Went for lunch ride, wheel not true, busted spoke
 

Woe is me.

I have been shopping wheelsets, but was trying to make these stock R450's on my rain/cross bike last. I bet there are toilet paper shanks made in prison that are stronger than these spokes.

I am on a budget as kids are in college, and never thought I'd start a 'which wheelset thread.' I have had my eye on the Neuvation v. Boyd thread for a while and already own a set of Forte Titans for the road bike.

I have shopped:

If at all possible, I would like to go hand-built and local, but I know of no one 'round these parts.

Alternatives are welcome. Budget is $250 tops.

keep your wheelset, just fix the spoke/true the wheel back.
replacing your R450 with $250 budget won't make any difference.

wait till you can buy higher end wheelset with higher budge. you will actually feel the difference.

The CXP22 wheelsets that have been on a ton of specialized and cannondale entry-level bikes are not that great. But you could build a pretty good wheelset cheaply using the rim. There's also a CXP33 which is deeper but otherwise similar.

I'm not sure I will buy another set of Ksyrium wheels.. I don't like how they handle in strong crosswinds, which I encounter several times a week. In fact I might ditch my 2011 Ksyrium Elites when the mp3 warranty expires.

If the CXP22's are better than the Alex R450 wheels that come on a lot of the lower-end bikes, they will work. I just need them to get me through this season and maybe the winter. Sealed bearings are a plus for that.

Have you any experience with the Forte Titans? The bladed spokes, I imagine, would behave similarly in the wind as Ksyriums. It is also quite windy here.

The budget is not flexible as I have a set dollar amount per year in the ol' bike fund.

are you perhaps thinking he has dt swiss r450? he has alex r450, totally different rim.

rtdub- I have a set of cxp22s that came on my wife's 2011 dolce. they're heavy but very durable. when I replaced them with boyd rouleur wheels, it dropped about 1.5 pounds.

even though I talked crap on the ksyrium's aero in my first reply, I do think the ksyrium equipe or vueltas are your best choice for $250.

If weight isn't a big deal to you, maybe something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Master-V...681636&sr=1-22

Comic relief duly noted. 35 lb. shipping weight, while clearly a misprint, is still funny.

I think it's just tagged with that weight to account for the extra shipping charges of the oversized box wheels ship in.

The wheelset is probably in the vicinity of 2100 grams, so it's not a lightweight, for sure.


Here's a version with Ultegra hubs for about $20 more(free shipping). http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Ulte...-/270948900432

Found a set of discontinued, but fully supported, Forte Apollos on clearance at the local PB. I love my Titans, and those are also apparently on the way out. Why on Earth would they discontinue such a successful and positively reviewed product?

Hopefully these have never been mounted.

So I checked out the Apollos - not a lot on them when searching for objective reviews. Performance does not list them, there's not much in here on if they are worth the price diff from the titans, but the Titans. They appear never to have been mounted. $260 +tax.

Nashbar has the Ksyrium Equipe for about the same price, once I settle up with the tax and all. Weather is going to suck this weekend, so no need for instant gratification - I can wait for shipping.

I like those Ultegra hubs, but not a fan of eBay. I know, weird, huh?

never had a problem with ebay when buying new. ever.

my problems with ebay over many years are few, but they always involve used stuff not being in the condition as described, or even the model described. still haven't been completely screwed ever.

Velo Mine has it's own website if you don't like going through ebay. Wider rims like the Velocity A23 seem pretty popular right now, but I think they also sell some wheels with Ultegra hubs paired with other rims in that price range.
http://www.velomine.com/index.php?ma...f6&keyword=A23

Thanks for the links, I have plenty to choose from now. I'll post when the new wheels are mounted.