opinion on wheels-handbuilt vs. pre-built
 

I already know the answer but i figure i would ask anyway. Colorado Cyclist has a sale on Mavic Ksyrium ES wheels that would be only a few dollars more than a custom set I am looking at. Has anyone ever ridden the ES wheels? The customs i am looking at are CXP33 with chris king classic hubs. I figure I will call them this week and get their opinion, but its always good to get the opinion from someone who is not going to profit from my decision.

I used to ride nothing but hand-buit Ultegra open pros for years......never had a complaint or a problem. After about 8000km on my older sets I figured it was time to invest in the lighter wheels...... got e a set of the ES's, and I must say that so far with about 800km on them, I have had no problems, and the roads around phila are not that good.

nowheels, what does the "k" mean in 8000k and 800k?

I'm hoping its 8000 km, not 8,000,000 miles (k as in 1000)

Same here, because at a mean distance to the moon of 238,855 miles, that 8,000,000 miles would be 33.5 round trips to the moon. I was starting to feel inadequate. :D

Edit: Sorry, it's only 16.75 round trips to the moon. whew! I feel better now.

That is a great price. My friend has a pair of them, and every time it rains, they fill up with water.

Just kilometers.........km......

I've had a lot more luck with handbuilt wheels. One pair I have are completely indestructible, only had to true them once and that was after a 20+mph crash.