I'm looking for some light wheels in the next few months, I'd like some lightweight, maybe 1300ish g at the most, wheels that are 11 speed compatible. Here's the rub: even though I don't weigh a ton (185-195 depending on season), I do seem to destroy wheels, usually by spokes pulling out of the rim at unreasonably low mileages. Any suggestions?

I might be a pessimist but I don't see 1300g wheelset going hand in hand with durable, specially when you claim to be up to 195blbs.
Now, around 1600 I've been very happy with HED Belgium wheelset.

Am I missing something? You're not a lightweight guy and you live in Ohio. Not exactly a recipe for needing lightweight wheels. If you give up on your 1300 gram requirement there are a boatload of suitable options in the 1500-1600 gram range for clinchers.

I'd heartily recommend the American Classic Argent tubeless wheelset at 1372gm, wheels which I've ridden myself for 3 seasons at 220lb without issue (aside from a crash related loosening of the spokes; wheel got run over by another rider!). I love these wheels.

AC also have a lower profile, 1232gm wheelset called Road Tubeless which use the same hubs, spokes, nipples, and lacing pattern as the 30mm tall Argents, so I'd expect similar levels of durability. The RTs do have a lower max rider weight, so double check that, but I think it's 210lb or something.

[h=3]Front Wheel[/h]
DT Swiss 240S Front Hub 28 Hole $152.10 106g


DT Swiss RR 440 Rim Black 28 Hole $87.21 440g


DT Swiss Revolution 14/17 Gauge Spokes Black $37.80 126g

DT Swiss 14g Alloy Black Pro Lock $22.12 10g

3 Cross





[h=3]Rear Wheel[/h]
DT Swiss 240S Rear Hub 32 Hole Shimano/SRAM $305.10 213g


DT Swiss RR 440 Asymmetric Rim Black 32 Hole $87.21 440g


DT Swiss Competition 14/15 Gauge Spokes Black $20.00 115g

DT Swiss Competition 14/15 Gauge Spokes Black $20.00 115g

DT Swiss 14g Alloy Black Pro Lock $25.28 12g

Select Non-Drive Side Spoke Lacing Pattern

3 Cross

I run these at 275 lbs. and they hold up solid.

You answered your own question. It's like poetry, it rhymes.

Who said anything about need? I don't need a light wheelset, nor do I need (or have) a particularly light bike. What I do want to do, is break 20# on my super sport. I know it won't accomplish anything for me performance wise, but I need one more wheelset anyway, so why not make it something lighter. The wheels Im using now are 105 hub 32 hole wheels, velocity fusion in back and open pro in front. They're going to survive armageddon at the penalty of 1800 g. Thanks for the American Classic recommendation, thats some astonishing durability to survive being run over with only tension issues!

Whatever happened to Mad Fiber wheels?? They were crazy light but I think the company went kaput.

The company was bought by Divine Cycling Group. This is the same group that bought up Blue and Serotta. DCG went kaput. Leaving all of their companies in a horrible situation. This is right around when Blue went bankrupt in it's second iteration and they fired Ben Serotta from Serotta.

Mad Fiber declared bankruptcy and all of it was sold in a 2 piece auction. 1 contained all of their intellectual property, patents, and some inventory of component parts. The other was all of the tooling and fixtures/molds, tables, workstations, etc. It was one of those auctions where you had to submit your 1 bid up front and you had to wire the money to a bank account in escrow before you could even be considered for your bid. Then on the physical assets you had to have them removed from the site within 72 hrs of winning or some such.

I thought long and hard about bidding but I didn't really have a good idea of what the ballpark on either lot would be. Turns out I could have had the whole company for ~$15k.

But at least Bill Stapleton bought it up. He's always good for the sport and business....right? I mean all of his riders are totally clean and he runs a tight ship and all....right?

Former Highroad team owner Stapleton buys Mad Fiber wheel assets | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Damn, $15k? That had to sting a bit. Sorry, man. Probably would have been really cool had you gotten it.

There are tons of 1300g low profile carbon clincher wheels that are durable. Even more so with carbon tubulars.

1300g alloy wheels will not be nearly as durable at your weight.

Oy. great bit of information though. As a wheel builder maybe you can answer a question, for people who are serial wheel killers, is carbon up to it for daily riding, or should it be alloy only?

Name a few, and be specific.

I don't know if it's astonishing, and considering that Jamis is spec'ing the Argent on their top "adventure bike," the Renegade Elite, I suppose there may be good reason to believe the wheels are, in fact, quite durable.

If it's good for an adventure rig it ought to be good enough for my roadie. I can get behind high quality alloy.

cheap, light and durable. the holy grail.

American Classic 420 Aero 3. 1550ish in weight. I've had these for a while now and just recently upgraded my bike. Old one was a 10 speed. New one is an 11 speed. Because my wheelset is older it had a 10 speed hub and after getting my new bike I realized I can't use my old wheels. I am devastated as these were the do everything wheels. Tri races, climbs, training, etc...My upgrade to a new bike is going to cost me a few hundred more to get a new rear 11 speed compatible AC 420 Aero 3.

The OP never mentioned cheap.

Classy! Where do I get them? Can I get them with "Lightweight", "Aero" and "Fast" interspersed?

Lightweight is a brand. A very, very expensive boutique brand.

I never did. I've got plenty of cheap parts, if I get more they're going to be worth having

Dunno.... maybe it was your claim that you continue to pull spokes through rims.

Welp, it's only money.

The OP is using Mavic Open Pro hoops, so I'm not surprised that he is having issues with spoke hole failures.

At just under 200lbs it shouldn't be a problem to go with a lighter wheelset, but maybe not 1300g.

Bit of a loaded question really. Can carbon be used daily by heavier riders? Sure. Does it make sense to? Depends on the specific application and the specific rider.

Industry 9 ULCX Carbon Pillar @1280g