Originally Posted by
DubT
BTW, the Bontragers should be here tomorrow. The ones on ebay went for something like $465 + $45 for shipping, Mel said if they were 3 years old they were probably the first generation wheel that had hub failures. He has not seen any failures on the second generation wheels.
Thanks for the insight... It's always informative to hear the rationale and experience that shapes certain purchasing decisions. I tend to agree with you on the Rolf's and Topolino's, both are acquired tastes that come with some baggage and not what I'd select for my primary wheelset. From a cost standpoint, the Bontragers are also in the ballpark as the aforementioned hand-built conventional White Ind/ Velocity wheelsets with something like a ~10% upper for retail.
Again, from all accounts most folks are very happy with the Bontragers so I'm sure they'll serve y'all well for a very long time.