It depends. I've found Shimano hubs, regardless of their grouppo, are usually superior to other hubs. High-priced low weight hubs catering to boutique riders often have aluminum freehub bodies--bad idea. And often more expensive rims will wear down faster than rims that are much cheaper. If you keep the weight reasonably high and get something with Shimano hubs, chances are you will be fine from a reliability standpoint.

EDIT: More expensive wheels often require more precise tensioning as well because they have fewer spokes. If you have 32 or 36 spokes, correct tensioning is much much less of a concern than if you have 24 spokes or less. Cheaper wheels with more spokes are often more durable than expensive ones.

I can't really say I've had any issues with cheap wheels. I like the idea of buying quality, but they all seem to work fine for me, especially with a little love. I would certainly never buy an $800 set of wheels, mostly because it would be ridiculous on my $200 bike.

What you say is interesting, DArthurBrown. I hate Shimano in the same way I hate Microsoft, because they're the biggest, meanest company in their industry. But when I think about it, I have to admit that they make the most consistently good hubs. Even their cheap hubs work well and are durable.

My business is hand-built basic and replacement alloy bicycle wheels. Just a couple weeks ago - one of my wheels came back after 2.5 years.

Generic Shimano clone cassette hub.
Generic 26 x 1.50 Double Wall Rim
Generic 14g Spokes - same used on Raleighs and Diamondbacks
1.5 Hours Build Time
Extra grease in the hub and adjustment.

It retailed thru a shop for $70.00

It lasted the customer for approximately 20,000 miles until he completely wore out the sidewall. The hubs bearings were super smooth. The freehub had some execessive play - typical of Shimano clone freehubs after a few years. The spoke tension was still outstanding - and the wheel had used a couple of the spare spokes I provided.

If you do decide to go with a machine built wheel...do the following to make it last.

1. Squeese the hell of of parallel spokes.
2. Lube the nipple seats.
3. Finish truing the wheel - which is what is supposed to happen - but most shops don't do it.
4. Finish tensioning the wheel.
5. Put some extra grease in the hub.
6. Spin wheel for a couple minutes.
7. Adjust and lock cones for a noticeable grind.
8. Check dropout alignment.
8. Ride around the block a couple times on the wheel.
9. Remove and check bearings. There should be no play - at most a very slight grind.

Continue using the wheel - it will wear in a tad more.

For wheelbuilders such as myself - it is always cool to have a wheel come back where the indication is that the customer got a nice return on their investment.

=8-)

I "feel you", as they say. SHimano is by no means infallible. They make mistakes as well. But I think that compared to most other bike component companies out there, they do right most of the time. Whenever I'm researching different components from different companies, I always ask, "Why did Shimano do it this way? Especially if it's heavier?" They almost always have a good answer.

Take Ultegra hubs, for example. It's hard to find an Ultegra hub with fewer than 24 holes drilled. I think the lowest most good bike shops will sell is 28. Why? And why wouldn't Shimano save a few grams and make aluminum freehub bodies? The answers: Because saving weight in those two places grossly compromises durability.

The other source I always look to is Sheldon Brown. He has never once led me astray. The Gospel according to Sheldon states that 28 spokes is the limit for the front wheel for most riders under normal riding conditions. He recommends getting 36 on the rear and 28 on the front rather than 32, 32.

Bicycling magazine, and many many posters on here talk about how much more aerodynamic low spoke counts are, especially on the rear wheel. For the most part, it's hogwash. The rear wheel is subject to so much turbulence to begin with, I haven't seen any data that shows, with a rider in the saddle, that fewer spokes on the rear is more aerodynamic. (That isn't to say that a solid rear wheel wouldn't make a difference.)

What I continually see is that the rim depth is key to aerodynamics. And according to most of the tests out there, you need about 33mm rims to get some kind of laminar flow over the rim at high speed.

So, if I had a spare $250 bucks, my wheelset would be:

Niobium alloy 33 mm rims, 28 spoke front, 36 rear, Ultegra front hub, Tiagra/105 rear, double-butted spokes.

I'm going to break ranks here and say that for a front wheel, cheap is probably just fine. Now, I know how to true and tension a wheel quite well, and given that, I've used some pretty s***ty wheels (single-wall rim, galvanized spokes, etc.) for plenty of miles with zero problem.

For a rear wheel, I'd worry more about quality. But front wheels are under very little stress unless you hit a major pothole. But the spokes on a front wheel don't need to deal with unequal tension (from dishing) or with transmitting torque from hub to rim (from chain drive).

IF you are proficient at tensioning spokes, I'd recommend you go with the $25 Altus-hub wheel, straight-up.

mrrabbit, excellent stuff!

DArthurBrown, excellent stuff, too. I have old bikes, so I'm still riding 36 spokes front and rear. I would probably agree that 28 ought to be adequate in front for most people. There are a lot of fads that are really dumb, and low spoke count is one.

Shimano isn't nearly as evil as Microsoft. I don't like their gratuitous changes, but they have to make a living like everyone else, and they have to go with the times.

timcupery, what you say makes sense, and I don't feel you're breaking ranks or at least not much, since you remind us we're talking about a front wheel. If the OP does as mrrabbit says, the wheel will probably be just fine.