£300 training & race wheels

GSSK

Hi,

I'll be getting into racing this year and am looking to pick up some wheels to race and train on. Obviously budget is limited to the £300 mark.
I've done some research and came up with this shortlist, anybody able to give me their views or make some recommendations?
Cheers,

Pro Lite Bortola A21
Pro Lite Bracciano A27
Fulcrum Racing 3

PTestTeam

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768027#p19768027]GSSK[/url] wrote:

Hi,

I'll be getting into racing this year and am looking to pick up some wheels to race and train on. Obviously budget is limited to the £300 mark.
I've done some research and came up with this shortlist, anybody able to give me their views or make some recommendations?
Cheers,

Pro Lite Bortola A21
Pro Lite Bracciano A27
Fulcrum Racing 3

I don't have any experience of your shortlist, but I can vouch for how good the Miche Syntium wheels are.

I've had them over a year now as an all year round training wheel and they're still as smooth as silk and true. They're plenty stiff enough, comfortable and light enough for an alloy clincher.

A good review here http://road.cc/content/review/170567-miche-syntium-axy-wheelset

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/55919/products/miche-syntium-road-wheels-pair.aspx

Anonymous

What type of racing? Different types of racing require different types of wheels.

nicklong

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768078#p19768078]Maglia Rosa[/url] wrote:

What type of racing? Different types of racing require different types of wheels.

And on top of that, what type of racer are (will you) be? Bunch sprinter, rouleur, climber?

If you've got the legs to stay away in a break for ages, you'll want something deeper as you'll be in TT mode for longer than someone who will be hiding in the bunch till the last 3kms. If you're a 90kg sprinter, you want something that will be as stiff as possible.

Saying that, the Pro Lite A27s look like a good cover-all-bases option for the budget.

The impact on your racing performance will be marginal, however.

Anonymous

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768134#p19768134]nicklong[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768078#p19768078]Maglia Rosa[/url] wrote:

What type of racing? Different types of racing require different types of wheels.

And on top of that, what type of racer are (will you) be? Bunch sprinter, rouleur, climber?

If you've got the legs to stay away in a break for ages, you'll want something deeper as you'll be in TT mode for longer than someone who will be hiding in the bunch till the last 3kms. If you're a 90kg sprinter, you want something that will be as stiff as possible.

Saying that, the Pro Lite A27s look like a good cover-all-bases option for the budget.

The impact on your racing performance will be marginal, however.

Also, since you say you are on a budget, don't race anything you can't afford to replace.

964cup

I bought a pair of Wiggle's new Cosine 30mm alloy wheels as cheap winter trainers. £220 with the Platinum discount. Work tubeless (you need to use Stans sealant because the rim joint leaks and plain latex sealants don't close it adequately). Look like Kinlin rims with Pillar spokes and Novatec hubs to me, so decent value at the price; I could build something similar for about the same money, but why bother? Light as Ksyrium Elites at half the price, and (probably) a little more aero.

GGBiker

Can vouch for the prolite a27, have had a pair for a couple of years and they run smooth and true despite lots of racing and rough road training.
I would be tempted to go for 3t Accelero 40 pro wheelset for around £200 online, deep 37mm rim, brass nipples, wide 23mm rim, ticks lots of boxes although not very light but frankly light is a nonsense as there appears to be little evidence of any actual benefit unless you are climbing at >10% gradient for long periods. In every other circumstance an aero wheel is advantageous.

GSSK

Maglia Rosa wrote:

What type of racing? Different types of racing require different types of wheels.

I'd like to try out road races and crits just so I've at least tried both. Although I'm definitely not suited to the sprinting in crits.

nicklong wrote:

And on top of that, what type of racer are (will you) be? Bunch sprinter, rouleur, climber?

I'd imagine I'm more suited to somewhere between the last two, pretty light for my height 65kg @ 6', but definitely not the raw power of a sprinter.

redvision

Have a look at the Campagnolo Zonda. They are basically Fulcrum 3's (i think) but cheaper.
Will be perfect for your needs and you will have a bit of money left over for some good tyres.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-zonda-clincher-wheelset/

cycleclinic

For that money talk to a wheel builder. You could have the excellent kinlin xr31t rims laced to some hub, miche novatec e.t.c in 20f/24R and if you can look past the weight (with light weight novatec hubs they would be 10
1550g ish if Sapim Laser or DT revolution spokes are used with brass nipples). This wheelset is aero as it is wide and 31mm deep (23mm tyres on wide rims is actually quite aero) than anything mentioned above, it has a proper wide rim and if far stiffer than the above options. If you want to train on them in all weather then the light weight novatec hubs may not be the best choice but it does depend on how much wet and salt you expose them too.
You can also use the cheaper kinlin xc279.

Pro lite hubs use novatec freehubs which will save you cash when it come to freehub replacement time.

What will help you do well in races is skin tight clothing an aero position and being fit. Wheels help but get the basics sorted first and you will be fine. Racing is fun.

andcp

From Bikeradar gear of the year:
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/components/wheel-sets/product/review-superstar-components-pacenti-sl23-icon-ultra-wheels-15-49349/
No idea what they're like in the real world

ic.

Buy a set of Ksyriums from 4thebike for <£300

http://www.4thebike.de/12956/mavic-ksyrium-elite-16-m-25-laufradsatz-schwarz

nicklong

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19769136#p19769136]IC.[/url] wrote:

Buy a set of Ksyriums from 4thebike for <£300

http://www.4thebike.de/12956/mavic-ksyrium-elite-16-m-25-laufradsatz-schwarz

That's a great deal, loads of guys in my league ride Ksyrium Elites, they're the benchmark as far as I can tell.

craigr

The Pro Lite A42's are on special offer just now under 300 : http://www.wiggle.co.uk/pro-lite-bracciano-a42-se-alloy-clincher-wheelset/
Used them all last year and highly recommended.

xscreamsuk

Cero Ar24, know several people that race on these and none of them have a bad word to say. https://www.cycledivision.co.uk/products/wheels/cero-ar24-alloy-road-wheelset-bundle

iron-clover

If I could only have one set of wheels, I would go for Open Pro rims on Hope or other quality hubs.
you can get pre built 32 spoke wheels for just over £300.

The rims are fairly light, and when paired with good racing tires and light tubes they accelerate well. They are also more than tough enough to train on.
I have done all of my bunch racing on Open Pro rims so far, and I can't say they've held me back.

I'll probably be moving across to tubs soon for dry racing, but for foul weather the Open Pros will be waiting.

The rims can also be replaced easily when they wear out after a couple of hard years.