Better wheels are always a good consideration, no matter what the bike, and the Pilot is a nice bike--nothing to pooh pooh. And keep in mind, a good wheelset is something you can take with you from bike to bike as you upgrade. (Just keep the old ones.)

The trouble with the Askiums is that they're Mavic's bottom-of-the-line. And 1,855 grams is still pretty heavy.

In my experience, there's nothing like a good set of handbuilt wheels. I have a set on my 11-year-old Trek 1000 that weigh 1609 grams including rim tape. And the rear one is 32-spokes, with 3-cross lacing. Replacing the stock wheels on my 2006 Trek Portland (about the same price point as your Pilot) restored that zippy new-bike feel it had lost in several years of every day commuting.

Hand-builts will run you a little more than the $300 budget you have, depending on your choices, but in my experience, every extra penny is worth it in road feel, comfort, climbability and just plain joy.

Still, many people prefer to buy a ready-made product. George's suggestion of Bicycle Wheel Warehouse splits the difference between them. Think ready-made hand-built.

Alternatively, I just bought an older bike with a ten-year-old set of Neuvation wheels. I'm very impressed. If the current models are anything at all like the ones that came on Blue Steel, they're well worth considering. They're as stylish as the Askiums, much lighter than them, and pretty cheap too. At this point I'm on the fence between another set of hand-builts and a set of new Neuvations for the next bike I'm planning to build up.

My only complaint about the Neuvations is the overwhelming number and size of the logo stickers plastered all over them. I'm in the market for a heat gun to remove them.