Originally Posted by omarcastz

Knowledgeable people of Bikeforums:

Short Version: Messed up by riding Mavic R-Sys SLR wheels. Need a recommendation for a good everyday replacement wheels for safety reasons. My stats: 125 lbs in weight, 5’-6” height. Into 2nd year of cycling. Wheels used for training, beginner racing, century rides, gran fondo rides, etc. budget is no object but I don’t believe that I need the most expensive thing as a relative beginner.

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Long version: I believe I messed up with a wheel purchase and need your help in a wheel recommendation replacement. Below is the deal:
My CAAD10 came with a pair of Mavic R-Sys SLR wheels (yes you read that right). I inquired about a wheel upgrade when I got the bike from the stock Mavic Askiums. I believe that the bike shop wanted to offload these R-SYS wheels so I got an insanely great price on them (I got my bicycle around the time they are looking to clear inventory for the new models). Being a total newbie and not having any knowledge I said OK as I found out the discount was more than 60% off MSRP. These wheels worked great for me for about a year and a half as I was getting into the sport and building my fitness. The braking is extremely good, they are insanely light and they work well for climbing. Those are the good things about them.

Once I started doing some more serious hill riding I noticed that the front wheel felt unstable and unsafe during long descents. It is downright scary and more and more I began losing confidence in the wheels. It was then that looked at the reputation of these wheels online and found out about the failures. Apparently I have the “fixed” version of these wheels but knowing the reputation now and the fact that the front wheel does not feel safe (descending on an old borrowed Ksyrium Elite feels a lot better) does not give me confidence in the wheelset. They are ok for short hills and for flat riding (though I also realized that they feel like molasses when comparing them to just about ANY other wheel now that I have tried other rider’s wheels).

I am looking at recommendations for replacement wheels mostly for safety reasons but since I will be replacing them I would like to get the best bang for the buck I can. I am only into my second year of cycling and while I do have the budget to get top of the line Zip 303’s or Enves (which believe it or not is what some people I talked to recommend), I am not convinced that I need top of the line wheels at this point. I am looking for a good all-around clincher wheel that I can use every day for amateur road races, century rides, gran fondos and the odd triathlon event.

My specs: I weight 125 lbs, 5’-6” in height. Love to climb hills and I seem to do better in hills than my peers but I do tend to struggle a little and have to work harder to keep up with the group on flat rides. I am primarily cycling for fun and fitness and as a hobby and don’t have any illusions of being or even attempting to look like a PRO. I ride a CAAD 10 which is good enough for me. Budget for the wheels is anything from $100.00 to $3,0000 (so basically not limited by budget) but I am looking at best bang for the buck wheels.

I have done a lot of reading online. Enough to know that these SLR wheels are the least aero, have safety issues, they are proprietary in design, and that for the original MSRP they cost one can get a much better set of wheels. I am not looking to buy speed. I am also probably not looking at top of the line zipps (they would most likely be wasted on me as a relative beginner). I want a to feel safe on a set of wheels that are not a proprietary design as the Mavics. They must be clinchers but there are so many options out there with Carbon Clinchers, Carbon/Alloy Hybrids, and Alloy wheels that my head is spinning from reading so much. I just want to ride my bike and feel safe coming down mountains damn it…. With the thousands of options out there I am not looking to get a definitive answer by asking this forum because I now that is virtually impossible. What I am looking at is certain recommendations to narrow down the field for me and at least steer me in the right direction (I want to not make the same mistake again. fool me once kind of thing). Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post. Love the site and the community here.