Which Carbon Deep Section Wheelset under 1k?

rambino

I'm after a "budget" carbon deep section clincher/tubular wheelset under £1000.

It should be an easy task but I'm stuck for ideas and I can't seem to settle on what to buy.

Depth wanted between 35 and 50mm (give or take)

Prime RR50 look great for the money (£680) as do Campag Bullet, Fast Forward f4/5/6 and Fulchrum 35 Racing Quatro

Advice much appreciated.

Thanks

shortfall

There are lots of midrange and budget factory wheels that fit your budget or you could go the handbuilt route and get something that perform at least as well if not better and can be easily repaired or rebuilt with a ready supply of cheap spares and still have plenty of change out of a grand. The problem with factory wheels is when things go wrong or start to wear out.

Matthewfalle

If tubular then Carbonzone off the 'bay. You'll get the wheels, tubs, tape, extensions etc for well under a grand which means a weekend of blow 'n' hoes to celebrate your new purchase.

paul1000

Hi, just got a pair of spin koppenberg, really impressed.

matt_n-2

Malcolm posts on here and makes some nice wheelsets: https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collection ... 6-5mm-wide

joey54321

Im in a similar position, currently thinking of the Wheelsmiths aero dimpled wheels (when they get back to taking orders).

teebs_123

joey54321 wrote:

Im in a similar position, currently thinking of the Wheelsmiths aero dimpled wheels (when they get back to taking orders).

This.

I have some 38mm Chris King wheels from Wheelsmith and they're superb. A touch over £1k, but fantastic hubs.

drlodge

Matt_N wrote:

Malcolm posts on here and makes some nice wheelsets: https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collection ... 6-5mm-wide

I have a set of his BORG50 tubeless carbon wheels, very nice for the money.

redvision

Fulcrum Quattro Carbon

charlie_potatoes

joey54321 wrote:

Im in a similar position, currently thinking of the Wheelsmiths aero dimpled wheels (when they get back to taking orders).

This

Matthewfalle

Dura Ace C30 and C60 on sale at Merlin.

strikermk2

I have a pair of RC45 from Cycledivision. Very impressed so far and had good reviews. Think they're £699 at the moment

marin_maniac

I've just pressed he button on some of Malcolm's 50mm Carbon Tubeless wheels. If they're built half as good as the Kinlin wheels he bought for me, they'll be grrrrrrrrreat!

drlodge

Marin Maniac wrote:

I've just pressed he button on some of Malcolm's 50mm Carbon Tubeless wheels. If they're built half as good as the Kinlin wheels he bought for me, they'll be grrrrrrrrreat!

That's what I have on the Massive Attack, with IRC Roadlites and Miche hubs. Great bang for the buck wheels. Despite his injury he is still building with help so hopefully your wait shouldn't be too long.

singleton

Hunt carbons seem to be getting good reviews, available in 38mm or 50mm clinchers or 45mm tubulars. Availability of 50mm looks better.

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collecti ... ake-wheels

fuel2000

drlodge wrote:

Marin Maniac wrote:

I've just pressed he button on some of Malcolm's 50mm Carbon Tubeless wheels. If they're built half as good as the Kinlin wheels he bought for me, they'll be grrrrrrrrreat!

That's what I have on the Massive Attack, with IRC Roadlites and Miche hubs. Great bang for the buck wheels. Despite his injury he is still building with help so hopefully your wait shouldn't be too long.

I've just had a set as well, but built up with the Carbon Ti hubs very nice indeed.

tomisitt

These are good: http://ridefullgas.com/wheels/

paul1000

I have a pair of spin 58's, really good quality
No flex at all, and I'm not a lightweight, would definitely recommend.

rambino

Thanks for the response guys.

Was very tempted by the Spin wheels (mentioned above) but there appears to be quite a long wait for Drew's DM845's

Instead I've decided to really push the boat out and go for Campy Bora One 50 tubulars.

At £1150 they are super expensive but the reviews are brilliant and at 1250g for the pair I can't resist. Only worry is having to deal with tubulars but I'm willing to learn.

andymurray01

so far i have ventured twice into this catagory.

The first set was a pair of Prime RP50 wheels from Chain Reaction. I used them from August to October then put my race bike away for the winter not riding it again until the start of April. At the beginning of June I used them in the Tour of Peterborough Gran Fondo qualifying race where i finished just 13 secs behind the winner. The wheels were light, stiff and fast and used as tubeless, my preferred choice. About a week after the race i was out on a training ride when my rear tyre was not holding pressure. I returned home and pumped the tyre up with my track pump to 95PSI to see if i could spot the leak. About a minute after i pumped it up, the rear wheel exploded. Total and catastrophic failure. The wheel had covered 3500km from new, Chain Reaction initially tried to fob me off with a credit note as they had no more RP50's in stock and no delivery date of when they would be back. The only wheels that they had were either far too heavy or twice as expensive and not particularly good. I finally got them to issue me with a cash refund to i could shop else where.

