Lost faith in standard wheels what's an upgrade

sw19carpenters
sw19carpenters Posts: 123
in Road buying advice

Bontrager paradigm are the wheels on my trek emonda 2022.the rear wheel keeps getting loose spokes.

Happened twice now.

Had it trued by lbs but it's happened again so thinking of I'll get something else.

What if at all is a decent upgrade, looking at 250 spend .

Merlin cycles has Mavic cosmic elite For 250.

Plus a couple of others for similar price.

Never bought wheels before.

Comments

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    It's disc and thru axle

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,280
    edited October 27

    I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chip in but these days £250 is baseline territory, not upgrade territory.

    I guess £250 will be an improvement if reduced from RRP.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • super_davo
    super_davo Posts: 1,217
    edited October 28

    For marginally more, you can get a set of Elite Wheels ENT on AliExpress. Carbon, a range of depths, around the 1600g mark (so not Uber light, but likely a massive improvement over stock wheels).

    Elite Wheels are a "quality Chinese brand" that sells some fairly advanced stuff like the Drive range through their own website, but what they sell on Ali is at bargain basement prices.

    There will probably be codes on 11.11 to bring the price down.

    I got a set of Ent Gravel for my winter bike, using a code and paying for DPD delivery (which takes into account customs). Came to £350 all in & took about 4 weeks, communication at every step of the process. 38mm depth, modern 32.5/25mm width, look super smart with black decals. If you don't need the super wide option the normal versions are about £30 less, whilst still being a "modern" 21mm width.

    Some people might be nervous about spending that much on AliExpress, but honestly £250 is not going to get much of an upgrade. Either "take the risk" and get something like this from China or double (+) your budget to make it worth your while.

  • super_davo
    super_davo Posts: 1,217

    And BTW the Mavic Cosmics you suggested as an "upgrade" are pretty similar to the Mavic Allroads I took off my bike to replace with the Elites (similar weight, one is just the wider "gravel" version).

    And what hateful lumps of iron they were... mega heavy, impossible to mount tyres tubeless. Your stock wheels would have to be dreadful for them to be an improvement.

  • davebradswmb
    davebradswmb Posts: 537

    I would say that a wheel that doesn't let you down is an upgrade on one that does! The Mavic Cosmic Elite is a quality wheel, if a bit on the heavy side. A carbon wheel of similar quality will cost about a grand unless you go down the Chinese route - and then you could be compromising quality. It depends what you want to do with the bike, but if you just want a wheel that won't let you down the Mavics are a good option.

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    https://www.merlincycles.com/mavic-cosmic-elite-ust-disc-road-wheelset-700c-232574.html

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    Will look at the elite on Ali express

  • super_davo
    super_davo Posts: 1,217
    https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21103432#Comment_21103432

    However "quality" the wheels are, the UST system means I can't reliably pop a tube in at the side of the road; using fingers to unbead a tyre is impossible and I've snapped (good quality VAR) levers mounting / unmounting.

    You also can't fit tubeless tyres without CO2 or a booster. I can get home with a loose spoke but I can't with an unfixable puncture.

    For that reason I'm out...

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    I'll probably leave the ust system then as well.... can't do with faf.

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    If I look for 2nd hand on eBay whats a good set of wheels to look for

  • super_davo
    super_davo Posts: 1,217
    https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21103482#Comment_21103482

    Whatever someone is selling at a decent price...

    I just checked Thru Axle Carbon Disc wheelset and it threw up a set of Hunts as the first result, but there were loads on there. Rovals, Level, Prime, Vel. Might need to wait a bit if £250 budget can't be exceeded.

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    Cheers, I've had a search but yeah the makes and models of road wheels is beyond me.

    I totally understand every make has a budget model and everything in between...

  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,810
    https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21103426#Comment_21103426

    In your experience do you tend to get stung for extra tax/duty on those AliExpress Elite Wheels?

  • super_davo
    super_davo Posts: 1,217
    https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21103616#Comment_21103616

    I believe selecting the DPD delivery option has an uplift to cover taxes - the price was certainly about the level tax would have been.

    I just paid for that with nothing on top.

  • plymouthsteve
    plymouthsteve Posts: 140

    Huntbikewheels.com?

    They've got their Black whatever sale on. I bought a pair of 4 seasons from them a year ago. Certainly an upgrade on the stock wheels on a fairly good spec Specialized allez. Thinking about getting the allroad version for the Creo at £278 for a pair. Come with all the bits you need for tubeless and to match your hub.

  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    Yes thanks, been looking at hunt and zed.

    Not sure why but drawn to the zeds for just over 500 nicker.

    Was also looking at 2nd hand on eBay but prices are quite steep and for not much more can get new.

  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,768

    DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline 32 Disc Road Wheelset coming in at £425.

    I love my DT Swiss's. Totally reliable and easy to service the hubs for all weathers.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • mr.b-campag
    mr.b-campag Posts: 413

    Cero Wheels AR30 are pretty nice and reduced atm by the looks of things.

  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,967

    I was just going to mention Cero, nearly bought a pair a couple of years back, before stumbling on some 2nd hand Enves.


    I'd also add hand built to the list of options @sw19carpenters , I had Mark at spokesman wheels build me up a superlight pair of 30mm carbon rims to my budget, and they have been fantastic.

    I sent him a message, said what I was looking for, what my weight was, and what kind of budget I was trying to work too, and he came back with a few options - weight of wheelset was a key one for me, so I opted to upgrade to Tune hubs, but I guess for you, you're above all else looking for reliability.


    Glad to see you have upped your budget, the days of a £250 set of wheels being an upgrade, are long gone unfortunately :-(

    I remember when Campagnolo Zondas could be had for £250, but of course that would have been rim brake back then, and I think you are after thru axle disc brake wheels, so that's another level up.

    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
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  • oxoman
    oxoman Posts: 406

    Another vote for cero ar30,s. Got 2 sets one on my road bike and the other set on my gravel bike. Set on gravel bike has been hammered on various brutal rides including dirty reiver twice. Not had to touch them other than I converted one set to sram 12 speed hub. I would go as far as to say lightweight and bombproof.

    Too many bikes according to Mrs O.
  • sw19carpenters
    sw19carpenters Posts: 123

    Thanks for the replies, been looking and just so many options.

    Looked at the DT swiss as well,do I want new aluminium wheels I don't know?when carbon seems to be the current upgrade.

    DT swiss do get good reviews on there smoothness as apparently make all there own stuff.

    It's crazy getting your head around prices for wheels in a bike.

    I've bought cars for less than some of these wheels out there.

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