Are all 700c wheels ridiculously expensive? On jensonUSA, the cheapest wheel was $88, for a single wheel, and the price curve was exponential from there it seemed. Are the nicer wheels that cost upwards of $400 near-bombproof? I'm new to road biking, but crashed semi-frequently on my mountain bike, bending my cheap no-name steel front wheel twice. But those cost nowhere near what a road bike wheel does. Is expert engineering the reason for such a steep price range?

$88 per wheel is indeed on the way-totally-extreme low end of road bike wheel prices. IMO, the sweet spot as far as price vs. quality is in the $500-800 range for a pair of wheels. And yes, a lot of technology and engineering and R&D expense goes into creating a such a light wheelset that is capable of safely carrying the weight of a bike plus rider. But also a lot of what you pay for a quality wheel is paying for brand and bling-factor. However, I think that the price variance between road wheels and MTB wheels tends to even out over time when you consider that the sort of use that the road wheels typically see doesn't usually result in the need to true, repair or replace as much as their MTB counterparts. If you have enough semi-frequent crashes on a road bike that result in the need for wheel repair/replacement, you aren't doing it right.

What Mega Tom said. I hardly have any standards at all, and even I probably wouldn't buy an $88 wheel (though I do agree a lot of road wheels seem overpriced).
One addition: It IS possible to ride for a long time on a set of decent wheels. I weigh 240, and I hardly ever have wheel problems since I started riding like a grown-up. Go around potholes, don't catch big air, don't run off or especially onto curbs. If you're still bragging about crashing, instead of trying to avoid it, I predict you're going to have troubles.

Spending more does not really get you more durable wheels, usually you are paying for less weight and maybe aero properties.

You can get a decent set of functional, reliable, and reasonably lightweight wheels for way under $400. I bought a set of Mavic Open Pros with Ultegra hubs for about $200 at performance bike (watch for sales and coupons). They aren't anything special, but they stay true and aren't too heavy. There is a guy (PSIMET) that a lot of people on this site recommend who can build you a nice set of wheels for a reasonble price or you can also look at bicycle wheel warehouse, performance bike, etc. I think a lot of people buy expensive wheels for the bling factor. Nothing wrong with that and I wouldn't mind rolling on some aero/carbon blingy wheels at some point, but a $1,000 set of wheels is not going to make you much faster and probably not be as durable as a $300 set.

Considering a bare rim generally sells for $50-80, $88 for a fully assembled wheel is pretty good.


No, they're usually just lighter.


You shouldn't be crashing as much on a road bike. The surface is smoother and more predictable, and crashing hurts more anyway. I don't even think they sell steel road bike wheels anymore, and I'm surprised you haven't gone to a quality "all mountain" alloy rim for your mountain bike yet.

good MTB wheels can cost just as much as road wheels.

Decent mountain bike wheels would overshadow the cost of my incredibly low-priced mountain bike.

So what I'm getting for the most part is the high cost is attributed to the increasing lightness and aerodynamic qualities of the wheels, rather than bombproof construction, as the wheels don't go through that much impact during regular use?

Would switching to a 700c wheelset from my 27" x 1 1/4" wheels be worth the exorbitant cost? Are there any worthwhile performance gains to be made, or should I just wait until these wheels start to go?

If your bike is old enough to come with 27" wheels I wouldn't worry about performance gains. Just run em into the ground and go from there.

+1

As others mentioned, it's not worth it. You might even have to replace the brakes to make the pads line up. If the wheels are built properly, they should outlast many other components on the bike.

Alright, thanks for all the help. The brake pads can move (they need to move down 4mm? if I'm remembering correctly) but if it's not going to offer any kind of performance increase, I'm not going to worry about it.

No performance increase to speak of. It would be like deciding between a 29'er and 26" wheels when you plan on riding smooth fire trails.

The thinner tire and higher pressure make no difference?

Assuming you still have steel wheels on your 27" road bike, yes the pressure increase offered by alloy wheels with hooked beads is noticable within the first three blocks of your ride. Of course, certain bike frames respond better than others. Early 80s Fujis with steel wheels are known to respond very well to better wheels. You're taking at least one pound, probably more, off the weight of the bike and greatly improving rolling resistance. For a vintage bike, I would not spend $88 dollars per wheel. Look on Craigslist or go over to C&V forum and try to find an old set of 700C Araya wheels. Most of the guys on this forum that have Araya's in the basement probably have a 1/2 inch of dust on them. Those wheels would cost you less that $50 for the set and probably will fit your 126mm spacing for the rear wheel.

Check out Ebay. They have a number of new wheelsets for less than $150. They might not be light weight, but will be sturdy.

If you have steel rims, you will notice a BIG improvement in performance with aluminum rims... in the rain.