Touring - Another Wheel Thread

Anyone have a good wheel recommendation for less than $250?

Here are my riding preferences...

95% commuting
2.5% short tours
2.5% long tours

I have a distance bike for other rides so i'm hoping for a nice wheelset that is sturdy without being extremely heavy and possibly capable of mild off-road (iron-horse trail).

My bike is a cross check so i have tons of clearance and the hub spacing won't matter.

Or should i just move my mavic aksiums over and buy a nice wheelset for my Roubaix ? :) I wouldn't mind carrying the funny spokes and i've toured on them once in the San Juans.

Mavic A 719's seem to be very popular with DT spokes (32 or 36 spoke) XT hubs. I have EX721 rims w/ CK hubs on my LHT but those won't fit your budget. Just a suggestion, check BeyondBikes.com or ColoradoCyclist.com <- both of these places offer good deals on wheelsets. I bought mine from Beyond Bikes and while I had to wait a week for a back order (CK hubs) they made up for it with customer service, ate the shipping and they built me an excellent set of wheels.

I got a screaming deal on 36h XT hubs from AEBike.com to go with Velocity Dyad rims. I got the rims from Airbomb, but I don't recommend dealing there. I'm building them up with DT Competition butted spokes from Jenson.

I chose the Dyads over 719s because I don't carry a 50 lb tour load and I wanted to save some rotating weight.

I got the XT's because they're light enough, very strong and serviceable just about anywhere, and they don't scream "STEAL ME". They do everything I wanted except for having sealed bearings, and that was not high on the priority list.

I got my mavic a719s on ebay from rockymountaincyclery. Once I got them I took them into the shop to hqve them looked over and tensioned, and they have been great since, commuting, fully loaded touring, and regular road rides. They were around 250 too.

Anyone have a good wheel recommendation for less than $250?

Here are my riding preferences...

95% commuting
2.5% short tours
2.5% long tours

I have a distance bike for other rides so i'm hoping for a nice wheelset that is sturdy without being extremely heavy and possibly capable of mild off-road (iron-horse trail).

My bike is a cross check so i have tons of clearance and the hub spacing won't matter.

Or should i just move my mavic aksiums over and buy a nice wheelset for my Roubaix ? :) I wouldn't mind carrying the funny spokes and i've toured on them once in the San Juans.

I just bought these (http://www.velo-orange.com/crsh105wh70.html) for my Cross Check - a CR18/105 wheelset from Velo Orange. I believe I got a great deal on them: $195 + c. $25 S/H. I would have paid about that much to build them myself. They are handbuilt by wheelmaster. I'm not sure who wheelmaster is, but they are perfectly round and true, and they have DT Swiss 14 g spokes.

At the same time, I also replaced my brake pads (changing to the salmon Kool Stops), the chain, the cassette, and the rear derailleur pulleys.

I've got about 200 miles on these new wheels and they feel great! I'm a clyde, and I wouldn't have any hesitation touring on them.

I would go for one nice rear wheel build and cobble together any old front wheel. Maybe a PeterWhite built 36 hole synergy OC on an LX hub.

I got these (http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=63) for under $150 shipped. Hand built and straight as an arrow. They come stock on some 29er bikes, so they must be pretty tough.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4402251452_6d1b23f154.jpg