My second set of sub-£1000 wheels was the Hunt Carbon 50. Again light, stiff, and fast wheels and used as tubeless. I ordered them in mid-June with a week 1 July delivery date, they arrived in week 4 July just before the Ride London. Again these wheels were used from Aug to Oct then stored. I did use them about 10 times on my turbo trainer in January and a couple of fine weather winter rides. When i got them i always felt that they weren't as true as they could be. I took them into my LBS and they said that they weren't perfect but within acceptable limits. At the end of February i booked them in for a wheel service as i have a race coming up at the end of March and i wanted them properly true. I got a call from my LBS to say that the braking track was de-laminated from the front wheel and that there were two small cracks around a spoke in the rear wheel. The wheels had covered 4000km.

These wheels are now back with Hunt. They have given me the 19th March as when they will receive the new wheels to send out to me. I am flying to Cyprus for my bike race on the 24th March. Given that my original wheels arrived 3 weeks late i am not holding at much hope that these wheels will arrive on time. They have already told me that they have no other carbon wheels (even demo wheels) that they can loan me if the wheels don't arrive on time.

I do really like these wheels but on reflection i would now rather save up longer and pay the premium for a set of wheels from my LBS. It is so much better to deal with someone face to face when there is a problem rather than by phone or email.

If they do arrive on time i will be checking them every 3 months and taking them to my LBS every 6 months. If they don't arrive on time, well i don't have a plan B at the moment. I can't afford to hire a bike out there for a week (not that any decent bikes are available and I don't have the spare cash to hire a set of carbon wheels for a week to take with me.

andymurray01

Singleton wrote:

Hunt carbons seem to be getting good reviews, available in 38mm or 50mm clinchers or 45mm tubulars. Availability of 50mm looks better.

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collecti ... ake-wheels

My Hunt C50's failed after 4000km, The braking surface on the front wheel had started to de-laminate and two cracks appeared around a spoke in the rear wheel. They have agreed to replace them but i don't have much faith in their expected delivery date. The original wheels arrived three weeks late.

edward.s

Speak to Mark at Spokesmanwheels. he could build you a pair of wheels for well less than £1K. I think my carbonal 38mm on Hope hubs were something like £700

drlodge

Also look at TheCycleClinic, Malcolm's Borg 50C tubeless are great value for around £800.

neeb

You can get Campagnolo Bora One tubulars for a whisker over £1000. A bit more if you want clinchers. The quality is better than anything else you'll get at that price by leaps and bounds (and they look it). Great braking and shown to be effectively delamination-proof in Tour Magazine tests.

sloppyschleckonds

AndyMurray01 wrote:

Singleton wrote:

Hunt carbons seem to be getting good reviews, available in 38mm or 50mm clinchers or 45mm tubulars. Availability of 50mm looks better.

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collecti ... ake-wheels

My Hunt C50's failed after 4000km, The braking surface on the front wheel had started to de-laminate and two cracks appeared around a spoke in the rear wheel. They have agreed to replace them but i don't have much faith in their expected delivery date. The original wheels arrived three weeks late.

Thats pretty poor, good they have agreed to replace

pilot_pete

I’d go handbuilt. I have three sets of handbuilt carbon clinchers all on Hope hubs in varying rim depths built by a mate who is a local wheelbuilder in South Cheshire/ North Staffs. He previously built me other sets of aluminium rimmed wheels, again on Hope hubs.

Prices are around £800 ballpark with CX-Ray spokes, so not overly expensive like some brands, the beauty is several fold;

1. You choose the components you want (or seek his expert advice regarding intended use).
2. You can decide (within reason) on spoke count, so if you want bombproof he can build you that.
3. You can customise if you so wish with coloured hubs and nipples etc.
4. They are completely serviceable - no need to send back to a factory if you brake a spoke (which I have NEVER experienced on any wheel he has built for me).
5. Customer service is exceptional. I get him to give them a once over and re-tension/ true every now and again - I’ve bought quite a few sets of wheels from him and he doesn’t charge me for this. He even arranges to come around and pick them up and then drop them off later/ next day. Obviously that is not expected and may not extend to every customer!
6. His advice and attention to detail is fantastic too. His experience and expertise is well worth listening to. We discuss my needs and he knows me and my riding style - I’m powerful and about 83kg, so quite hard on stock wheels with low spoke counts. I was fed up with stock wheels flexing under load and first approached him with regards building something a bit stronger that could take my loads without flexing. The first job he did for me was replacing a stock rear hub on a Felt (some generic brand hub) that kept seizing. I wanted a Hope as I had researched a lot and thought they seemed excellent value for strong/ reliable hubs. I was not disappointed.

Next set were my first carbon clinchers built for a disc brake bike build. He advised on spokes and spoke count, again to be built around a pair of Hope hubs. I chose 28 spokes front and rear and the wheels have been perfect over 3 years. They’ve had the odd re-tweak and have recently been transferred to my winter bike as a new set of centrelock Hope hubs wheels have replaced them (so I could fit Dura Ace Freeza rotors rather than 6 bolt). These have again proved a top quality build.

It’s little things like the servicing, advice, the use of little brass washers to prevent the spokes biting into the hubs and linseed oil to lubricate the threads and the choice of components to meet budget/ personal requirements that swing it for me. I will always go handbuilt.

