Open Pro wheels
 

I've been riding OP wheels for 5000 miles now and I just started to think about trying something different now. I think the OP wheels are great and I know they are comfortable, but what other wheels would you recommend for a nice ride that are more aero and lighter. I did a search and it seems most or the aero wheels are fairly stiff and harsh riding.

budget?

$600

how much do you weigh?

There is very little difference in comfort between wheels. Tires can make a difference, but wheels don't.
Any wheel that flexes enough vertically to have noticeably more comfort has the spokes too loose and they will be breaking or unscrewing from the nipples shortly.

OP rims are junk. I am done with them- they crack, the joint rattles, and they make for a laterally flexy wheel that needs frequent truing. I have been using 27mm deep IRD Cadence aero rims (same as Kinlin) which weigh the same as OPs but make a sturdier wheel.

I would recommend those rims. However going from OPs to 27mm deep rims won't get you a noticeable areo improvement... you'd want to go to 45mm or deeper rims for that. But then you're talking carbon or carbon/aluminum, both of which cost more.

200#

I would go with a handbuilt set.

Rim: Kinlin XR-300. If you want a little lighter the XR-270. If you want even lighter Velocity Aerohead
Hubs: Dt Swiss 240s. If you want lighter get an Alchemy ELF front hub.
Spokes: Sapim CX Ray
Nipples: Brass Rear, Alloy Front
Lacing: 32 3X rear. 28 Radial Front. If you want lighter 28 2X rear and 24 radial front.

They will probably be about 200 grams lighter then what you have now and will be very reliable. The XR-300's may be slightly more aero but nothing drastic.

I was think about these.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Sh...el/5360031349/

that's just not true. spoke count and rim profile all add up.

if you are looking @ pre-bult wheels bontrager X-lite are really nice, I bought a pair last week and I am quite impressed, roll nice, spin up great and do not seem to flex

my weight is 181 they run around $599.00 on sale now with shops that carry trek and bontrager

I started with 32H Open Pros, switched to Easton EA90 Aeros 18H front, 20H rear, and found the Eastons much stiffer. I thought I got a little better speed on fast downhills and riding flats at/above 18mph. I'm riding the Open Pros again while the Eastons get a spoke repaired, and the comfort difference is noticeable. They definitely don't feel as fast as the Eastons.

I'll go back to the Eastons when they're fixed... they weigh less.

This may be naive but I've thought that more spokes = a less aero wheel. I've especially thought that after going down any hill with my 32-spoke OP wheels and hearing them generate an attention-getting volume of noise.

I would guess that some of the aero wheels are more aero if only because they have fewer spokes..

Wow - am surprised to hear that. I have two sets with over 25K miles between them and zero issues.

more spokes are less aero but not as strong for a bigger rider. At 200lbs a 28 front 32 rear is pretty solid. If you want slightly less weight and slightly more aero you can do a 24 front and 28 rear but they may be flexy or come out of true more often depending how hard you are on wheels.

Same here. A few thousand miles on my set, terrible roads, curb hopping, etc, and they've never even needed a truing. 32 spoke double butted with Ultegra hubs.

I think I could put them on my MTB and they'd be fine.

I'm going to second that OP rims are junk. I've seen plenty of pulled out eyelets, rattling internal eyelets, etc.

there may be a lot of problems but there are probably more open pro rims out there than any other rim. Plus they are always built as a daily used and beaten set.

It also depends how you build them, and how well you build them. Too much tension? Pull an eyelet. Too little tension? Goes out of true.

May the record show that I disagree with every assertion made in this post.

mavic specifies a somewhat low spoke tension for their rims.

if they're pulling through, the spokes have too much tension, or the wheel was not built properly with even tension.

I've had my powertap wheel rebuilt four times in two and a half years. I started with an open pro rim. First rebuild was to install stiffer spokes as the wheel was way too flexible and the spokes were coming loose. Second was because the rim cracked. The next OP rim had a rattly joint, which I just lived with. Third rebuild was because it had been retrued by myself so many times (like weekly) that it was just wasn't staying true and the rim was warped. The fourth rebuild was to get rid of the OP rim (the wheel was again requiring retruing too often) and put an IRD on.

All builds were done by good wheel builders. I weigh 141 lbs. The IRD wheel has required a couple minor trues but it's been fine since.

I prefer the DT 1.1 rim personally over the Open Pro.

I weigh the same and went from a set of OP to Easton EA90 SL. 1500g and can be found for around $500 the set (check ebay). I like them.

Thanks everybody for the replies. So far the OP have been good to me. I touched them up once since I've had them. I have been looking at several wheel sets, but I just don't know how they hold up to the weight. I have read where the Easton EA90 SL are pretty nice. I don't know if I want to get a set custom built. I have Velocity Fusions on my touring bike and they are good wheels as well, but I was thinking of something a little lighter.

Wait - so they re-built your wheel and re-used the rim the first time? Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture, but you 1) re-built a wheel, re-using the old rim; 2) possibly had debris in the rim (new one); 3) monkeyed with the wheel by trying to true it yourself?

Sorry, but something doesn't add up here. I've used Open Pro rims on five wheels, two of which I've used for off-road. None of those wheels had any issues whatsoever. I weigh more than you, and I don't pamper my wheels - they get used daily for commuting and recreational cycling. I would suggest my experience with this product reflects reality more than your own, especially when you compare our opinions to the wider user base. Something doesn't add up with your story.