Best £250 and £350 wheel set?

sparklehedgehog

I have Mavic Aksium Race wheels on my Boardman team carbon that i want to upgrade.

Whats the best upgrade set for my bike for the £250 and £350 budget please?

I have spent hours trawling through thread after thread and believe the £350 set would be Fulcrum Racing 3, is this right or any better suggestions would be appreciated please?

Thanks in advance

p.s i'm 100kg so something to consider

kajjal

At about 100kg a similar weight to me you will need a minimum of 32 spoke wheels and preferably 36 spoke wheels to be sure they will hold up. Mavic open pro's are one option. Less sturdy wheels can be used but you are taking a risk. Riders who are a lot lighter will not understand this.

smidsy

+1. At 100kg a 'best' wheelset is a well built one with min 32 double butted spokes and a good solid rim.

Factory wheels at that price range are likely to be at their limits meaning a bit of a lottery for you.

Edit: If you really must buy a factory set American Classics are pretty good and use available/replaceable components.

warrior4life

http://www.cycledivision.co.uk/product- ... id133.html

trek_dan

I wouldn't have thought Fulcrum 3's or for that matter any wheel under £500ish are much of an upgrade on what you have.

tonye_n

trek_dan wrote:

I wouldn't have thought Fulcrum 3's or for that matter any wheel under £500ish are much of an upgrade on what you have.

Oh yes it would. And for that matter so would Mavic Ksyrium Elites. Both are quite a bit lighter than the aksium.

However this topic has been flogged to death, and as such you won't find much folk bothering to stop over and give their tuppence.

Google will throw up lots of advice on this from various cycle forums. Most of the opinions will point to Mavic Ksyrium Elite as best bang-for-bucks factory Wheelset.

Grill

For under 350 quid you can build either 32h or 36h Archetypes on 6800 hubs. Way stronger than Fulcrums and ride much nicer too.

cattytown

I'm with Grill. handbuilt 6800 hubs and archetypes 32/32 will come just over £300 and use totally replaceable parts. At 100Kg you'll not see the same benefit as a 75Kg rider by going for lightweight. I am a similar weight.

Paul.

MickTheMove

I pick up a pair of archetype rims with ultegra 6800 hubs 32 very pretty flashy spokes with black nipples ( ooh error missus) this week! These came in at less than 350, 10/11 speed hubs hopefully make them slightly more future proof and with my weight, if I do harm them in any way they are fully serviceable! That's what I tell myself anyway

sloppyschleckonds

Losing 3 stone would be the best upgrade

sparklehedgehog

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Losing 3 stone would be the best upgrade

that's the whole reason i'm biking in the first place but it's not an instant fix

cattytown

Get something solid now, then reward yourself with something lightweight when you get the 3 stones off :-)

Bobbinogs

My advice would be to forget new wheels for now. Winter weather will cause accelerated wear and when you are battling against the wind in driving rain you will feel no benefit of some bling wheels.

Ride the Aksiums like you stole the bike. They are a good wheelset that do everything well and are strong enough to cope. Set a target weight for April, then when spring comes, if you have reached your weight reward yourself and get some lovely light wheels along with some fast tyres.

Not reached your target weight? Work harder fatboy

cycleclinic

Archetypes, velocity A23's or Ambrosio evolution rims these all cost differing ammounts. 32F 32R with Sapim Race spokes and lace them to Miche or the more expensive 6800 hubs. The miche hubs come with shimano 11 speed freehubs now.

Persoanlly I would go with Grey archetype on 6800 hub or black archetype on Miche Primato's both look great and will perform reliably over winter too.

bmxboy10

MickTheMove wrote:

I pick up a pair of archetype rims with ultegra 6800 hubs 32 very pretty flashy spokes with black nipples ( ooh error missus) this week! These came in at less than 350, 10/11 speed hubs hopefully make them slightly more future proof and with my weight, if I do harm them in any way they are fully serviceable! That's what I tell myself anyway

Can you post some pictures of this wheel set? What spokes and who did the build?

Grill

Here are mine. Ugo did the build
http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/media-gallery/detail/16/556