So I am buying a new wheelset and my budget is $500 or lower. Will be for everyday use, training, racing, etc. My choices are:

Williams System 30s
PSIMET:
One set with White hubs 30mm rim (more expensive, over budget)
One set with Novatec hubs 30mm rim
BWW Blackset or the Mavic Open Pro w/ Ultegra
Easton EA70

Trying to decide which one.

I vote for the Novatec hubs with 30mm (Kinlin, I assume?) rims. He can match the spoke count to your weight, and they will come out plenty light and still strong.

Boyd has some good offerings too.

https://boydcycling.com/alloy.html

Rouler $400
Vitesse $500

White Industries hubs are definitely nicer than Novatec hubs, but Novatec hubs are not bad. I have been riding a wheelset with Novatec hubs that I built as test wheels with 20f/24r spokes and Kinlin XR-270 rims (1456 grams). I personally like the Kinlin 27mm rims better than their 30mm rims.

Instead of Ultegra/Open Pro I would consider an Ultegra/Velocity A23 wheelset. Wide rims are really nice to ride. I put lots of miles on A23 rims and loved them. Ultegra hubs will last forever if maintained. Novatec/A23 is also an option.

I went with the Williams System 30s when I had a budget of $500. They have performed flawlessly for a couple of thousand miles so far this year. LBS was impressed with how true they were after the miles I had put on them. Now I'm spending a fair bit more to have some custom wheels laced up and the Williams will head to my backup bike. Looking forward to that as the System 30s will be over a lb lighter than the current "aero" Rolf wheels.

I like the look of the Boyd's. Do you have any experience with them? Is the main difference b/w the Rouleur and the Vittesse the type of spokes? Which one is more comparable to Williams 30s?

I have a pair of the Rouleur's. I got them about a month ago and they have been great so far. I great value for the price. The spokes on the Vitesse are "aero" spokes and the wheelset weight is a tad lighter. Hard to say which ones are more compatible with S-30's. I think both are very similar but the Vitesse is lighter. I believe Williams have ceramic hubs.

Waiting for the Neuvation M28x Aero's to arrive in the mail. $211 including shipping and two year wheel protection plan. Was thinking about the Williams 30's but this was less than half the cost. Seemed like more bang for the buck.

Anyone have experience with the November FSW wheelset?

what made you go with the rouleur over the vitesse? price?

I ride at 0400 in the morning on horrible streets. I figured Rouleur would hold up better if I hit any of the plethora of pot holes I cant see in the dark. Even though they are a tad heavier at 1545gr I feel better when my fillings start to jingle. and they were $100 bucks cheaper.

10-4. Did you look at other wheels? if so what swayed you to boyd? just curious. i am trying to make a wheel set selection.

My final 2 choices were Boyds & PSIMETS. I went w/PSIMET b/c I could get WI hubs.

I figured Boyd, Williams and Pismet are all quality wheelsets and it simply came down to the stickers

I like Williams but to be honest any of the choices mentioned will probably be fine for you. You could even get a set of (gag) Ksyrium Elites if you want to follow the masses.

I also agree that if you want to cheap out and spend 250ish you could do ok with Neuvations.

Your wheels look nice, but there are more differences than the stickers.

Many popular wheelsets use Kinlin rims, so those are the same (but some use other rims which seem to be more prone to cracking around the spoke holes). One of the main differences is with the hubs. You will not see White Industries hubs on premade or semi-custom wheelsets since they are simply too expensive to put on those sets. In general you will see Taiwanese hubs that can be purchased for retail for $100 on those sets which do not compare to the quality of White Industries.

Thanks

You bring up a good point about the hubs. I dont know how much a wheelset with WI hubs would have cost me but the Boyds were $425 shipped and I am on a very limited bike budget. I also had no idea about Valleycyclist at the time and would have considered them too after checking out the website.

so, to not totally hijack the thread, maybe blend it a bit.
I've been thinkin to do a set of tubeless road wheels this season.
was gonna do a Stan's convert on a set I already have, but now thinkin I might as well get a new wheelset and convert them...
considered:
Williams 19 or 30
neuvation of same level
Boyd - prolly vitesse
Psimet - not sure what he offers - I really have no need for custom, but a good wheel is a good wheel (does he have a website?)
valleycyclist ??? got wheel?

important - no loud ratchety/clackity freehub like MAVIC need apply

anyone done a tubeless conversion on wheels from any of these sources ???
recommendations for wheelsets to consider for tubeless conversion ???
If road tubeless can give the ride of sewups, then it will be the future for allround performance cycling.
if road tubeless is anywhere as nice as my mtb tubeless, I will be stoked!

Boyd is clicky and I believe Williams are too.

Many people like road tubeless wheels, and you should be able to easily convert most wheels with the Stan's kit. Keep in mind that the tubeless tires are generally heavier than the weight of a good road tire with an inner tube. Also, once you add sealant you increase the rolling resistance. Is the extra weight and rolling resistance noticable? Probably not. You can also improve the feel of a standard road tire by trying a latex inner tube. Strangely enough, the Stan's Alpha 340 rims get compressed when used with tubeless tires, and you can search and find people reporting problems with the spoke tension dropping a large amount when used with tubeless tires. If you choose those rims and want to run tubeless you need to let the builder know and he/she will modify the spoke tension if necessary (preferably mounting the tires you plan to use and double checking for the amount of spoke tension drop).

I'm pretty happy with the improved ride quality using wide rims. I have not personally rode on tubeless tires yet, but I definitely felt an improvement in handling with wide rims (I put a few thousand miles on Velocity A23 rims).

In terms of hubs, Shimano hubs are quiet (Ultegra and 105 hubs are practically silent but you are limited to 32 or 36 spokes with those hubs). White Industries hubs are not annoyingly loud, but they do make a sound (sounds like a rattlesnake to me). With many loud hubs you can add grease to quiet them down, but make sure to use a grease that will not make the pawls stick.

Yeah, I've been in a quandary as to go with 23mm width rim wheels or go for a tubeless wheelset. I've done the ghetto tubeless conversion on a set of mtb and also purchased tubeless designed mtb wheels - the converts work fine, but do lose pressure sooner than the designed tubeless; but it does take a few days before the pressure lose is noticeable.
I think I've decided to rebuild/build up a set of Ritchey WCS zero hubs with A23 rims, and then try the tubeless' conversion on them. I think, useing stan's I'll get plenty of pressure retention, at least for some days, before having to add pressure. If that doesn;t work, I can go back to tubes and use either latex or the newer, superthin tubes.
If that works, then I might start the wholesale conversion of all wheelsets to 23mm. I truly believe 23mm is the next step in clincher performance (and tubeless should/will take over the top end of clincher performance for all widths).
will report back when I have things sortted and built.

In order:
1. Psimet
2. Williams

Not on your list:
1. Mavic Ksyrium Elites (on sale for $399.-$499./I don't know how Mavic makes money on these wheels)
2. November (reasonable prices, but tested and handbuilt which to me is important)