PDXaero

finishing up a aluminum Campy build and its down to the wheels.
As far as the $500 range goes it looks like I have two good competitors but I know you guys (and girls) can point out some more options.

Soul S2.0 SL


Flit Letica


Both hit the sub 1400g mark, and while I'm not afraid of using tubulars, this may be my fall-back bike if i run into an issue with my race bike.

Thanks in advance

brian416

Soul, Awesome customers service and his Prodigy hubs are fantastic

simonaway427

+1 for Soul. I have the 3.0SL and love em. Prodigy hubs are insanely smooth. And Sean is awesome for communication as well.

Lacing looks different between the two if that is an issue. Although radial on non-drive side hasn't been a biggie for me.

AngryScientist 

glad you brought this up. i rode my souls today (4.0's), over some of the worst potholes i've accidentally hit. they were unavoidable today, trapped between big rigs and high curbs. wheels still perfectly round and true. those wheels are built well, very well.

scoots826

Another vote for Soul...I have the 3.0 expert, not even the prodigy hubs and I love them.

AngryScientist 

and just for good measure:

scoots826

Aaaaand now I want 4.0s...

I_Like_Bike

Me too!

AngryScientist 

i honestly cant say enough good things about these wheels. tough as nails and roll smooth. they also happen to be one of the best values in a deep section wheel on the market.

jayp410

OK, for those of you who have Soul wheels, are you a relatively heavy rider? I am 195-200 lb and am considering the S3.0 in either the SL or Expert configuration for everyday use. On the web site it says max rider weight of 210 lb (for both?) but then it says the Expert version has greater durability...so what gives? I want something that's going to stay true over rough pavement, but would also like something as lightweight as possible. Any thoughts on durability would be appreciated.

mikekam

I have the 3.0SL and love them. 150lbs

catonec 

why not keep it pure??

Tunnelrat81

Seriously? You're wanting a durable wheel for your 200lbs that weighs <1400 gr.???

If you go light-weight, expect them to be "maybe" a race wheel for a season or two, but definitely not durable enough to be training wheels. Positive reviews and all, light weight wheel sets have their limitations. I ride regularly with a guy who's around 200 (and fit, he's like 6'6") who regularly breaks spoke on a 32 spoke handbuilt rear wheel. He changes rear wheels 2-3 times per season due to wheel failures simply because of his weight and strength. I'm no expert, but I would highly suggest speaking to one before "investing" in a set that's not nearly strong enough for your needs, especially if "durability" is in the list of attributes you're looking for.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Wheels.asp

I'm pretty sure this guy knows wheels, and although he puts it perhaps more bluntly than necessary, he's got more experience than most of us on the subject. Read the section titled "The Wheel Rant." In no way do I mean this to de-value the quality of Soul's products, or to discount the reviews by the many happy customers. I mean this simply as a warning about potentially poor product/customer matching, rider weight limits or not.

-Jeremy

MaNiSe

I weight 210 and I got the Soul 2.0 Max in White and using wider spoke. I have been using it regularly for the past 6 months with no issue at all. I am happy with it and now planning to get either the 3.0 or 4.0 for my other bike.

JT

mihlbach

Your friends problem is the wheelbuilder, not his weight or the number of spokes.

Tunnelrat81

I do respect your experience, but must point out that you neither have much time on your wheelset (6 months on a wheelset is not [shouldn't be] seen as a significant amount of time), nor are you riding either of the 1400 gram wheelsets that the OP was referring to. As I said, I have TONS of respect for Sean's company and the products that he provides...but at certain weights and spoke counts, I have to acknowledge that they aren't goign to be the perfect solution for everyone.

-Jeremy

Tunnelrat81

That very well could be correct in the case of the 32 spoke wheel I mentioned...but he's got years of short rear wheel stories from multiple manufacturers and multiple wheelbuilders, both in higher and lower spoke counts, straight pull as well as J-bend spokes. I used him as an example because he's at a comparable weight to the OP and has been unable to find reliable light weight cheap wheels, which is exactly the "unicorn" that this thread is in search of.

-Jeremy

jayp410

Thanks for your opinion, but your friend buys his wheels from a bad builder.

I've ridden 32 spoke Open Pros, while weighing as much as 230 lb, for 3 years (several thousand miles) and have never broken a spoke. Occasionally after riding rough pavement a spoke will loosen up, but that's it. I've ridden 2000-3000 miles this year and maybe had a spoke loosen once.

And, just guessing, but I would think that Open Pros are not as rigid a rim as that Kinlin XR-300 that are used on those Soul S3.0 wheels, due to the higher profile design of the rim. Given that, I'm willing to entertain the notion that these Soul wheels could be durable enough for me at 195-200 lb, even with less spokes. Also, bladed spokes such as the CX-rays (not sure if that brand is used on these wheels) tend to be more durable due to the process of making them flat. I'm more interested to hear from people with actual experience with this wheelset.

BTW - I'm not the OP, I kind of semi-hijacked the thread (sorry OP, but I thought this durability discussion would be interesting to you as well). But I'm considering BOTH the 1540g "Xpert" version of the wheelset and the 1400g "SL" version. Obviously if heavier riders are using the SL version with success, I'd go with that. But if it requires going to the heavier version, that's fine too. Even the 1540g one would be lighter and more aero than my current wheelset.

PDXaero

For the record the OP (me) weighs from 140 to 150 lbs.
And from a personal standpoint I would not consider 1.4kg wheels if I was north of 180.
I have heard plenty of accounts of soul wheels lasting for years but have heard very few accounts of anything from Flit, despite a few of the company members being here on BF.

jks84

My 4.0's are in transit. Can't wait to get them now!

+1 on Soul's customer service. Sean has been awesome.

wrr1020

I was considering a set of the Soul 3.0's but decided to get the Blackset race tens from bicycle wheel warehouse. 1400g's for the set, shaved 1.7 pounds off the bike compared to the old Bontragers that i had. Ride isn't as harsh as it was on the old wheels, haven't taken it on a climb yet so i can't comment there, just got them this week.

Mitro

FWIF I had a set of the flits, wasn't overly impressed. I found them very flexy and I'm not a big guy (150lbs).

Sourpuss Magee

I tried to buy the Soul 4.0s last year. The guy said they were too busy working on some new product. Neuvation wasn't too busy.

Tunnelrat81

Thank you for that clarification. I completely missed that when his question seemed to be a continuation of the first post. Personally I haven't heard anything about Flit wheels...and I've heard LOTS of praise for Soul...so that's my vote. From what I've heard, you really can't go wrong, especially at your (our) weight. I chose to over-build my wheels since they're my only set and I need them to be super reliable, so I went with 28 spokes rear/24 front and expect them to be trouble free until the rim wears out or someone lands on them in a crash. But I would expect those S2.0's to be within my acceptable durability range. =) I especially like the large DS flange and half-radial lacing. I went standard 2x lacing on my set but would love to experiment with something similar on my next wheel build. I'm not sure if anyone's suggested this yet but the user Psimet2001 builds great wheels, you just have to give him a bit more time to build them up. He uses (the same?) Kinlin rims as soul, and will do any combination of hub/lacing/rim combination that he deems safe to your preference. Don't think I've ever read a poor review of his wheels. ( www.psimet.com ) I think between those two, you really can't go wrong. Be sure and let us know what you end up buying...and we expect a full review of them after a month or two. =)

-Jeremy

Flak

Geez, what kind of bull**** local wheel builders do some of you guys have?

Souls seem nice, but they're not special. They're just built by someone who knows what they're doing. I bet there are more than a few local guys that can build as good a wheel. Go look for them before sending business off shore.