trunolimit

I know this probably get's asked a lot but what are the best commuter wheels in the under 200 dollars a set range?

my bike came stock with Mavic CXP-21 wheels. These are dinged up and have a bit of a hop to them. i've had them trued twice in about 1.5 years.

I purchased a set of ZeroLite Road Comp Wheels off of amazon. the rear one had a spoke that snapped.

I'm not happy with that purchase. instead of taking the wheel to get fixed I decided to just buy new ones. My bike is a giant OCR-1 and I'm running Shimano 105 5500 set.

I was looking at maybe the CXP-22 wheels with similar shimano hubs (or better ones) because I really liked the CXP-21 that came stock. Mavic Aksium I keep running into as good commuter wheels. I realize the aksium are a bit over 200 but I can spare an extra 50 for a great set of wheels.

I weigh 200 pounds and I usually ride with about 30 extra pounds of stuff in my side bags so maybe I need to go with some heavy duty wheels and leave the racing stuff alone.

Or the alternative could be to take purchase CXP-33 rims and use my Shimano 105 hubs. Thoughts?

spare_wheel

Not a fan of askiums and cxp-22s are fairly heavy and narrow rims.

I've seen velocity A23s for at little as $60 (assuming your hubs take typical spoke counts). A much better option than any of the above, imo.

HardyWeinberg

A friend had really bad luck w/ a pair of those bottom dollar Aksiums that come with shady 23mm tires, wore through the braking surface in just about a year. Too much riding in the rain maybe w/ not enough hosing off, but he does wash his bike and I never do. He doesn't commute, just 3-4 weekly club rides ~20-40 miles. At least he never used the tires, replaced them w/ his regular ones.

trunolimit

Narrow means faster? I guess what I liked about the CXP was the hubs. So velocity you say. Hmmm.

This one says it fits Shimano 5700, will it work with 5500 you think? I have a 9 speed, this one is 10.

https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Master-V.../dp/B005LY44X4

spare_wheel

Wider rim widths typically improve handling and improve the contact patch.

A23s are 19 mm internal while your cxp21s were probably 13 or 14 mm.

5700 hubs work fine with 9 speed drive trains.

trunolimit

This might be a silly question but I would then have to take into account if my bike will even fit 19mm rims. Correct?

spare_wheel

That's the internal rim width and these rims (as well as most 700c rims) will work fine with your bike.

bmthom.gis

I like Mavic Open Pro rims. There's someone on ebay that sells built up wheels.
As for what will fit...if you have a 10 speed freehub that should have no problem fitting 8-9-10 speed cassettes.

trunolimit

OK so I'm obviously to heavy for my wheels. I've damaged the mavic wheels I just paid to be trued.

I read that double butted spokes are strongest. And straight pulled spokes are better.

So I need double butted straight pulled wheels. I am desperate for wheels now so I searched craig'slist and found two sets under 200 bucks

Shimano WH-RS11 wheel set w/ FREE Continental Ultra Sport 2, 700c

and

[h=2]Ultegra WH-6600 G wheelset[/h]

Am I going to break these too?

SouthFLpix

I disagree with this. Double butted spokes are lighter, but imo not stronger than single butted. You could also go with triple butted spokes if strength is what you are after. The brand of spoke matters too because you will get a better quality steel.

I wouldn't use straight pulled spokes for the reasons mentioned in this video: https://youtu.be/Pz6Ablf8DDY

Basically they are a pain to true and work with.

trunolimit

I would love to have a set built for me. But I don't think I'm qualified at all to judge a shop as being worthy or not.

I've given up on fast wheels. I'm a commuter and strength trumps speed. I'm heading into the city to check out the ultegra wheel set. I do worry about not having the means to get them repaired because they are hard to work with. I'm in new york city which is like a sort of bicycle mecha so I'm sure there is a shop somewhere in here that supports straight pulled spokes.

Tripple budded spokes? How does that work? Is there a butt in the middle of the spoke?

SouthFLpix

From Sheldon Brown,

• Triple-butted spokes, such as the DT Alpine III, are the best choice when durability and reliability are the primary aim, as with tandems and bicycles for loaded touring. They share the advantages of single-butted and double-butted spokes. The DT Alpine III, for instance, is 2.34 mm (13 gauge) at the head, 1.8 mm (15 gauge) in the middle, and 2.0 mm (14 gauge) at the threaded end.Single- and triple-butted spokes solve one of the great problems of wheel design: Since spokes use rolled, not cut threads, the outside diameter of the threads is larger than the base diameter of the spoke wire. Since the holes in the hub flanges must be large enough for the threads to fit through, the holes, in turn, are larger than the wire requires. This is undesirable, because a tight match between the spoke diameter at the elbow and the diameter of the flange hole is crucial to resisting fatigue-related breakage.
  Since single- and triple-butted spokes are thicker at the head end than at the thread end, they may be used with hubs that have holes just large enough to pass the thick wire at the head end.
  
  If possible, I would also familiarize yourself with the process of replacing broken spokes and truing a wheel. That will save you a lot of money in the long run and it's not that difficult. Replacing a spoke is actually an easier process for me than fixing a flat.
  
