I'm shopping for a second wheelset in the $400-$500 range for my cross bike. I currently have Mavic Aksiums that I'd like to dedicate to off road training and occasional cross racing, and use the new wheels for fast groups rides and crits (cat 5). I'm 185 lbs. Currently looking at the following 30mm aluminum clinchers:

1. Soul S3.0SL with PRODIGY hubs and 2.3mm bladed spokes.

2. Pure Aero with Ultegra hubs and CX-Ray spokes.

3. Custom wheels from PSIMET: Kinlin XR-300 rims, White Industries H2/3 hubs, DT-Competition double-butted spokes.

Any thoughts on these choices? Any others I should consider?

I can cut the cost of the first 2 options by 40% if I ditch the bladed spokes. Are they worth it?

I prefer a hub that's on the quieter side, but it's not a deal breaker. I know Shimano hub are quiet. Anyone have experience with the other hubs above?

I've read about 100 wheel threads and I'm dizzy.

Bladed spokes suck except in a wind tunnel, but CX-Rays are good. Have Psimet use Revolutions NDS and front.

I like my Veulta Superlite's and their just a hair over 1500g's. I picked mine up used for 250 shipped but hover right around the 400 mark when new. RoadbikeAction magazine had a review on a bunch of wheels in one of the fall issues and they didn't have anything but good marks to say. Also check out Nuevation as their extremely cheap for how light their wheels are.

Check out Rol wheels also. The Race SL's are awesome (use Sapim CX Ray spokes btw).

For cross I go tubeless with Velocity A23's, Ultegra Hubs, and DT Comps (28/32).

EDIT: For "race" wheels I go with the PSIMET option...

How about these? $465 from ChainReaction.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=38244

I have the Soul 3.0SL that you are considering. They are fantastic. Over 2000kms on them and still rolling perfectly true. Those Prodigy hubs are amazing - they spin forever.

That said, if you're looking for a quiet hub, you will be disappointed, as the Souls are quite loud. Just don't coast

I highly recommend them. Not to mention Sean @ Soul is awesome. Excellent communication from ordering, building, to shipping. I'm considering some 4.0's next year.

Double duty as cross wheels and crit wheels at 185 - I'd stick with comps....but I always do what the customer wants...

Ahh yes, I didn't notice it was for cross.

i'm pretty sure the OP is using the Aksiums for cross and the new wheels for road/crit.

lol yep. Reading comprehension fail for the teacher AND the resident wheel builder.

If you buy wheels with cartridge hubs, it'd be a good idea to know who can/will service them. White Industries does have links on their site to service instructions for both front and rear hubs.

If budget is an issue you could look at Wheelsmith's XL14's for front and rear NDS. (I've got a front wheel with 28 of them, but I'm only 155 on a heavy day and my sprinting days are behind me.)

Rob at Psimet would be a good source for info re spoke count with light weight spokes. He's right up front about tending to be conservative. I'd tend to go with him for a White Industries build.

Other than maintenance, what a pros and cons of cartridge vs cup and cone? How often do either need to be serviced? I've never serviced a hub, but repacking bearings looks pretty easy. Even though I love the look of the WI hubs and they are obviously a great product, I'm leaning toward something else that's not as noisy, and can be serviced without disassembly. Or perhaps a cartridge hub that's cheap enough that I can just replace it when it wears out. Any thoughts on this?

You already have the solution on your cross bike. Pair 6700's with lightweight spokes and maybe Velocity rims in your choice of color and just ride them until you can afford carbon;-) For a more hand-built look, specify colored nipples. The only problem with this option is limited bling. Your wheels won't be as stylish as the 20/24 sets available from a number of builders. Frankly if you'd mentioned being open to non-cartridge hubs, this would have been my recommendation.

Re service intervals there used to be a mention somewhere on DT Swiss's site re servicing their hubs after racing them in the rain. Don't know if it's still there. Didn't spend a lot of time researching it.

Wheelsmith's XL14's are reasonably priced, but Psimet has very good prices on builds with CX-Rays, if you want more bling.

There's been a lot of debate over the years about whether cup and cone result in a better hub or cartridge. In general - cup and cone hubs are only really available in a small number of drilling options anymore. Yes cartridge are easier to manufacture, but they also can last through several sucessive bearings.

Not sure what you mean by "not taking it apart" - in order to service cup and cone you have to take the hub apart. Adjusting the preload on cup and cone is also a lot of fun. So much fun that after doing it for 20 years I honestly don't miss it.

For the most part you can pull White Hubs apart with 1 wrench.

That said - you want to know how many times I have "serviced" hubs this season - including cross, road, etc? Zero. Just not a factor for the majority of high end hubs used in the applications we are using them in for the amount of time that most riders ride. That's not saying cartridge bearings never go bad, they obviously do, but it's just not a very common experience. To be honest - you have cartridge bearings go bad as often as I used to have cup and cone go bad. Difference? When the cup and cone went bad the races were usually pitted - hub was dead or new cones needed. Cartridge? A few bucks and a press and they are basically factory new.

My $0.02. There are many differing opinions on this topic. Take them all with a grain of salt and keep in mind what you're trying to do with the wheels. Keep in mind you are upgrading from Aksiums. Cartridge bearings.