I buy all my wheels from Bicycle Wheel Warehouse. They build great wheels with great prices and ship fast. The Speed Tuned Delta 38 Carbon is $709.00 with the coupon code 25Now, normal price is $2K. They also have a 50mm version.

They used to have a discount code for Bike Forums members but I don't see that on their site anymore.

https://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/Sp...38-Carbon.html

I just bought these, got them in the sale for £420, haven't fitted them yet as will save them for the summer, but couldn't resist as they were cheap and had really good reviews!
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-rr-50...ncher-wheelset
https://road.cc/content/review/prime...heelset-285637

I've been very pleased with these after 1000 miles. Boyd Prologue

I am not suggesting Zondas as they are not carbon fiber, nor "high dollar" wheels. I am going to say that I am a fan of Zondas and they are always in the mix of wheels that I might purchase. IMO, no other wheel set tops Zondas for the combination of quality, weight and price. I have never had carbon fiber wheels, likely never will. Nothing against them, just no need to go that route. Also, barring some kind of mishap, I will probably never buy another set of wheels.

You should try some other wheels. I've had 3 sets of Zonda / Racing 3 wheels and they definitely offer good bang for the buck, but there are better wheels out there.

Boyd makes some nice wheels. I had multiple sets of Altamont's for some rim brake bikes back a few years ago. They never had any issues.

OP here. Thanks for all the suggestions. Very helpful! More background than in my original post: My son has carbon wheels now, but they are very worn because of the rim brakes. He would like to get a new bike, but also would keep this one as a back-up, so the new wheels would be a long-term investment to keep his current bike in working condition.

Thanks for the comment. I have no doubt there are better wheels available. I actually did pass on Zondas for my last wheel purchase. I was wanting a new set of disc brake wheels and they were one of the options. I wound up purchasing a set Hed Ardennes Performance. Two main reasons for that; Hed rims are wider, and they sent me a coupon for $100 off on my first purchase. I really like these wheels and am glad I went with them. I did have to purchase the QR adapters separately, which added $65 to the cost. IIRC, the difference from the QR Zonda disc set was about $150. The Hed weigh a bit more, but the hubs are terrific and I believe they are going to be very durable. The $100 coupon was a definite factor.

Did you read this linked article? The Chinese wheels like the Yoeleo and Winspace look to be comparable to the other name brand wheels.
In fact the Winspace HyperX is the best performing 50mm rim.

Yeah, I did check these wheelsets, Winspace is out for me - CF Spokes... I have a set of Spinergy PBO Spoke wheels - nice ride, no problems with Fiber spokes, but more of an 'endurance'/comfort wheel than performance... and at $1200, I'd put my money on the ZIPP 404s.
The Yoeleo however is worth considering... but I have questions there also, I'm not crazy convinced I welcome the SAT tech for spokes... If I go tubeless, I don;t have a problem with an extra 15g of rim tape...
Also they didn;t publish their internal rim widths for the different ext width options...
But I'm only 20% to thinking of getting CF wheels - I won;t benefit much from the aero, given how slow I ride these days, and certainly don;t need the 'cool' factor...
Very happy with my current wheelsets. Love Tech, but somehwere along the line human consumerism needs to be stemmed if there's to be a successful swing in the planet's environmental favor.... And to this point, I plead 'Guilty'...
Ride On
Yuri

https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/...xoCbFIQAvD_BwE

95% of the performance for 1/2 the price of the big names.

I personally run Hunt 35 Carbon Aero Discs on my race bike and at $1000 and 1357g they are quite the value and perform great. On my gravel bike, I just installed Hunt Aero Light Discs and they were $500 and at 1488g they are some of the best alloy wheels. Personally, ENVE or whatever premium wheelsets are great BUT at that price point, you can literally buy two Hunt sets and new premium tires for both sets. You have other good value carbon wheelsets like Yoleo, Light Bycle, Winspace, Farsports, and ICAN and all of these are fine wheelsets but IMO have the huge drawbacks that they are mainly based in Tawain and China so customer service, shipping, and building the wheels are worse than Hunt. My hunt wheels were both in stock, shipped the next day from Colorado, and got to me in NY in three business days. Customer service for me was good for Hunt and while they are based in the UK, reaching them and getting an answer is fast.

True, he did say savings account. Where after a year, its buying power will have decreased due to inflation and gained none at all due to negligible savings interest paid.

I still cannot believe that the OP did not give his son's budget for the wheelset. This would be like asking for advice from an auto enthusiast discussion group for a new touring sedan. Which one should I buy?

OP here. The budget was the question. Should he spend more for a premium brand, or less for a brand with a lesser reputation that might work equally well? He tells me he has decided on Hunt wheels.

Hunt's are rebranded Chinese wheels, however they are pretty excellent and Hunt themselves offers a few models that are in stock and can ship the same day, plus Hunt has good-excellent customer service. The biggest qualms some people have with Hunt Wheels are the Novatec hubs which do tend to wear faster than a premium hub and they can be crazy loud, like obnoxiously loud. I personally love that loud noise since it allows me to let people know ahead of me that I am approaching.

I have a set of the 35 Carbon Aero Disc $1000 and a pair of the Aero Light Discs $500 and IMO they are two of the best value Carbon/Alloy sets out there hands down. If your son is running rim brakes I recommend the 36 carbon Wide Aero wheels which are only 1417g and $899. If he wants to go deeper than he can get the 50 Carbon Wide Aero wheels at 1537g or $1019 or 50 UD Carbon Spoke wheels 1358g $1439. If he wants an alloy set or just a 2nd set than the Race Aero Wide wheels at 1496g and $549 are a great deal

Thanks for the information. I'm passing this along to him. He's not on Bike Forums. Probably spending too much time riding to participate in the conversation. Again, your comments are much appreciated.