  
  

trunolimit

Oh ive tried working on my own wheel. It was a big failure. I have a park tension meter and evrything. I could get the rim straight but i cant get hops out of wheels. I spent days and days trying. Not to mention 75 bucks on the tension meter and about 25 on a wheel stand.

scroca

I think it is important to get a high spoke count. I would go with 36 spokes. That's what I do and I never have wheel issues (though I'm not heavy at 170).

bikemig 

I'd run a strong 36 hole rim and use as fat a tire as fits on your bike (probably a 28c). That will make for a stronger wheel. Velocity deep v rims are a good choice; you could pick these up for around your budgeted price, Velocity Deep V Black 36 Hole Wheelset Shimano 105 Hubs [0072774668847] - $219.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike
36 hole shimano 105 hubs, DT swiss 2.0 spokes laced 3 across, and velocity deep v rims; not bad for $219 plus shipping. They're machine built. I had to tweak them a bit when I bought wheels from velomine but they were in good shape right out of the box.

Andy_K 

+1

The primary factor in wheels staying true is sufficient and even spoke tension, which comes down to the quality of the build, but having more spokes allows for a higher margin of error. A skilled wheel builder could make a 24-spoke wheel that would stay true for you, but anyone with a spoke wrench, a truing stand and Jobst Brandt's book could build a 36-spoke wheel that wouldn't give you problems.

I would also note that having to take a wheel in multiple times for truing is a sign that the underlying problem probably hadn't been addressed. Most bike shops offer a cheap wheel truing service that typically amounts to taking the wobble out of the wheel by making adjustments to the spokes near the hop. Any mechanic in the shop can do this. However, the wheel probably went out of true in the first place as a result of uneven spoke tension. Checking for this and correcting it is a bit more involved and would probably cost you more, but the long term results are better.

I've had good luck with Velocity A23's. I weigh 200 pounds and have a set of 32-spoke A23's that I built myself. I've used these for everything from road rides to cyclocross racing and they've held up. They're now available in an off-center model too, which makes for a stronger rear wheel. If you want to reel in the budget, the SunRingle CR18 is a rim I've heard a lot of good things about.

In terms of value, you can't beat Shimano hubs. Any 10-speed hub will work with 8- or 9-speed cassettes as well. I think the Tiagra level is great quality for commuting. There's not a lot separating it from 105...maybe just weight and finish.

PatrickGSR94

I HIGHLY recommend Vuelta Corsa Lites from Nashbar. They are very light at only ~1550 grams for the whole set, and extremely durable. I use them on my commuter, and I'm around 200 or slightly above, and never had any problems out of them. Over a year and 3K miles of use and they're still as true as the day I bought them, and they spin for DAYS. They have 20/24 aero bladed spokes. If you can catch a 20% off single item deal on Nashbar you can get them for less than $200.

My bike originally came with CXP-22 wheels. I'm not sure what hubs are on there, but the cassette definitely wobbles while it's freewheeling. It doesn't wobble at all on the Vueltas. The Vuelta freehub is also fairly noisy, but IMHO it sounds like much more expensive offerings, almost like a Chris King hub.

The graphics are much more understated on the current versions than they are on mine:

caloso

I don't know about these particular wheels, but from the description they should be bombproof and I have had very good experiences with Velomine.

HardyWeinberg

That's what I was thinking. It could just be a crap wheel.

scoatw

Can't go wrong on a pair of Sun Ringle Rhyno lites. Good commuting wheel that will withstand anything in any temperature. I've got over 14k doing day to day commuting. The last pair, some Aeroheats, I got 8k before the rim wall split on me. Keep in mind I use rim brakes. Which contributes to the wear on the wheels. If I had disk brakes. The rims would probably outlast me.

Darth Lefty 

Many of us are running the Vuelta Corsa wheels in various flavors. I got the HD set because I'm a schlub. They are built like a brick outhouse and about my only complaints are that they only come in black and the seam isn't very pretty.

chriskmurray

I see a lot of suggestions for Rhyno Lites, while they are incredibly strong rims, I doubt they would fit your OCR.

Since it sounds like you are on a budget and are fairly hard on wheels, I would look at something like the Velocity Dyad or Deep V laced to what ever hubs fit your budget, or even your current hubs if they are in good shape. The A23 is a great rim if you want to keep things a bit lighter. It is what I personally commute on but these other two options are usually cheaper and tougher and it sounds like at this point you value durability above all.

As far as spokes go, I am a firm believer in double butted spokes being far more durable than straight gauge spokes. These are different from straight pull spokes which in my opinion are silly and marketing hype as they were designed to fix a problem that only exists on poorly built wheels. I would say that at your weight, triple butted spokes are overkill and a well built 32 hole wheel should easily be able to handle the abuse you are dishing out.

One note, it sounds like a lot of your issues are with denting rims, which I assume is from things like pot holes or rail road tracks on your commute. If your bike can fit them, I think wider tires could go a long way in protecting your rims from dings and will make for a more comfortable ride with likely no drop in efficiency.

tsl

There's no need to buy a pair at the same time if budget is a concern.

I've learned that compromising quality to save money on commuter wheels is false economy. So rather than looking at budget $200 wheelsets, you might think about a good $200 rear wheel now, and a new front one at a later date. This way you won't be in the same situation a couple of years from now.

Double0757

I would call Petter Whites cycles. 603-478-0900 he knows his wheels, he can help you out with your decision!

fietsbob

Machine Built lower end components is what US $200 a pair Buys , But the advantage is if they are damaged you just get another wheel . no tears, no attachment.

its what is called a Consumable.. Like Chains cassettes and Brakepads ..

Have a favorite Bike shop? Order thru them and they will hand finish the tensioning and truing of the spokes ..