Originally Posted by canklecat

Vuelta has a few wheelsets in that price range with cartridge bearings, some with flat blade aero spokes and sorta-aero rims, 30mm or so. Others with 32 round spokes, low profile rims, a good sturdy wheel design.

I was skeptical of how much difference those features could make until I got a used Bontrager Race Lite Aero wheelset (probably around 10 years old) that's pretty much a DT Swiss wheelset rebadged by Bontrager (DT Swiss 240 hubs, not sure about the maker of the rims and spokes). Only 16 spokes per wheel, which made me nervous at first. But after several spirited rides of 20-100 miles on some rough pavement and chipseal, I'm more confident about the design.

I'm more familiar with cup and cone hubs with loose bearings, but they're finicky to adjust to my satisfaction. Budget wheelsets with these kinds of hubs tend to be assembled without finesse and the cones are often way too tight. The hubs feel crunchy and when disassembled the cones are often pitted from excessive pressure. The cups and bearings are hardened and so far I've never seen either damaged. But it's surprising how many older hubs I've found with pitted cones, from Shimano and Suntour. So far my only older wheelset that hasn't developed that damage is a 1980s era Shimano 600, a little higher end than the Shimano Exage and Suntour GPX hubs on my other bikes. I don't know whether the materials are better or Shimano techs were more careful about adjusting cone tightness so that it's smooth without any play and no crunchiness.

But having tried an older wheelset with sealed cartridge bearings now, I may stick with that type.