Thread: Which road wheel?

Have to buy new wheels. What's a good value? I'm willing to drop $800-1000 max, but, 500-600 would make me happier. I'm 210 pounds, and I ride miles for exercise and fun on semi crappy Westchester roads and superb Greenwich, CT. backroads, on a Serotta steel bike. I have used the Continental 4000 tire for so long I forget when I bought my first pair, and I will continue using them, so, match the tire to new wheels, if that makes sense. I want durable and stiff and fast, but durable is number one. Also, I prefer to have as many spokes as possible, because I just had an accident when my water bottle worked it's way into my minimally spoked Bontrager back wheel and I'm still recovering from the road burn. Any ideas?

I know a bunch of people with Dura-ace c24s that love them, although they have kind of a low spoke count. I have some older Easton circuits that I am happy with (and started riding on them at 210lbs). I've hit stuff that I was sure was going to cause a bent rim or blown out tire and they have been fine. The newer version of those wheels is the EA70 which comes it at 550 msrp and has 24/28 spokes.

You will not kill 32 spoke Open Pro's with ultegra hubs unless you weigh 300 lbs and ride dirt roads. I'm 160 and beat the piss out of mine and have yet to even make them untrue (thousands of miles later). They aren't the lightest, but they are mucho stiff and pretty reasonable.

Ebay auction

Get a 32 hole KinLin 300 rim set from Fairwheel or others along with some Novatec hubs and get that built up with DT Comp or Sapim Race spokes. You could prolly get it built for about $ 450ish. Bomber, stiff, fast - exactly what you are looking for.

Nothing wrong with the Open Pros but compared to the above they are lacking everywhere except for comfort since they aren't stiff at all.

ive got some dt swiss 240 hubs laced up to open pros with aerolites that have been sitting in my garage for far too long without being ridden. If you're interested drop me a line. 32 hole front/rear

Same roads, same tires, on stiff alu frame - been real happy on Neuvation R28 Aero for several years of training and triathlons. Low spoke count but never needed truing and I've banged them in potholes several times hard enough to cause pinch flats (semi-crappy road at fault = concrete stretch of route 120 by the Westchester airport). I'm 170 lbs and the R28 is the lighter weight wheel by Neuvation - their M28 Aero is meant for heavier riders. And, it's $200/pr.: http://www.neuvationcycling.com/prod...black-1500.htm.

Originally Posted by Honey

ive got some dt swiss 240 hubs laced up to open pros with aerolites that have been sitting in my garage for far too long without being ridden. If you're interested drop me a line. 32 hole front/rear

^^^^

Buy these ....

210 lbs. and durability is top priority? 36 spoke rear wheel, fer chrissake. 40 spokes if you really want bomber. 32 spoke front is fine.

This would do:

Mavic Open Pro or Velocity Fusion rims

DT or Wheelsmith 14 gauge butted spokes

Rear: White R3 36H rear hub, 3X right side, radial left

Front: White H2 32H front hub, radial

Specialized Roval's, Bomber rims, swiss hubs, about 600.

Great Warranty service too.

I have one pair of Fusee EL's I'll give you a Mag price on, research them and PM me.


PS- I grew up road riding easton/weston/norwalk/darien in the 70's... still beautiful

Campy Eurus or 32h/OPs

Frankly although popular the OP is one of the most overrated and not really rigid rims. That's why it only works ok with a high spoke count.

On a little heavier but extremely rigid side is the Ambrosio FCS rim. It has a 30 mm depth profile and comes in a 28 or 32 hole pattern. Even at your weight you can ride first in the front and latter as the rear without any problem as long as you go DT Comp or Sapim Race spokewise. Get it built 2x right and left in the rear and call it good. No need to go more than 32 hole pattern which significantly widens the choice of hubs.

Originally Posted by 54-46

Campy Eurus or 32h/OPs

Eurus and Zondas are well built but at his weight he'd better off with a Fulcrum Racing 5 or 7, the rear spoke pattern on the Campys are a bitch to true if you ever have to.

Originally Posted by ts01

Same roads, same tires, on stiff alu frame - been real happy on Neuvation R28 Aero for several years of training and triathlons. Low spoke count but never needed truing and I've banged them in potholes several times hard enough to cause pinch flats (semi-crappy road at fault = concrete stretch of route 120 by the Westchester airport). I'm 170 lbs and the R28 is the lighter weight wheel by Neuvation - their M28 Aero is meant for heavier riders. And, it's $200/pr.: http://www.neuvationcycling.com/prod...black-1500.htm.

