"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - whats the best choice for budget race wheels?

i want to buy some wheels around $300 . from what i understand 32 spoke style classic race wheels liek the pros still use i sthe strongets easiest to true most durable choice for racing. am i right? any pointers in this direction? i see alot of people race on ksyrium style wheels but i hear they are hard to fix if they get run over in a wreck. what do you use?

also i need campy hubs

reynolds alta race wheels can be had pretty cheap and they are some what aero and light too.

I'd check out http://neuvationcycling.com/

yep - for the money neuvation wheels are unbeatable.

I bought a set of these from Nashbar for 259/set.
Very durable. Have not had to true them even once. I have no regrets. Great for training and racing....on a budget.

http://www.canecreek.com/strados.html

performance has forte titans (exact same wheel as Neuvation M28 aeros) for $150/set on sale right now.

I bought the Alta Races for 250 from pricepoint.com, after they price matched blueskycycling.com

Same weight or lighter than Ksyrium SLs, and I'd wager they're more aero.

I bought the Fulcrum 5 EVO for $250, so far they have been great.

I would look into getting a decent set of tubulars built up. You could find some decent hubs and use either an NOS rim (Mavic 330, 280, etc.) or a newer rim (Reflex, etc.), 3x or 2x the rear and radial the front for a pretty light set of wheels that will be easy to maintain.

btw I think 28 spokes will be plenty strong if you're using a late model rim. 32 for the older ones.

Reparto Corse have FIR Net97 rims laved to Veloce hubs for $140. On a budget, I don't think you can do better. They also have Miche Racing wheels, which look nice, and you'll be the only one to ride em in the club. You might also try Italtechno; they are listing lots of Ambrosio wheels on t'bay.

edt:typo

Reparto Corse have FIR Net97 rims laved to Veloce hubs for $140. On a budget, I don't think you can do better. They also have Miche Racing wheels, which look nice, and you'll be the only one to ride em in the club. You might also try Italtechno; they are listing lots of Ambrosio wheels on t'bay.

edt:typo
Fir Net97 is a 520 gram 25mm rim! Furthermore, the ones that came on my bike developed stress cracks at the spoke holes in less than 5 years (fwiw I weigh 155). To me, a rim that weighs as much as a tank should be as strong as one. I wouldn't ride those things if they were given to me for free.

Tubulars are much lighter than clinchers anyway. Both the rim and the tire (compared to a tire + tube). I almost always raced on tubulars which came out over 400 grams lighter than my Mavic Open 4 training wheels.

Get the performance brand wheels. I have them on my commuter and they're fantastic.

I've been very hapy with my budget race wheels so far. Keep in mind I built them myself which kept the cost down. I believe I paid between $125 to $150 for the parts and put them together myself. They are very light and strong. I built them with 28 hole Mavic Gl330 rims a Cannondale Competition front hub and a Ritchey Pro rear hub. I used Sapim Race spokes. They have been great so far. Anyway if your at all interested in building your own I'd definately reccomend it.

What's the deal with Williams wheels? Anybody used them? I just saw an ad and their prices are crazy low...

I've been very hapy with my budget race wheels so far. Keep in mind I built them myself which kept the cost down. I believe I paid between $125 to $150 for the parts and put them together myself. They are very light and strong. I built them with 28 hole Mavic Gl330 rims a Cannondale Competition front hub and a Ritchey Pro rear hub. I used Sapim Race spokes. They have been great so far. Anyway if your at all interested in building your own I'd definately reccomend it.
+1 I built all of my own. Mostly NOS or used parts I found at local swaps (spokes were always new).
Track bike: Suntour 32h hubs, Mavic GL330 radial front, GEL280 3x rear. Cost me about $150
Road bike: Dura Ace 32h hubs, Sun Mistral Trapezoid rims, radial front 3x rear. About $100