I liked that pewter hub a bit back. It just seems kinda... I dunno, classy.

The pink ones were neat, but if there's a purple, I'd go for that

Edit: Do they *really* sound like this? chrisking.com/files/upload/hubs/AngryBee.mp3

So here is the rim


Right now I'm thinking black first choice. Pewter, gold or mango as a possibility which would accent the colors on the rim.

Just buy the damn thing and get it over with. You already lost when you tried those hideous pink wheels. Jude showed you the "goods" and now you're trying to justify the purchase.

women - 1 men - 0

You're a friendly little guy ain't ya lol. Thanks for contributing....no really

Is the pewter a close enough match to the rim? Black's boring

(Says the owner of a black bike )

I have great appreciation for Judes excellent job of up selling a set of used wheels:-) She's good.

you know, OP, since you are a fair weather rider and you don't race, those ENVE brake tracks might never wear out.

I'm asking because I don't know - riding conditions equal, what's the expected difference in lifespan between a typical aluminum clincher rim and carbon clincher rim?

Buying the Enve wheels is like voting for Pedro: All your wildest dreams will come true.

Remember, the decals might come off, or be taken off (I removed mine). I wouldn't use the slight color on them as a matching target. The black would be ideal, but as it's a fairly flat black, the pewter is a good option for a more complex color without clashing with a hypothetical future bike

In ordinary riding conditions, I used to get ~20 000 km out of a set of alu. rims. My aluminum rims now only see winter, spring and rain duty which significantly lessens their lifespan. I keep the carbon for sunny dry days. They'll last almost forever.

One thing about these c2 wheels that I dont love is they aren't decals. It is etched into the rim. The thing about the pewter is that can tend to look purple which Jude showed me at the shop. So I probably won't go pewter.

Anmeeks-we do seem to have similar situations but at the same time you don't fully understand mine. The money I get for cycling comes from selling cycle gear or equipment that I don't want or need anymore. Xmas, bday money that save up. She does the same for herself. Like you said we aren't rich by any means but we also don't need to pull money from our personal saved sock drawer stash to pay out bills or get food. We are "comfortable" because we live within our means with our income. If we started to pay for my cycling, my wife's wants and hobbies, we would be pushing that comfort. This is why I pay for it with my saved money. Trust me, its not a selfish thing, its more the opposite.

what life expectancy do you have for this wheelset?

Oh, mine were definitely just decals. Peeled them off one day when I was sick of them. Unfortunate that that's changed, but it seems to be the way a lot of manufacturers are going; apparently they don't want us to remove their branding. Grump.

No idea. Never worn out wheel. Hoping it will last a while. Or least long enough for me to save up for some enve rims! Lol

Yeah, the new ones are etched. Not saying they look bad but I don't like not having the option to pull them off.

you need to ride more

Wish life gave me more time to do so!

C2 rims, CK hubs, and Super Sapim spokes for a total weight of 1400g around $1150. That's a budget I might be able to pull off. It certainly beats $1400+ deep carbon rims. I think this build would be more suitable for me as well. I really enjoy the wild colors of CK hubs, but some would just look terrible on my bike. The purple and mango hubs both are pretty darn cool, alas not for my bike.

Wheels are something I understand little about, other than they get us places. I'm thankful you made this thread. I've got a lot of reading ahead of me.

Bianchi10, always swimming against the tide, I would just like to comment that one of the "safest" places to save money on the wheels you are planning is the hubs. Short of a spoke hole tearing out, there is not much that can happen to a hub that could cause catastrophic harm, and that is not a serious risk on today's Asian-produced goods. An aluminum, oversized axle is just that, really doesn't matter much who makes it. And very high quality Japanese bearing cartridges are widely available in the low priced hubs. If bearings should go bad, no big deal really. They are easy and inexpensive to replace. The only appearance issues have to do with the graphics which you seem to like on the DT 350s. No, you will get a very plain hub from Bike Hub Store or its competitors, but you could save hundreds of dollars, and the selection of colors is pretty nice. You learned in your testing that you can't have it all, but that doesn't mean you can't have a reasonable amount of everything. The way to stay in the cheap or at least reasonably priced zone and still have fine rims and the best spokes is to save on the hubs. Also the Asian hubs can be very light for not much money. Sure lightening the hub is not the same as lightening the rim, but up to a point it can't hurt either. Just my opinion, but buying big name hubs is throwing money out the window. Hubs are likely the one wheel component for which name branding means the least. As long as the design is right, and the materials are good quality, you will never know the difference. You don't feel the hubs in any way like you do the rims and spokes.

I would skip the Enve wheels. They are nice but I think the C2 build will be better for you. If I was ever to go back to carbon rims I would consider the November Rail as it looks like it will be a great rim. Price for a full wheelset is around $1200 and is a nice toroidal aero shape and not too heavy. Cant wait to hear the reviews. I know the new Boyd rims are excellent too.

All that hub talk above me by rpenmanparker +100.

Here's a serious question OP, what's wrong with your current wheel set?

I feel a fair amount of flex when i climb or sprint. Both of which I do the most of. Can I still ride? Of course, but I do not like the flex. Especially now that I have experienced other wheels that are stiffer and more comfortable.

Playing with some Photoshop to get a better idea of what the HED wheels will look like. They are no Enve 45's but I still aprove....

Thanks Gary for the picture of his HED C2s

Sapim supers are some of the lightest and most aggressively butted spokes on the market. If you're after stiffness, they shouldn't really be considered. Just putting that out there.

Spoke count is probably affecting your perception of stiffness the most, your Boyds are fairly under spoked for your weight/power.

Whatever you get, you need more spokes, and not necessarily 600 dollar hubs.

I can't imagine dropping 1200 dollars on alloy wheels, especially if they aren't telling me any power data.