timtheroadbiker

What would be the best wheelset for about 500 dollars. A good wheelset that is light and perfect for a beginning racer.

Altwegg

dura ace hubs

open pro rims


with change to spare!!!!!

bikeman

I agree. A good set of light rims, great hubs like the DA's and good professional build-up and you should be set for years to come. Decent light tires will help a lot too.

shokhead

The lighter the rims,the easier they come out of true? And does the amount of spokes make a difference with that?

MichaelW

The weight of the rim is not so critical for strength these days, since thin extrusions can be made reliabley. Lightweight rims will wear out at the braking surfaces more quickly.
The number of spokes is significant. A standard road wheel has 32. For heavyweight riders, loaded bikes, hard use, or a more reliable ride, 36 spokes are stronger . You can use 28 spokes on a conventional wheel for light riders, who can ride responsively, but if it goes out of true, it will go big time.
Since the rear wheel is more heaviliy loaded than the front, it makes sense to use a stronger wheel. The trad touring set was 32 front/40 rear. Some people make light-touring/commuting sets with 32f/36r.
What really counts in a trad spoked wheel is the build quality. I'd take a pro-built wheel made of low-end components (ie my commuting wheels) rather than a machine-built high-end set.

When you start using direct-pull spokes, plastic spokes, or any funny stuff, then you can probably ignore the traditional spoke advice. Just dont expect to be able to fix them by the roadside when something goes wrong.

Ajay213

I'm not to up on but I was reading something the other day that made me think a little more about the whole "how many spokes" question;

Lighter riders may find it appropriate to use 28 spokes on the front while heavier riders would be well advised to have 36 for the rear. Before you say "Whoa, thirty-six spoke wheels are dead," consider this point: 36 15-gauge spokes actually weigh l0gms less than 32 14gauge spokes. More, lighter spokes will also be stronger because there will be less unsupported area at the rim and the lighter wire (spoke), beingmore elastic, will reduce the possibility of cracking the rim at the holes.

I would assume the same can be said for 32 vs 28 spokes as well, this was picked off of https://www.speeddream.com who happens to be a well respected wheel builder (or so I've heard).

As to what can be bought, MAVIC Ksyrium Elite's can be had right around your price range (Colorod Cyclist has them $225f/$275r) but they aren't that light-weight at 860g-f and 1055g-r (lighter wheels can be had for the same money), but going by the above recommendation from another poster, they also sell a built Dura-Ace/Mavic Open Pro wheelset for $265 (for both f&r), you could almost pick up a spare set with that, or better yet throw some money at some super-light tubes and some top of the line clinchers plus a couple spare cassettes so you can have custom gearing for each event and it's conditions, etc.

Andrew

MichaelW

If you dont have a training bike, then it makes sense to have a set of training wheels, of standard, mid-range design, with a set of lightweight racing wheels for competition use. If your racing wheels are robust enough for daily training in all weather, they are probably too heavy.