[gthornton101]

I’m ready to take the plunge and spend a little bit more money on replacing my wheels this Spring (clincher / rim brake).  I’ve had a couple of sets of Aksiums over recent years for road – commuting, group rides and occasional events/sportives, but am looking to upgrade to something better as I plan to up my cycling and events this year.

I’ve mainly been looking still within Mavic which is probably either the Cosmic Elite UST or Ksyrium UST for my ~£400ish budget.  Are either of these worth the 200g-odd saving etc  up from Aksium, or do I really need to be spending more than £400 to get noticeable improvement/gains?

 

In my research I’ve also come across this road.cc article to throw Pro Lite Revo, Hunt 4 Season, Vision Team 35, or Alexrims CXD4 into the mix (all for less than £400).  The Hunts in particular sound and look good, but I’m not that famiilar with any of these brands and so if anyone has any experience with them would be grateful to hear what you make of them.

 

If anyone can vouch/veto anything I’ve mentioned based on experience that would be most appreciated!  Thanks.

 

Topic

[Jack Osbourne snr]

[/quote]

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

At circa £70 a rim you might as well go and buy some H+Son TB14s if you want a wideish box rim or some Archetypes but there are a few decent rims out there for not a lot of money, even Rigida/Ryde do some decent rims at not a lot.

Another +1 for handbuilts.

I’ve built and ridden several pairs of wheels using Archetype and TB14 rims, and both are excellent.  

I would say the Archetype is probably my rim of choice when it comes to general road riding. Reasonably light, very stiff and strong and wide enough to completely eliminate the lightbulb shaped tyre effect of riding a 25 or 28 on an old school 14 or 15mm-wide rim.

I’m a better climber than descender, so I really appreciate the wide stiff rim on the way back down Alpine slopes. I have done the Alps on old-skool Open Pros and the difference I felt was very noticeable. 

The TB14s look great on a steel framed bike if thats your thing.

Lots of other great rim suggestions in this thread though.

As for hubs, the world is your oyster!

Novatec are great value for money and will help keep you well within budget. They are as light as all but the most expensive alternatives and, if you want, you can simply upgrade the bearings to turn them into something a bit more special.

Beyond that, Hope or Ultegra are all do-able at around £400 for a pair of wheels or Dura Ace at £500+

 

[matthewn5]

+1 for DCR wheels. David has

+1 for DCR wheels. David has just built me a set with his own rims on some nearly new Campag Record hubs I got on Ebay a while back. They’re stiff, lively, super smooth because of the excellent hubs, and repairable.

The sad reality of factory wheels like Mavic, Campagnolo Shamal and Zonda and so on, is that matching replacement rims are so expensive that you’ll throw the wheels out while the superb, serviceable hubs still have years of life in them.

[Simon E]

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

paper thin sidewalls which are approx 30-35% thiner than the outgoing version!

…

it seems Mavic have scrimped to keep the weight ‘competitve’ but this will have a negative overall effect.

Yikes! Unfortunately they’re pandering to the lighter=bettter market as every bloke and his mate thinks that it’s absolutely necessary to spend a wodge on shaving a few grammes off a wheel for bragging rights at the cake stop.

[Anonymous]

Chris Hayes wrote:

£400 will get you a nice set of handbuilt OpenPro USTs on decent hubs – DT Swiss 240s, or similar.  I should add that Kinlin rims are used by many so-called wheel manufacturers…. Hunt, for one.  Hed dont make their own alloy wheels either… In fact, I doubt that its cost effective for any manufacturers apart from the very largest…. Campagnolo, Shimano, Mavic…So dont be worried if the wheelbuilder mentions a few brands that are new to you.  

From measurements the new Open Pros are significantly thinner in the braking walls than the first Open Pro and indeed the original Open SUP. There have already been issues reported with the USTs like the unusually low pressure for tubeless but worse cracking at the eyelets, something even a Clydesdale like me hasn’t experienced in the older variants. Then there’s the paper thin sidewalls which are approx 30-35% thiner than the outgoing version!

I’d rather pay the ‘penalty’ of a few extra grams and keep the thickness of the sidwalls consistant with the old rim with the wider overall profile, it seems Mavic have scrimped to keep the weight ‘competitve’ but this will have a negative overall effect. I was going to lay down some dosh for a pair but after reading the facts re the sidewalls that was enough for me to change tack. 

