A buddy of mine needs a new wheelset. City riding, streets and paved MUPs, 11-15 mph. Want a set of bomb proof wheels, 170 pound rider. Bike is a Cannondale Synapse. Budget ~ $400

good luck on the bomb proof

Shimano Ultegra 6800

First up, learn how to build wheels.

Get 36 hole hubs that are compatible with the Synapse. Get a set of good strong rims from Velocity or Mavic. Buy the spokes and nipples, and have at it. You should be able to do this for well under $400.

If you watch, these can be had for $250 (now $315). I have put about 2,500 road miles and 500 gravel road miles on these. I am a 210lb rider.

https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_597566_-1___204727

Velocity A23. Velomine sells them laced 32 spokes to 105 hubs for around half your budget. I'm 190# and have abused mine for 2 years in the city and racing CX. Recommended.

lots of spokes , heavy rim.

velomine.com
- h plus son archetype laced to a 36h shimano 5800 105 hub with butted spokes. $220.
- velocity a23 laced to same hubs. i think similar cost too. last i saw, didnt have butted spokes.

nashbar.com
- vuelta corsa hd laced to a 36h noname hub. hand built. $115-150 depending on day of the week and sale.


I have the h plus son wheels on a gravel bike and the vuelta corsa hd wheels on a road bike.
Got 60# on your buddy. Both wheelsets have been excellent for the 1000-2000mi ive used them so far.
Neither are lightweight, but you want 'bombproof' so weight really shouldnt even factor into the decision.

Either one could break a spoke and you would be fine to keep riding.

Why do you like thise, Chipbyrd? They have a decent price point: are they stiff and responsive? shock absorbing and comfortable?

That's not gonna happen. Learning curve is too long and life is too short. I'd rather pay an expert.

I bought a Shimano RS-10 wheelset off Craigslist for $80, including cassette. This was the same wheelset that came stock on my Synapse.

.

They are light, affordable, and have given me zero problems.

Frankly that sounds like a relatively light rider in pretty gentle conditions. Are they insanely hard on wheels? Really almost anything decent should be reliable under those conditions. That said, if they're not chasing marginal replacement gains, the best reliability would be from some wheels built very conventionally--32 spokes, normal J bend spokes (preferably butted), decent rims, nice, unexotic hubs. Quality of build has a pretty major impact. Aforementioned A23 build sounds great.

Actually, you'd be paying for a machine to build those wheels at that price.

Lacing and truing wheels is not that hard to learn, and I would encourage everyone not to be intimidated by it. If nothing else, it's a skill that makes it easier to take care of your bike if a wheel gets out of true or breaks a spoke.

I am aware, but that's the budget my friend has. On the other hand, the wheels on my bikes...

the machine tensions all the spokes simultaneously, the bike shop you order the wheels thru, will hand check the truing .

Like factory wheels, the spoke nipple threads will not have any grease/anti seize / special spoke prep , hand built wheels can.

Honestly, any wheel would probably be just about as "bomb proof" as any other. The bomb proofness of a wheel depends on the rider and how they ride rather than the components. Ride like gorilla while slamming into potholes and curbs and solid discs of aluminum wouldn't be bomb proof enough. Ride like a ballerina while dancing over those same potholes and curbs and you could ride on spiderwebs.

That said, people always make the mistake of concentrating on the wrong component in a bicycle wheel system for strength. Look at all the advice above and everyone is telling you, in essence, to get "the strongest rim you can find". The rim isn't the problem nor the solution to making your wheels stronger and more durable.

Those same people will tell you to use just any old spoke while not recognizing that all the strength of the wheel...okay 99%...comes from the spokes. Light, poorly tensioned spokes will make for a wheel that even that ballerina would have trouble riding and not breaking it. This article tells you why we should all be using a spoke that is called a "triple butted spoke" if we want strong, light wheels.

If you were to rebuild the Cannondale's current wheels and replace just the spokes with a triple butted spoke, you could do it for less than the $400 and have something far better. Wheel Fanatyk has you covered for building as well. This article links to a build method that I've been using 30 years. It's not hard to learn how to build wheels. I learned from that article and a few hard knocks. You can make a good first wheel using the technique and, if you do it enough, your 10th or 20th wheel will be fantastic.

Very true this. I built a wheelset with DT Swiss R460 rims ($31 each), 105 hubs ($22 front, $41 rear), and DT Swiss Competition spokes and nipples ($65). So under $200 in materials. Nothing top end, but all good and appropriate to my bike (Felt Z100). I bought a used Minoura truing stand on eBay for $8. I downloaded Roger Musson's wheelbuilding book for $12, followed the directions, trued and tensioned the wheels. I took them to my LBS as a final check. One of the wheels was slightly under tensioned and the other had a little bit of hop. He fixed them up for $10 each. So for $230 I had a wheelset that the owner of the shop said would probably retail for $350-400. Building the wheels was much less intimidating than I thought it would be, I have a new skill, I saved a few bucks, and dare I say, it was kind of fun. I'd recommend it to anybody.

By the time I could learn to build acceptable wheels, my 68 yr old friend will be in assisted living. Plus I've got better things to do, like ride.

Turning off the computer and going down to your local bike shop too direct an approach, so the internet is better?

(i'm 69)

Came across these.. I'd consider these on my CX bike I have adapted for commuting.
I'm not familiar with the brand (Hunt), but I'd still consider them.
https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Hu...-Wheelset/FVOW