Bicycle Mechanics - Planning to upgrade wheelset.

After posting a thread about what to upgrade on my first roadie, i have decided to upgrade the wheels.

I have decided on two. Should i get a cheap $160 wheelset on ebay which are vuelta xrp pro or something
or should i go to performancebike.com and get a $160 Forte Titan?

BTW: Shipping is free for vuelta and is $40 for Forte Titan

Links
Vuelta xrp http://vueltaxrpwheels.com/pro.asp

Forte Titan http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile_combo.cfm?SKU=22736&estore_ID=&subcategory_ID=5320&CFID=9575036&CFTOKEN=38588138




Also.... Im gonna get some new tires.

Why go cheap?:p Upgrading wheels is the best way I know of to increase your speed. Spend a few extra $$ and get a good set. You will not be sorry.:thumb:

What are your current wheels? Neither of those would be an "upgrade" from most other wheelsets, but rather a cost effective replacement should you need it.

Oh, and upgrading wheels is the SECOND BEST way to increase your speed. Training is the best way.

I am a beginner, my wheels are some low end alexrims.

Vuelta and Forte are also low end. I have the Fortes right now, but that's only because I had no money when my previous wheelset wore out. They're both cheap, but they're heavy and not all that durable. That doesn't count as an upgrade to me.

FWIW, you probably won't get much of an upgrade for so little dollars. I just upgraded my OEM wheels (Xero's) to William's 30's.....holy cow. It wasn't super cheap at $479 but what a huge difference!

You can get some pretty decent wheels for just (only) about $20 to $150 more then what your looking at now that would put those wheels to shame.

Campy Khamsin sells for about $150 for the pair at: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26100

or the lighter Campy Vento for $199 a pair at: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26101

If you don't like Campy then there's DT Swiss, Mavic...on and on at the above web site I gave; just scroll and read the reviews of any wheel set you like then choose 2 or 3 and post those here to get a final word.

I guess I got lucky when I wanted to upgrade my wheels. For $150 I bought a pair of Velomax Tempest wheels, barely used. These were replaced in the line by the Tempest II, then Easton bought Velomax, and now Easton makes the EA90 Aero model as the direct replacement. These cost at least $500 new on ebay, a lot more from a regular supplier.

These wheels are light enough, although not as light as the current version, and they feel like you're riding on air. They are also bombproof. I crashed the front wheel hard, blew the tire off, cracked the fork and frame, but the wheel only broke a couple of spokes. I replaced the spokes and started riding it again. I have Vento wheels on my other bike, and the Tempests are much better. The more expensive Campy wheels are supposed to be very nice, but I've never tried them.