PP

Oh, and it’s John who runs https://www.skidwheels.co.uk/

Methodical

Yoeleo

rokt

Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon !

I have the disc version on my CX bike and they are well worth a look.

Wayne Plunger

Pilot Pete wrote:

I’d go handbuilt. I have three sets of handbuilt carbon clinchers all on Hope hubs in varying rim depths built by a mate who is a local wheelbuilder in South Cheshire/ North Staffs. He previously built me other sets of aluminium rimmed wheels, again on Hope hubs.

Prices are around £800 ballpark with CX-Ray spokes, so not overly expensive like some brands, the beauty is several fold;

1. You choose the components you want (or seek his expert advice regarding intended use).
2. You can decide (within reason) on spoke count, so if you want bombproof he can build you that.
3. You can customise if you so wish with coloured hubs and nipples etc.
4. They are completely serviceable - no need to send back to a factory if you brake a spoke (which I have NEVER experienced on any wheel he has built for me).
5. Customer service is exceptional. I get him to give them a once over and re-tension/ true every now and again - I’ve bought quite a few sets of wheels from him and he doesn’t charge me for this. He even arranges to come around and pick them up and then drop them off later/ next day. Obviously that is not expected and may not extend to every customer!
6. His advice and attention to detail is fantastic too. His experience and expertise is well worth listening to. We discuss my needs and he knows me and my riding style - I’m powerful and about 83kg, so quite hard on stock wheels with low spoke counts. I was fed up with stock wheels flexing under load and first approached him with regards building something a bit stronger that could take my loads without flexing. The first job he did for me was replacing a stock rear hub on a Felt (some generic brand hub) that kept seizing. I wanted a Hope as I had researched a lot and thought they seemed excellent value for strong/ reliable hubs. I was not disappointed.

Next set were my first carbon clinchers built for a disc brake bike build. He advised on spokes and spoke count, again to be built around a pair of Hope hubs. I chose 28 spokes front and rear and the wheels have been perfect over 3 years. They’ve had the odd re-tweak and have recently been transferred to my winter bike as a new set of centrelock Hope hubs wheels have replaced them (so I could fit Dura Ace Freeza rotors rather than 6 bolt). These have again proved a top quality build.

It’s little things like the servicing, advice, the use of little brass washers to prevent the spokes biting into the hubs and linseed oil to lubricate the threads and the choice of components to meet budget/ personal requirements that swing it for me. I will always go handbuilt.

PP

Oh, and it’s John who runs https://www.skidwheels.co.uk/

Might be an idea to put his address on his website, gives the buyer more confidence. I personally never purchase from a web seller who remains anonymous.

pilot_pete

I’ll pass on the feedback, he’s just opened premises in Biddulph, North Staffs.

PP

kingrollo

Pilot Pete wrote:

I’d go handbuilt. I have three sets of handbuilt carbon clinchers all on Hope hubs in varying rim depths built by a mate who is a local wheelbuilder in South Cheshire/ North Staffs. He previously built me other sets of aluminium rimmed wheels, again on Hope hubs.

Prices are around £800 ballpark with CX-Ray spokes, so not overly expensive like some brands, the beauty is several fold;

1. You choose the components you want (or seek his expert advice regarding intended use).
2. You can decide (within reason) on spoke count, so if you want bombproof he can build you that.
3. You can customise if you so wish with coloured hubs and nipples etc.
4. They are completely serviceable - no need to send back to a factory if you brake a spoke (which I have NEVER experienced on any wheel he has built for me).
5. Customer service is exceptional. I get him to give them a once over and re-tension/ true every now and again - I’ve bought quite a few sets of wheels from him and he doesn’t charge me for this. He even arranges to come around and pick them up and then drop them off later/ next day. Obviously that is not expected and may not extend to every customer!
6. His advice and attention to detail is fantastic too. His experience and expertise is well worth listening to. We discuss my needs and he knows me and my riding style - I’m powerful and about 83kg, so quite hard on stock wheels with low spoke counts. I was fed up with stock wheels flexing under load and first approached him with regards building something a bit stronger that could take my loads without flexing. The first job he did for me was replacing a stock rear hub on a Felt (some generic brand hub) that kept seizing. I wanted a Hope as I had researched a lot and thought they seemed excellent value for strong/ reliable hubs. I was not disappointed.

Next set were my first carbon clinchers built for a disc brake bike build. He advised on spokes and spoke count, again to be built around a pair of Hope hubs. I chose 28 spokes front and rear and the wheels have been perfect over 3 years. They’ve had the odd re-tweak and have recently been transferred to my winter bike as a new set of centrelock Hope hubs wheels have replaced them (so I could fit Dura Ace Freeza rotors rather than 6 bolt). These have again proved a top quality build.

It’s little things like the servicing, advice, the use of little brass washers to prevent the spokes biting into the hubs and linseed oil to lubricate the threads and the choice of components to meet budget/ personal requirements that swing it for me. I will always go handbuilt.

PP

Oh, and it’s John who runs https://www.skidwheels.co.uk/

does he build onto 50mm deep section carbon rims - couldn't see any on the website ?