Wheel recommendations please!

Missiles · Post by **Missiles** » 01 Dec 2006 13:54

OK, I need some new 'summer' wheels. That is, wheels I'll use on my summer road bike (aluminium Bianchi with 105 groupset) for training.

I gather I have a choice of factory-made ones or I could spec my own and pay an awful lot more. (I would be thinking of hubs of the quality of Shimano 105 and rims of the quality of Mavic MA40s, but they don't need to be these makes/models. They're just the ones I know!

)

So, seeing as I really really am not interested in equipment - and I know you blokes like knowing what's on the market and how much it costs.......... what would you recommend and why?

Post by **CakeStop** » 01 Dec 2006 14:14

I bought some new hand built wheels recently - albeit not the sort you're likely to want (32 spoke, shimano 105, Mavic open pros). However I was surprised that I could get wheels hand built using decent components for less than many standard factory built wheels. Maybe it's because the factory ones tended to have worryingly few spokes and were probably optimised for weight & speed. All I'm saying is, don't assume that hand built wheels are terribly expensive, although for all I know it might not be possible to have the wheels you want built by hand.

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 01 Dec 2006 17:20

I have used two sets of aero wheels within the past two years. The first have excelled themselves minus one spoke break. The other was a disaster.

I'am not too techy so I cannot provides pearls of wisdom in terms of the technology but I have found my Mavic Kysrium ES wheels to be bomb proof. They are also extremely light. The only strange feature is the need to use small amounts of teflon oil on the inner end of the spokes to avoid odd clicking noises when dry. I use Ultegra on them incidentally.

Reviews of Kysriums on the web generally show them as 9/10 for quality but score poorly at around 7/10 for vfm. They are costly as can be seen on the Parker site: http://www.parker-international.co.uk/P ... uctID/4020 .
Ribble offer the following: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/details.a ... VIWHFR0275

Despite the cost, I would quite happily purchase this type again.

As for the dodgy wheels, I used some Bontragers and they suffered a failure rate of some form at around every 400 miles.

Missiles · Post by **Missiles** » 01 Dec 2006 17:41

Â£600 for training wheels??????????

I was thinking more along the lines of Steve's 105 hubs and Mavic Open Pro rims. There's nothing wrong with 32 spokes either is there?

snailmale · Post by **snailmale** » 01 Dec 2006 18:05

Ruth, I'm currently exploring my options on wheels( and other stuff) as well. There is a hell of a lot of 'exotica' out there, much of which I would love to have and would entail re-mortgaging the house, but when I ask myself what difference would they make to me as a non-competitor the answer is always 'Bu**er all'. I'm currently riding Campag 'Mexico' rims on Mirage hubs, built by Fred Williams in Wolverhampton 1O years ago. I've never broken a spoke nor even had them trued in all that time, which says something about the wheel builder, and I think I shall go for something at that level again (Mavic Open Pro on 'something'). While I understand that at your level of competition you need the best kit possible, when it comes to general riding I cant see the point in laying out Â£4 - 500 when you can get something fit-for-purpose for Â£150

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 01 Dec 2006 18:09

Ruth. I have just looked at a set of Reynolds Alta Race, 31mm deep rim with sapin laser double butted spokes. weight 1520g per pair sale price Â£179.99 RRP Â£399.99 Seems like a good buy am thinking of a set myself.
Advert in comic ,or www.gbcycles.co.uk

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 01 Dec 2006 18:14

P.S Ruth there is also a pair with a 27mm rim for Â£119.99 that are 1774g

Post by **CakeStop** » 01 Dec 2006 18:38

Ruth Eyles wrote:There's nothing wrong with 32 spokes either is there?

Not for me but country lanes, audaxes and the fact I couldn't go very fast whatever was between me and the road means my priorities may be different to yours. My priorities were strength, possibility of managing another 100 miles minus a spoke or two and not spending the price of a bike on a pair of wheels.

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » 01 Dec 2006 18:39

Ruth I cannot reccommend too strongly the Campag Vento's, on offer at the moment at Ribble at about Â£117 a pair! The bearings are superbly smooth, the rims are semi aero and the alloy is excellent in terms of smooth and quiet braking. They look good too! I bought two pairs last year (one for Deb) and mine particularly have had quite a hammering. I haven't had any trouble and they are all still superbly true.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/list2.asp ... ction=WHFR

Ringo · Post by **Ringo** » 01 Dec 2006 18:53

hey, while i'm not the most technicaly minded when it comes to bikes (i can't even spell it

) i have to agree with phil with the mavic series. while i'm guessing you'll be riding much further than me, they've never let me down. i haven't lost a single spoke despite my talent at hitting pot-holes

. plus they're quite cheap, which is the important thing. for me anyway.

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 01 Dec 2006 18:53

Sorry it's me again.I've had a pair of mavic CXP 33 rim on ultegra hubs handbuilt by davies bros cycles in Chester.these are the one's on my pinarello. Since 1999.These have only needed the spoke key twice in 7 years.I'm looking to change them as braking performace has dropped off even when new blokes are fitted,and after Knighton trip the rear rim has lots of small pot marks.so i'm guessing it's due to be changed.I also had a Ma2 rim put onto a 105 hub at Brotherton cycles about 4 years back.Lets just say in 4 months it had to be retrued 3 times,and was not useable after about 10 months.So handbuilt wheels are only as good as there wheel builder.

