Broctoon

The Hydra rim is disc brake only. H+ Son has another, called Archetype, that is similar but allows use of rim brakes. Sadly, it is not a tubeless rim.

Though they’re not in the poll, my vote would be for Hunt. I have a wheel set from them called Four Season Aero, and I love them.

mstateglfr 

Oh good call- i just naturally went to Hydra when I saw tubeless and didnt think about brake surface.

I have multiple wheels with Archetype rims and a pair with Hydra.

Chandne

I have not heard any negative stuff about the latest Zipp rim-brake wheels. In fact, I just ordered a set. I do like the Easton alloy rims- the R90 SLs and have a new pair of those I'm re-building around some R45. Those are also tubeless. I do lean towards DTs in general and their pawl hubs are okay. I prefer their ratchet hubs and I read somewhere that you can swap the internals later if you want. On your list, I'd probably get those.

jaxgtr

These....fantastic wheels. Bought some in 2014 when they first came out and never had a single issue with them.

aliasfox

I want to thank everyone for contributing their suggestions. I ended up picking the Zondas earlier this evening:
- Reviews say they're stiff and fast
- Consensus here on BF is that the cup/cone hubs are decent (and quiet)
- At <$400 at PBK, they're $170 less than the comparable Fulcrum Racing 3 at Merlin, or the discounted Spinergy Z-Lites
- They're in-stock. Ceros are out until August, Hunts are mostly out until September, and Boyd isn't even giving a date on their site.
- And frankly, I think they look cool with the radial spokes in front and triple spoke setup in the rear

With the savings over most of the competition, I got the Fizik R1 Bull handlebar, as well. Looking forward to putting this bike together - thanks all!

Kimmo 

Like pretty much every high end hub that isn't Shimano, the cassette body on Campy hubs isn't part of the structure between the axle bearings. People say it doesn't matter, but really, it's a bit crap given that the only reasons not to do it have nothing to do with the function of the hub but are more like not paying a license fee or copying Shimano.

They have to engineer around putting the drive side axle bearing near the middle of the hub - it's not ideal, and it's one of the issues Shimano's freehub was designed to address.

aliasfox

I see. So the cassette being placed outside the drive-side bearing puts more stress/flex on the axle, theoretically causing deflection, additional wear, and power loss. Placing the drive side bearings within the freehub (rather than close to the spokes) ought to significantly reduce the stress on the axle and bearings and such.

A couple of thoughts:
- Would a thru-axle help minimize this issue by making the axle a structural component of the bike?
- Is this really a concern for the average cyclist, or really for people who're putting out gobs of power? I mean, I cruise at ~140w (based on bikecalculator.com), and if I'm putting out 300w, it's not for long. It's one thing to be a theoretically weaker design, it's quite another to be a practically weaker design.

Kimmo 

It's not usually a big deal, just more of a disappointment that not all of the best ideas catch on. Mostly, it just results in hubs that are a bit heavier than they need to be, which can be easily mitigated by doing the Shimano splines in aluminium instead of the steel they were designed for (cue a mile of chewed splines). Campy's splines were designed for aluminium. It is possible to make ally Shimano splines more durable, with either forged ally or steel strips, but it's not very common. CNCed cassettes get around the problem.

As for through axles mitigating half-hubs, you'd think so, but I've seen an OEM Focus hub broken there; the steel sleeve that goes around the axle snapped at that point, although it was helped along by a seized cartridge bearing, because their sealing generally sucks, and they're an easy shortcut for engineers not concerned enough about distributing load.

And any amount of rider power, sustained or peak, is small beer next to landing the bike off a decent-sized gutter or something, I bet.

FrznTek

H Plus Son Archetype Wheelset Shimano 7000 Hubs 32h
Shimano 7000 Road Hubs
H+Son Archetype 32h black rims
DT Swiss Champion 2.0 spokes
on sale for $299 (only 1 left!)
https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...m8bfmkni3jhpi4

Edit: just look at what they have, lots of ~$300 sets.
https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...ndex&cPath=675

aliasfox

I seriously considered similar wheels from Universal Cycles - I think they were DT Swiss 460 laced to R7000 hubs (I think they had H+ Archetypes with R7000 as well). A few things knocked those out of contention though:

- I'm planning on building this bike up with SRAM, and having Shimano 105 hubs on an otherwise SRAM Force bike just seems... odd. Even weirdly, I don't actually find it that weird to have Campy wheels on a SRAM bike, maybe because it's pre-built kit. Though from a branding perspective, I think I would've preferred picking the Fulcrum Racing 3 with very similar (if not identical?) hubs and rims, but $170 speaks (especially at this price level), and I'd lose out on the cool looking lacing.

- Most of these wheels have round spokes, rather than bladed. Now, I know a low profile, low weight wheel doesn't have aero anywhere near the top of the priority list, but it's not like one really loses anything by going with an aero spoke, right? The other aspect is that my current wheels (16 yr old Ksyrium Equipes and Vision Team 30 Discs) are both straight-pull, bladed designs. Would feel like I'm going backwards by choosing J-bend, round spokes.

FrznTek

That is weird seeing as Shimano and SRAM are typically compatible, but whatever. here is an option with DT 240 hubs for $350. https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=6008

I have no idea of the quality of hubs Fulcrum uses on their low to mid range wheels, so a toss up IMO. I don't think aero spokes really matter much, but if it's something you want it's your money so get what you want.

aliasfox

I know Shimano and SRAM are compatible, it just feels weird going to Shimano for hubs when the rest of the bike likely won't have any - it's not like Shimano's especially known for their hubs/wheels, unlike DT Swiss or Mavic etc.

As for the option with DT 240s - that raises alarm bells, actually. A quick glance at other sites suggests that the hubs alone go for $600+, so why would adding rims and spokes be cheaper? I looked at options from PWB, and even DT 350s were at the top end of my consideration set. Something fishy there...

SoSmellyAir

If you want straight pull spokes, then perhaps you should avoid DT Swiss EXP hubs until this issue has been resolved.

DT Swiss acknowledges issues with Ratchet EXP hubs | road.cc

DT Swiss acknowledges Ratchet EXP hub problems in new service bulletin - CyclingTips

aliasfox

Well, good thing I went with the Zondas! Now if only their status would change from "Awaiting Shipment" to "Shipped..."

Kimmo 

*splutter*

Why should the hubs with the best internals be reknowned, huh.