£250 Wheels. Any point gong handbuilt?

MisterMuncher

Just what it says. I have a budget of £250 for a set of general purpose wheels for the bike I'm building/looking to build. At this price point, are hand-builts still a better bet than any of the serious number of factory wheels available.

I'm about 12 stone weight if that has any bearing on it.

cycleclinic

Depends how you define better. For less £250 I build 32 spoke wheels that are 1640g. That build is the Mavic Open Pro (a low cost light weight rim) on Novatec A171/F172 hubs with Sapim Laser spokes/brass nipples. This would be a silver spoke build an all black build would be just over £250. So handbilt can be just as light (or lighter) and cheaper to fix when if the worst happens.

There are alot of factory options all of which I think are abit heavier and will cost more if some thing goes wrong. A 32 spoke wheel however may not look better in your eyes though. The offerings from campagnolo and fulcrum are
not bad wheels though, it depends what you are after - a classic looking wheel that will last or a race inspired wheel which will be no better in reality.

ugo.santalucia

If you are not fussed about the colour of the spokes and the noise the freehub make, there is a lot of quality at that price point... in fact you can get pretty good hand built wheels for less than that.
Normally people end up spending a fortune because they want designer hubs or elliptical section spokes, which in fairness don't add much to the value of the wheels.
Shimano 105 hubs or Miche or Novatec 171/172, double butted spokes, some decent rims from Ambrosio... well within budget.
You can even get deepish 30 mm rims if you wish so. Velocity Deep V and Kinlin XR 300 are within your budget and reasonably light. I am building a couple of sets of Deep V right now... I think the guys ended up spending 280 in total (they bought the components), but with Ultegra hubs and DT swiss spokes

matt-h

The spec that Ugo has stated is a pretty much what I have on my bike.
The 105 isn't noisy at all, ambrosio rim is nice and I actually like the retro looking silver spokes.
A tough wheel that will do all seasons

I paid £170 from Planet X on offer - recommended by UGo and Smidsy - and am really please I didn't go factory

Matt

mfin

Or these for £25 more at 1550 grams?
http://www.shinybikes.com/campagnolo-zonda-wheelset-2013.html

Im not suggesting they will be better (I can't cos Id have to ride all those factory options back to back with them), but just giving a factory option in the ballpark cost.

sunburntknees

I've just switched from Zondas to handbuilts (Record/Excellights). I have to say there is not much choose in terms of performance and the weight is similar. If anything, maybe the handbuilts are slightly stiffer whereas the Zondas maybe felt a bit better at speed. The main advantage as I see it, is that the rim and spokes are easily replaceable with handbuilts. With factory wheels you might get fleeced for £30 for a spoke kit (if you can get one) if you break a spoke and if you knacker the rim, you have to chuck the whole wheel as it is unlikely you will get a replacement. Therefore, for everyday wheels, I would lean towards handbuilts.