I'm getting into racing this season and I've been saving to upgrade my components, but today I got some news that I may be able to get hooked up on the components which will save me a TON of money over what I had originally planned to be spending . I currently have the stock wheels that came with my Specialized Allez: Alexrims DA-16. Can anyone recommend a raceworthy wheelset that will A) be considerably lighter than what I'm on now and B) be pretty cheap?

I don't have a lot of money to spend, but I would be willing to shell out a few extra bucks for quality. I'm looking for the best bang for the (hopefully very few) bucks. Any advice here would be great b/c I don't really know a lot about wheels. Thank you.

Cheapest decent "lightweight" wheels (sub 1500 grams) I've found are the FSA RD 400 clinchers. 1450 grams for the set and can be had for just over $400.

55/Rad

The Da16's are not bad wheels, they make good training sets. Most of the wheelsets I am looking at in that range are 600+ though!

Mavic open pro, from Performance bicycle. Not the lightest, but good enough. Very tough.

pick any two from these three....light, cheap and tough. You usually don't find all three.


tomcat

Check out the custom Velocity Aeroheads at oddsandendos.com. 1473 grams and $299 with shipping.

Ksyrium Elites are a good deal. Not the lightest, but will take a damn beating.

Nope - never ridden or even seen them. Only included them in the research on wheels I did a couple months back. I did hear good things from several shop owners.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if they weigh more than advertised - FSA routinely does this and it's quite frustrating. I recently bought 2 carbon cranks from them - new MegaExo versions - and the real weights weren't near what they stated. Delayed the ordering process a week before committing. That said, they are quite good.

55/Rad

ecel sports makes a wheel called cirrus light. 28 hole dura ace hubs, mavic open pro rims, DT revolution spokes, hand built, 668g front, 897 rear. thats like 1450ish g. $375. excel supposedly is pretty good quality, too.

Check out the Campagnolo Proton wheelset, retails at under £200 (~$350) in the UK, available in either shimano or campag fit, have been racing on them for 3 season now and not needed trueing at all


https://www.parker-international.co.u...7-eab9959fb962

That's an oldie, but a goodie. I have not found many exceptions yet.


oops...edited my post, changed any to many.

check dave thomas' site-- speeddream.com i think. he builds them bombproof, light and cheap.

I find them everyday in the business world. Clients are tired of this old cliche (good, fast and cheap, pick 2) and expect all 3 on every job. It's an ever changing, all demanding world.

55/Rad

https://www.supergo.com/profile.cfm?L...604&referpage=

These were sold at $100.- a set during the hoiliday sale. Weigh 1750g a pair. It depends on how much of weight you have in your mind, when you say "light". In my definition, it's light. "Cheap", definitely qualifies. The quality is not bad either.
Wait for next Christmas sale.

I just mean bicycle parts. I don't mean good, fast , cheap.

I mean lightweight, inexpensive, and long lasting or well made.

It's just an old bike saying, it's right most of the time if you really compare the equvalent products on the market.

That's not very lighweight for road bike wheels? That is a good value though. If they are at that price you may have a problem. It you don't have a lot of miles on them yet, reserve judgment for now. If you do....cool !!

I'll give the Ksyrium Elite ('05) wheelset a nod as well. Although they're pretty new, I can attest to their ability to take a beating. They replaced a set of alexrims AT450's that were the WORST wheels EVER! I blew at least 1 spoke/month over the last year on them. Oh....the mavic MP3 warrenty kicks butt too. for around 40 bucks I got a 2 year -no questions asked- warranty. Hopefully I won't have to use it.

That's because it has offset spoke rear rim to eliminate dish and differences in spoke tension (Better engineered design).

I won't buy another wheelset unless it has an offset rear rim.

Sounds like an IBM commercial. You don't drop laptops in coffee shops do you?

Funny you should write that. Here's a little more about me:

www.eurorscg-drtv.com/ourleaders/jerry.asp

In a nutshell - 21 years in advertising.

jerry grant
55/Rad

The set are usually sold at $200.-. (same set sold at $250.- with other brand names). According to your logic, when they dropped the price to $100.-, the quality of the wheel also dropped? It's funny.
If you want to find out the quality of the set, ask 55/Rad. He's got the same set with Nashbar brand(or was it Performance, I forgot). Cheap doesn't automatically mean low quality.

Couldn't be more correct.

Thanks a lot to all of you guys that replied. I knew you guys could help me out here and you did. I now have a lot more names/ideas to consider before I go to buy than I did. Thanks a lot.

Mike at oddsandendos.com is great. He'll talk to you all day if it wasn't for the fact that he's footing the phone bill. As soon as his new rims clear customs, he's building me up a set. 1500 grams approx weight for a set of road race aero rims that will be bombproof enough to train and race on all season - for about $400. I haven't decided what the "lightweight" set will be yet

Call Mike Garcia - you'll be glad you did.

The set is also badged as the Neuvation M28 Aero. Performance has the same wheel called the Titan. Good, solid, smooth and medium light at 1750 grams for the set. And inexpensive.

55/Rad