Dancing Skeleton

I have 2011 Bontrager Race wheels on my Madone, and I'd like to upgrade. I was thinking of new Bontrager Race X-Lites, which have been going for a little under $500 (new) on eBay.
What about some Race-Lites, or Mavics? (which models?)
I'm ~175 lbs, and I don't mash that much.
I ride around 100 miles a week.

What's a good wheel for ~$300? For ~$500?

How light should my wheels be? I want to find a balance between weight, durability & price.

Thanks,

Peter

Brian@TreeFort

My school of thought on everyday wheels is that durability is more important than weight. Especially since you've got a reasonably light bike, for training purposes it's probably ok to make a bit of a sacrifice in the wheel department. 1500g is probably the lowest you'd want to go for the set, just because much below that you get into race wheelsets that aren't going to be as durable. 1500g also happens to be pretty much the weight cutoff for going to the next price point in wheelsets, so within your price range that's about the lightest you can expect to get.

I feel like I've been recommending this to everyone lately, but the Mavic Open Pro laced to an ultegra hub is a pretty awesome wheelset. It's nothing special, and it's not ultra light (around 1800g, I think), but they're tank wheels that'll last a good long time. Plus, if you're tech saavy, the Ultegra hubs are not sealed bearing, so they're pretty friendly to being user-serviced.

I would stay away from Mavic factory wheels though. They're hubs tend to not be of the best quality.

revchuck 

+1. I've got this setup on my CAAD9. I've only been doing this for three years, and based on recommendations from various quarters I bought a set. The only bad thing I've heard about them is that they're relatively heavy. I like the idea of thirty-two spokes/wheel, since I'm a relatively heavy rider (6'2", 200 lbs). You can get them for $250-$450/set, depending on whether they're on sale, and whether you can live with mass-produced/hand built or want them built-to-order. I got mine with the CD rims from Performance on sale for $241 delivered.

marnan

+1 for Mavic wheels.
(1) Mavic Ksyrium Elites for fast weekend warrior rides. Strong, light, fast, but not as comfortable as #2
(2) Open Pros rims with dura ace hubs for butter smooth century rides. Quiet and smooth.

Colorado Cyclist built my Open Pro wheelset and they have been perfect.

mattm

Open Pros ftw.

The wheels are good for: commuting, randonneuring, racing (I won on 'em!), and training too.

tFUnK

mavic open pro wheelsets are nothing special. not very light, not very strong, and not very aero. i've had good experience with shimano wheels (whr6500, whr6600), but their lower level stuff receive poor reviews. i've also heard good things about the mavic wheels (aksium race, ksyrium elite).

valleycyclist

My everyday wheels are Velocity A23 rims, Shimano 105 hubs, 32 DT Swiss Competition spokes/wheel. Those wheels ride much better than much more expensive wheels.

mattm

They may not be special, but they're solid and trustworthy, and for a good price.

And you can bet that when I won my race on OPs, the field was full of all kinds of "special" wheels..

icyclist 

+1

Madridjoe

My everyday wheels are Bontrager Race Lites. I weigh 225 and ride 6000+ miles a year. My current set of Race Lites have around 12,000 miles on them and have stayed straight and true. I know there are plenty of good wheels out there, but my experience with these wheels has been great.

wrr1020

https://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/roa...g/prod_34.html

1451 grams for the set, 195 pound weight limit, 24 spoke front, 28 rear. I have close to 1,000 miles on them and have had zero issues with them.

bengreen79

Thanks for starting this thread. I was using the search feature the other day but I didn't quite find what I was looking for. I will be watching this one. I'm looking for something that will hold up to three season commuting in this same price range.

grwoolf

+1, I love my OP's w/ ultegra hubs. Got mine from Performance bike for under $200 (watch for sales). They have not been touched with over 6,000 miles on them and remain perfectly true after several pothole/pinch flat encounters. I've heard they are somewhat prone to cracking at the eyelets, but Performance will swamp them out for a new set if you have any issues and I make sure to keep an eye on them. Hard to beat for the $.

thirdgenbird

for every one story like this there is probably two stories of people having cracked rims on bontrager wheels. i have first hand pictures if you would like. my guess is this is why they are so cheap on ebay.

edit: i should mention that i have not seen any issues with their new "non paired" spoke wheels. hopefully the new ones are better.

sbxx1985 

Easton Circuits on BT for $200.

thirdgenbird

perfect

mazdatech10

soul 3.0's or soul 4.0'S would fit the bill

xqwisit

What site is BT?

sbxx1985 

Bonktown.

Applehead57

I love my Specialized Pave SL's. Really more of a CX wheel, but works great on my road bike. I can go anywhere on these and not worry whether I should be doing what I'm doing. Weight is good, but the strength is what makes me happy.

tagaproject6

Psimet

StanSeven

I've only had one set of OP's and never had problems with them. But there are quite a few posts/complaints here about cracking at the eyelets like you said.