Wheels wheels wheels
 

I am looking to upgrade my Mavic Aksium race wheels for any of the following three: Shimano Dura-Ace WH-9000-C24
Shimano WH-RS81-C24, or Shimano Ultegra WH-6800. I am looking for the best bang for the money. If you have any experience withe any of these or all three, I am looking for suggestion on which one to pick.
I live in Seattle and do a lot of hilly rides. I weight just under 140 lbs.

Thank you,

well, if price isn't a factor, than definitely go with the Dura Ace's, they're going to be the lightest and roll the best out of the ones you listed.

i use the 6800's, tubeless, and i love them. the only real reason i went with them though is because i'm 230#'s and they don't have a rider weight limit, and they're super cheap at Merlin Cycles online, but i've been using them tubeless since September and haven't had a single problem with them or had to true them, so they can definitely take punishment for a 16/20 wheelset if that's what you're looking for...

I don't have any first hand experience but I have been doing a lot of research on wheels since I'm in the market for something new in the $1000.00 price range. The Dura Ace 9000 C24 wheelset is pretty hard to beat. I'm also considering the Bontrager Race X Lites which get great reviews and have a very strong build and design. Out of your choices I would certainly go with the Dura Ace wheels.

Best bang for the buck is probably the Ultegra. It's almost Dura-Ace but a few hundred dollars cheaper. Most of the weight difference is with the Dura-Ace hubs (~130g lighter for the set). Personally, I spent the extra to get Dura-Ace because I wanted the lightest possible.

I'm actually shopping around for the best deal on the dura ace set right now. I did a lot of research and those wheels get rave reviews by pretty much everyone. They'll be replacing the 4.3+ pound wagon wheels on my Lynskey.

I put an order in with probikekit.com for them last week ($694 after discounts - though probably with some duty fees pending), but after 3 days of no activity, I got an email saying there was a "problem" with my payment method. No specifics, just a "problem". I'm quite certain I put in all the info correctly, using a CC that is 100% valid. Then after that happened, I started reviewing people's experiences with that place. What I read led me to just cancel the order.

Now I'm looking around again for a decent price, from somewhere with a reasonable trust rating. If anyone has any suggestions, me and OP would probably benefit.

I'd get the RS81. It's half the price of Dura Ace but has all the components except the Ti freehub.

Bang for the buck Ultegra. I had the Dura Ace ones for a while and they were great (sold them with the bike at the time). If funds aren't the issue I'd go for the DA's.

However if you care about a light climbing wheel at your weight I think you're limiting yourself in your choices. I had the Bontrager Race Light's in tubeless, great wheel. The X-lite's are even lighter. Personally I'd look at something like a November Carbon Rail 34, good weight, great profile, I run the Rail 52's as my regular wheel in summer, the 34's have the same nice wide width. my 23mm tires measure 24.6 or thereabouts on them and spin beautifully. The stock Rail's now come with White Industry hubs for around $1300 I believe.

Anyhow, depending on your budget I think you can expand your horizons a bit given your weight and go custom. I do really like Shimano wheels, I think they're incredibly under rated but I think there are more interesting varieties out there for you. JMO

I'm about your size and I roll on the 6800s. They're stiff, quick, and light (1640g). I chose them over Dura-Ace because they can be set up tubeless, and because they can be had for so cheap (got them for $330 shipped from probikekit). I really like them, and I don't really think the minor weight-savings is worth the extra hundreds to go DA. Satisfied customer here.

i got my 6800's from Merlin Cycles, but if you want them quick (2-4 days) and you want to track it they're a bit on the pricey side for shipping.

i've ordered shoes from Bike24 before, cause they were the only place in the world that had the color and size Sidi i wanted at the time, and they were great too. the shipping is cheaper (19.99€, and you should get them in less than 10 days) and they have both the standard version and the tubeless ready versions of the Dura-Ace wheels for a pretty good price, which is about $710 and cheaper than Merlin Cycles...

standard - Bike24 - Shimano Dura Ace WH-9000-C24-CL Carbon-/Aluminium Wheelset - black/silver

tubeless ready - Bike24 - Shimano Dura Ace WH-9000-C24-TL Carbon-/Aluminium Wheelset - black/silver