At circa £70 a rim you might as well go and buy some H+Son TB14s if you want a wideish box rim or some Archetypes but there are a few decent rims out there for not a lot of money, even Rigida/Ryde do some decent rims at not a lot.

[Shades]

Richbeck wrote:

Handbuilt every time – Give David a call at DCR Wheels.

Dura-ace hubs and Mavic CXP Pro rims; everythings serviceable/replaceable (normal spokes if you’re in some far-flung place with your bike) and you can have it all tuned to your riding style and weight.

[jaysa]

Richbeck wrote:

Handbuilt every time – Give David a call at DCR Wheels.

Snap. Super-happy with my DCR climbing wheels.

[alotronic]

There is something very nice

There is something very nice about talking to someone with many years experience about what you *actually* need and them coming up with a wheel for you – subtle things like spoke count by weight and personal things like if you like loud or quiet hubs, they can recommend tyres too etc.

There are many, rowland, Just Riding Along, DCR, Cycle Clinic plus countless good independent mechanics will build you great wheels. My tip – CX Ray spokes, expensive but top draw 🙂

 

For generic wheels… my current favs are DT Swiss and Fulcrum 5s and up.

[Chris Hayes]

£400 will get you a nice set

£400 will get you a nice set of handbuilt OpenPro USTs on decent hubs – DT Swiss 240s, or similar.  I should add that Kinlin rims are used by many so-called wheel manufacturers…. Hunt, for one.  Hed dont make their own alloy wheels either… In fact, I doubt that its cost effective for any manufacturers apart from the very largest…. Campagnolo, Shimano, Mavic…So dont be worried if the wheelbuilder mentions a few brands that are new to you.  

[Jimthebikeguy.com]

Go handbuilt. The benefits
Go handbuilt. The benefits are manifold; you get the best mix of components, and some tailoring to your needs, plus a better build and a better guarantee usually. Strada are very good.

[Chris Hayes]

I’d recommend hand-built

I’d recommend hand-built wheels.  Harry Rowland (google him) has built 4 pairs for me: the latest being a set of Open Pro USTs (which are sub 1500g) and a set of Kinlin-rimmed wheels with Chris King hubs (both wide rimmed).  He’s always honest about what he can deliver, honest about what you need as a rider, and builds very comfortable wheels (no easy task on our roads).  

For those concerned about price, I think I paid 300-odd for the Open Pro USTs (on Miche hubs) and less than 200 to get the Chris King hubs built up on Kinlins (which I haven’t tried yet as these are my summer Shimano wheels). 

There are, of course, other considerations – alloy over for carbon for rim brakes and vice versa for disc – but unless I was spending an absolute fortune on something very specific (Hyperons and Boras are my particular genre of veloporn) I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

[maviczap]

Simon E wrote:

Borg 31s get a very good review (9/10 IIRC) in Cycling Weekly’s group test this week. 31mm deep, 24mm wide, disc or rim braked. Malcolm has an excellent reputation.

https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/blogs/news/borg-wheels

Plus his wheels are covered by a long warranty, which you won’t get with factory wheels

[Simon E]

Borg 31s get a very good

Borg 31s get a very good review (9/10 IIRC) in Cycling Weekly’s group test this week. 31mm deep, 24mm wide, disc or rim braked. Malcolm has an excellent reputation.

https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/blogs/news/borg-wheels

[gthornton101]

Thanks everyone, the Ceros or

Thanks everyone, the Ceros or Hunts look to be down to my shortlist, and possibly looking at handbuilt.  I’d always considered the idea of handbuilt to be too expensive but actually the pricing is quite comparable for the range I’m looking at.

I’ll let you know how I get on!

[Richbeck]

Handbuilt every time – Give

Handbuilt every time – Give David a call at DCR Wheels.

[maviczap]

philhubbard wrote:

I’d seriously recommend looking at the Cero AR24 wheels from cycledivision, mine weigh 1520g and were around £250 with a set of Conti tyres.

I’ve just done my first bearing change after 9000 UK miles, can’t recommend them enough

Yep, they are nice, and dead easy to set up for tubeless, but I the freehub was too loud for my liking, but not dissimilar to Mavic in volume.

I got some Campaigning Zonda’s a bit heavier than the Cero’s but a nice quiet freehub.

 

[Author]

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