This. I ride on our roads out here in AK and kept meaning to replace this wheelset with something that would match the rest of my build quality. But for a training wheelset, my 200lb fat-ass and three years hasn't exposed any weaknesses.

Originally Posted by Hicks

Frankly although popular the OP is one of the most overrated and not really rigid rims. That's why it only works ok with a high spoke count.

On a little heavier but extremely rigid side is the Ambrosio FCS rim. It has a 30 mm depth profile and comes in a 28 or 32 hole pattern. Even at your weight you can ride first in the front and latter as the rear without any problem as long as you go DT Comp or Sapim Race spokewise. Get it built 2x right and left in the rear and call it good. No need to go more than 32 hole pattern which significantly widens the choice of hubs.



Eurus and Zondas are well built but at his weight he'd better off with a Fulcrum Racing 5 or 7, the rear spoke pattern on the Campys are a bitch to true if you ever have to.

Fulcrums are nice. Actually, my personal preference is hand laced regular spoked wheels. Here's my guy, Gravy: gravyprowheels.com Dude built me MTB wheels 10 years ago and road wheels 7 years ago. They are still rolling true.

Got a nice deal on Mavic Ksyrium Elites for $600. Boy, these are nice wheels. Love 'em, especially on fast downhills. Picked up the Mavic "insurance", which, for another 50 bucks, covers any serious damage, including crashes, for three years. I rarely buy extended warrantries, but this sounded good.

Another vote for the Open4s. I've got the ceramic version paired with Record hubs on a Serotta Legend Ti. Bike is going on 12 years old and it's seen a lot of hard miles. Wheels are solid and finally due for a truing. Last time was about 3 years ago.

I had raced on a set of Rolfs for awhile. Super light, handled fairly well but fragile as hell. The rear hub wound up exploding on me, split in half, right down the center line. That was fun.

mavic ksyriums rool. best bang for buck wheels out there. the mountain wheels rool too. put em on and forgetaboutem. i will pretty much only sell mavic in my shop.

rog

Big fan of Easton here. Been riding the Circuit/EA70 for about 10 years on many bikes, and they just keep going.

Stay away from anything by Ritchey or Cane Creek, and the low end Ksyriums are noodles, so be aware.

Originally Posted by Benny Profane

....Picked up the Mavic "insurance", which, for another 50 bucks, covers any serious damage, including crashes, for three years. I rarely buy extended warrantries, but this sounded good.

I ride Ksyrium SLs (love them) and had a crash this weekened due to a bad pothole I didn't see. I was fine, but my front wheel is not. I literally bent the sucker about 10% at the top. Anyway, my LBS had originally paid for the MP3 warranty program for me at the time of purchase.... Needless to say, Mavic is replacing the wheel. Awesome stuff.

Campy Euros if you can find them used, or on a good sale. I got my set used for about $500, new or over a grand. Best damn wheels I have ever ridden. I have never had to true them, never broke a bladed spoke, good (but not great) in cross winds, stiff as hell, and I have several thousand miles on them plus what ever the previous owner put on them. I am not very heavy, but I know a lot of 200lb+ guys ride them and have no issues.

Best wheels I have own in 40 years of high mileage riding.

I've had good experiences with Ksyrium's and easton's and heard only good things about shimano 7850's and zipp 101's. I just found a crack in my HED ardennes, which apparently is pretty common. Only around 4k on the wheels and I only weigh 140lbs, so pretty disappointed and would not recommend the HEDs. I found some 101's for $999, so I'll see how I like them.

Originally Posted by axebiker

Been riding the Circuit/EA70 for about 10 years on many bikes, and they just keep going.

Owned the Circuits for a while too but can't share the love despite the 24/28 spoke pattern. Found them really lacking rigidity even at my weight so can't imagine a 200+ lbs bloke on them. In the end I was glad I ditched them.

The Ksyriums - particulary the lower end ones - are getting mixed reviews here as well as Mavic's customer service. Fulcrums otoh seem to be rated positively thruout fwiw.

My HED C2 Belgiums and King R45's were <$800 built - 3X, 32 hole front and rear. They are nice.