. Although I own plenty of branded bike kit sometimes just for the brand.

I do get it... a laser etched logo costs 1-2 dollars and the customer pays 15 pounds for it, so what? For a set of Giant stickers on a carbon frame you probably pay something between a monkey and a grand