Originally Posted by
BigBlueToe
$300 sounds like a nice figure for the set, but I could be talked higher - maybe $500 - if I'm getting a good bang for my buck.
You don't weigh that much, honestly. There are lots of wheel sets that can work. I bought a set of Neuvation M28 Aero2 wheels for $200 and they've been great. Just upgraded to Easton EA90 SLs, thanks to eBay and the 25% cashback from live.com; they'll end up costing around $420, IIRC. You can also get 1400g EA90 SLX wheels for not much more. Williams System 19 wheels are also pretty reasonable in price; just over your $500 budget if you have to pay for shipping.
I'm planning on a triple crankset - I've gotten too used to it from my touring bike - and with a triple I've read that a 9-speed cassette is better than 10. Is that right or am I full of baloney?
Baloney. My 10-speed Ultegra SL triple (now for sale, BTW) never missed a shift and seemed darn-near bullet-proof. After running the gearing calculator over on Sheldon Brown's site, I found there wasn't really any difference between a road triple and a compact double, so I went with the double (SRAM Red) on my new bike...