Hi so I ordered a road bike that lists these specs:

Hubs: Aluminum with 7 speed cassette
Shifters: Shimano easy index Stem shift 14 speed
I need to find budget wheels that fit
So far I really like the bike and I do like the wheels however the whole thing could lose
a few pounds, and the hubs/wheels are the only thing on the bike that I think might be
somewhat generic because there is no badge on them. I know what everything else is and quality is good for me. I just want to go faster and lighter
so I want to find a set of wheels that would fit on this bike. I am not totally against changing
out the gears for something better either depeding on the LBS labor charge.

I'm afraid that a bike that comes new "today" in 7-speed and a stem shifter isn't really a "nice" bike, those things scream low-end. Any attempts at lightening that bike is throwing good money after bad. Depending on what's on right now there might be a reasonable improvement by switching tires, but that's as far as I'd go.
You can look for parts at garage sales as such, but any part bought at retail prices is likely to be a waste.

The weight in a bike is in the whole bike. You're not going to see a real change until most parts are replaced - at which point you'd have been better off buying a lighter bike in the first place. On top of that the importance of weight is often greatly exaggerated. For big climbs, sure. But otherwise there are other features that are far more important.

i'm assuming this is one of the low end bikes direct bikes like the windsor wellington and I agree, not a lot of easy ways to lighten that up. its not as simple as just changing out the gears, if you get a new set of wheels that can take 8,9, or 10 speed hub, you will also then need to change shifters which means either going with some kind of modern downtube clamp on shifters that can support the extra gears or buying some brifters. A lot more money. If this truly is a bikesdirect.com bike, you may want to attempt to sell it now and cut your losses or just ride the crap out of this thing and save up for one of their better models. they do have bikes that are significantly better in the $500 range.

Lastly, chances are you don't ahve a carbon fork on the bike, that would be one area to save weight and improve ride quality but again, by itself, its not gonna save you a ton of weight. You really need to save 200 grams in the fork, 200 grams in the crank, 100 grams in each wheel, etc and etc to get an aggregate weight savings.


btw, just how much does this bike weigh now? do yo uhave any pics of it or can you give us a model name or a link to it so we can see the detailed specs?

+1 Any new bike that has seven speeds and stem shifters is a really low end bike. Best way to save weight now is to sell it and buy something higher end used. Seven speed was the standard for road bikes in the early 1990s. Better bikes were 8 speed by 1993 or so.

It's not that heavy but the rims and fork could lose some weight, I have no hills where I live so I dont notice anyway.

I would like some wheels with some good bearings in them and maybe more aerodynamic.

7 speed frames use 126mm wide axles on the back.
100 is normal for fronts

Aerodynamic You will make more of a difference ,

though skinsuits and pointy tailed helmets
look silly on people riding not in a sanctioned race

Again, good money after bad. And half a pound here, a quarter pound there really isn't much looking at the whole rider + ride package.

Unless already thrashed, well adjusted cup & cone are hard to beat. If improperly adjusted, even the finest bearings sucks. And even if you buy quality wheels there's no guarantee that they will be correctly adjusted at delivery.

Aero means high-profile rims, low spoke counts and bladed spokes. You don't have to push aero particularly far before they start to become heavier than non-aero wheels.
Besides, aero wheels will only be a real benefit once you're already going at a decent pace. Basically they can help a rider sustain a high speed but the benefit really isn't big enough to give much help in accelerating.

If you think that shimano automatically equals good quality, think again. Shimano has a wide product range, from real simple stuff to top of the line.

It's like saying your're driving a Ford - doesn't mean anything by itself, can be anything from a dinky little Ka to a big pickup truck.

bikeformoney, I'd wager that most cyclists start off on bikes that are less than ideal. That's fine as it's part of the learning curve. Ride what you have for awhile and later on keep it as the foul weather bike or sell it for something you're trying to modify this one into.

Brad

True, but even the low end Shimano stuff works, and works well, unlike a lot of the other low end crap found on BSOs.

this is a new bike? or a used bike? perhaps a bit more information on what brand and model of bike this is. is there a website we can link to? was it a craigslist/ebay purchase

if you bought the bike new and it have not arrived and you want to 'upgrade' it already you should have gotten a nicer bike in the first place.

No argument there. With very few exceptions I think Shimano provides excellent value for money. Just trying to make the point that Shimano can be both crude and refined, and still be equally much Shimano.

i'm almost positive that the op ordered the bikesdirect windsor wellington 1.0 road bike. In hindsight, he probably should have spent a little more money and gotten the wellington 2.0 or 3.0 or the gravity liberty 1. Those models upgrade to sora brifters or microshift brifters from the stem shifters. and 24 speed instead of 14. The good news is that the bikes frame probably isn't all that terrible. OP, you should simply ride the crap out of that bike now, or attempt to sell it someone locally for what you paid for it. At the very least, ride it enough to get an idea if it's the right size for you.

OP, your frame may in fact actually be a pretty decent frame but the fact is that what you will spend after the fact to upgrade it will be a lot more than if you bought a better bike to begin with. Forexample, a $299 wellington could be upgraded to sora brifters and carbon fork, but even if you scour the internet and get best possible prices, those two items alone will cost you about $250 and then you will also need to have the expertise and time to install them versus buying the wellington 3.0 which is only $130 more than the 1.0 but includes brifters and carbon fork.