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » 01 Dec 2006 19:09

Never mind the wheels, I for one am interested where you get these blokes fitted. How about you Ruth?

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 01 Dec 2006 19:20

Never said I could spell.

Between Peaks · Post by **Between Peaks** » 02 Dec 2006 00:55

another vote for campag wheels here

Ed Moss · Post by **Ed Moss** » 02 Dec 2006 20:28

Yep Campag are good training wheels (but not Ventos too heavy) Bontrgager are also OK but the best ones I've used and worn out were cxp33s on Ultegra.

David Farley · Post by **David Farley** » 04 Dec 2006 01:14

For what its worth ruth i would go for a pair of hand built wheels, on the basis that you don't have to send them back to get them repaired, as with mavic factory built. Just make sure you use a good wheel builder, and you shouldn't have any problems. I would recommend mavic 32 hole CXP33 rims with the new shimano 105 ten speed hubs, which will take both 9 and 10 speed cassettes. The new hubs have better seals than the old 9 speed version

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 04 Dec 2006 18:17

Ruth. My CXP33 rims are 28 spoke and handled my weight fine. 32 spoke
for someone as light as you seems a little like overkill

.........Elmo......... · Post by **.........Elmo.........** » 04 Dec 2006 20:16

Are you sure that wasn't 28 per side Col?!

fdj francaise des jeux · Post by **fdj francaise des jeux** » 05 Dec 2006 15:23

I've got a pair of campag vento's on my hack bike, and they are great!!
Got them for Â£99 and they came with tyre's and inner tube's.
Have rode them for 2 mile's with a flat( from pub) and they are still true.
So it's campag for me.

Between Peaks · Post by **Between Peaks** » 05 Dec 2006 18:13

Stuart Underwood wrote:I've got a pair of campag vento's on my hack bike, and they are great!!
Got them for Â£99 and they came with tyre's and inner tube's.
Have rode them for 2 mile's with a flat( from pub) and they are still true.
So it's campag for me.

So, Stuart, were you aware you had a **flat** at the time, or did you discover it next day?

Garfield el Pirata · Post by **Garfield el Pirata** » 05 Dec 2006 18:20

OK Donkey.At least I didn't buckle my rear wheel on the way back from Knighton,because of an over indulgence in the pie shop!

Skulls · Post by **Skulls** » 05 Dec 2006 18:49

I had a quick look around for wheels when building up my winter bike two years ago. I bought the 105 factory built wheelset as I had trouble finding anyone that actually had hand built wheels 'on the shelf.'

They have been pretty bomb proof, but as with most of these factory wheelsets with a low spoke count, the strength of the wheel is in the rim and they often suffer with lack of vertical compliance to road irregularities....Ouch!

32 spoke handbuilt wheels of the 105/Mavic quality already metioned are probably the best bet. I always preferred to use double butted spokes as it just seems easier to get a nice, even tension...lighter too.

I'm often surprised by the amount of people that have broken spokes...I'm a bit of a Clydesdale category cyclist and I've never broken a spoke....EVER! Even on wheels that I've built myself!
I think it's down to the rider!

Tempting fate? Bring it on!

fdj francaise des jeux · Post by **fdj francaise des jeux** » 05 Dec 2006 19:20

I did notice that night, Neil but was too drunk to care!!

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » 05 Dec 2006 21:08

Well Ruth, have you come to a decision? - we're all bustin' to hear

Missiles · Post by **Missiles** » 05 Dec 2006 21:38

A DECISION?!!!! Good grief, Paul, do you not know how long it takes me to decide anything in relation to cycling equipment? My problem is that I'm not sufficiently interested to concentrate on the issue for longer than 5 mins at a time. This is just the start of the thinking......... I've got until about next April to make up my mind!

Seriously, now, thanks for all the advice - I knew I could rely on all you blokey blokes.

David Farley · Post by **David Farley** » 06 Dec 2006 01:51

Colin whilst i agree 32 spokes maybe overkill for someone as light as ruth i'm taking into consideration that these are training wheels, where reliability and longevity are very important. The slight amount of extra weight that 4 spokes are going to make is obviously the trade off, and you are of course going to get a slight increase in wind resistance. It all depends on how important these issues are. The other point is that factory built wheels such as the shimano 105 (R550) mentioned earlier only get away with low spoke counts by having very high spoke tension as well as being straight pull which is just not possible with conventional wheel technology ie, spoke heads bent at 90 degs.

John Sanderson · Post by **John Sanderson** » 27 Mar 2009 16:00

Although this thread has been. dormant for quite a while.... What was the upshot of all this advice Ruth? I'm currently in the market for wheels on my winter bike as my Centauri Xero 3 freehub has just given way, after only 18 months, so i'm looking for a spare set of training wheels....

Ringo · Post by **Ringo** » 27 Mar 2009 16:09

mavic aksium. can't go wrong really. been using them for last few years and never had a problem with em.

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 27 Mar 2009 16:13

Ringo wrote:mavic aksium. can't go wrong really. been using them for last few years and never had a problem with em.

I'll second that.

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Wheel recommendations please!

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