Wheels Question
 

I am looking for a set of wheels for my Fuji Team (Full Carbon) with a $450.00 budget.

Any suggestions?

:popcorn

:)

Another "wheels" thread...

I'll say, as I said elsewhere, that I've been very happy with my Spinergy Xaero Lites. Right about $450 for the set, and just over 1500g for the pair. I'm a Clyde and I've got over 1000 miles on them and haven't had to do anything to them yet. They're as true as the day I got them.

Charles

What kind of riding do you do? Where do you ride (kind of surface, road hazards, climbs, etc)? How much total weight will the wheels be carrying? Are you more interested in performance or longevity?

Answers to this will denote the answer.

For those that do not need a performance wheel- want one that is reliable- and at an economic pice- Hand built wheels are the answer. Depends on the builder of course but they can be recommended. A wheel based on Ultegra/105 hubs mated to a Mavic OpenPro/CXP rim will suit most. I run 105 hubs with Mavic CXP33 rims with 36 double butted spokes and they are strong- dependable and ride like a dream. X2 lacing on the spokes gives me a stiff wheel that gives a comfortable ride and last time they went in for a check for true- the Builder checked them and regreased the hubs instead to give me my $15's worth, The wheel was true- spoke tension was fine and that was after 4,000 miles. Or look at the Mavis Krysium wheels on offer at a lot on online shops. Stiffer ride but possibly a better wheel but with "Bling" attached.

Off topic - do you like the way the frame rides?

You might be able to get a set of Fulcrum 3's if you have a bit of time to shop around on your budget.

I ride on the road or bike path 100+ miles a week with 2 to 3000 feet elevation gain.
I weight 186lb
I would like to find a happy medium between the two.

As Stapfam says, the old school gold standard for wheels is the Shimano hub with an open pro (light) or CXP33 (aero and strong) rim. They have been the staple of wheel builders for years and they will provide excellent value and performance for the money.

Having said that, modern wheel technology has come a long way baby. There are modern rims that are incredably strong, straight pull spokes and cartridge bearing hubs to tickle the fancy. Most small wheel builders have not followed this trend yet because frankly the material to build one of these wheelsets isn't economically available to the average back shop biker.

For the time being, I've given up building my own wheels because there are some excellent commercial offerings available after picking through the sales. My preference at the present time are ***** ********** (:innocent:) for MTB's with straight pull spokes. I can buy some of these wheels for less than it would cost me to buy the material to build them.

When the going gets tough, the pros go back to Box section Tubular rims,
like Mavic Reflex. (a representative of type)

Particularly after meeting a gentleman who was stranded by a single broken spoke on a modern low spoke count wheel, I am definitely staying with at least 32 old school spokes per wheel, in a 3X pattern. I am far more interested in reliability, repairability, limp-home capability, low moment of inertia, etc. than in minimizing wind turbulence.

I use Mavic Ksyrium Elite's. They list for about $600, but can routinely be found in the $400-$450 range online or ebay. I weigh about 170, and ride in similar conditions to yours, and have liked the way they ride so well that I now have five sets (for different bikes). They have bladed spokes and cartridge bearings, which I was particularly pleased about, since I have 'taken a shine' to ceramic bearings, and have converted all sets over. I have two sets with grade3 and three with grade5. The grade three set increased my 'rollout' distance about 250ft on the same hill. I highly recommend the Elites, with or without the ceramic conversion!:thumb:

After re-reading maddmaxx's post, I remembered another possibility. I got a set of Williams '19' wheels which are light and strong, and come stock with ceramic bearings. They might be a little higher than your stated $450 budget, but are semi-custom, and I doubt you will get better service from lesser wheels. I have mine set up with Tufo tubular clinchers, and save them for events. The Mavics I earlier posted about are my everyday riding/training wheels.

+1 And....I looked at the Fuji web site and the team bikes have a lot of options so it is not clear which wheel you have now. If these are the cheaper, heavier stock wheels which an LBS will give you a $150 credit for if you upgrade to a better wheel set at time of purchase, then the Mavics will be a nice upgrade. If you already have upgraded wheels because you purchased a higher end team bike, then upgrading is not going to offer much performance improvement, if any. But having an extra set of nice wheels is one of life's pleasures.

I have been looking at Williams as well the 30 or 30X

Any one have input about these
http://www.neuvationcycling.com/wheels.html

Thanks for all you help guys.

Well i ended up getting Forte Apollo wheels and Gatorskin tires.


UPDATE: 8/10/10
After running the Forte Apollo for 3 weeks i just returned them due to the fact they were cracking now i have Mavic Aksium's