Wheelset recommendations
 

I'm looking for a good recommendation on a wheelset for my bike. I've been riding Velocity B43s for two years. While they look cool and hold speed well, the acceleration is definitely hurt by their weight. I've been wanting to replace them for a while but never really know what to pull the trigger on. Getting Deep Vs seems sort of pointless, the difference in weight isn't that great. I want the ride to be noticeably different. Open Pros seem to be recommended by everyone. I tried my friends bike which has Open Pros and I was very pleased with the ease at which I could get the wheels up and spinning. However, price is definitely an issue for me. I want a wheelset for close to $300. Definitely not over $400. Is this just not a reality? I want the set to weigh under 2000 grams. Closer to 1600 would be nice. Please let me know what you're all thinking....

/thread

Send me $300 and I'll send you a set of new Open Pros laced to Origin 8 (Formula) hubs using DT Swiss spokes with a weight of 1050 grams for the rear and 990 grams up front.






Or you can go here and get them yourself for $199: http://www.velomine.com/index.php?ma...oducts_id=1437

I'd say a set of Deep V's are like 400g lighter than B43's? Pretty sure they come in at about 2000g

op...get smart...the wabis that hailandkill linked to weigh just 1750g/set & ride like a dream

i have had both ellipses & open pro/dura ace from velomine & speaking from experience, unless you can build 'em yourself, for their under $200 price, for riding roads you can not do better than the wabis

(edit) for anybody who really wants a tarckish wheelset, i have a 1x code to get new ellipses for $450 good for 1 more day that i am not gonna use...pm me

Quick Thread jack if that's ok, I'm starting to set myself on some Phil Woods and wanted to know what you guys would build around them? Street on a bianchi super pista (style) frameset.

thanks-

The possibilities are endless.

Depends on what you want

+1

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Super reliable long lasting, mostly for street use in D.C. (the streets are pretty bad here)

Flat black or unpainted. Just don't like polished.

That's pretty much any rim. Get some neic spoaks and a good wheelbuilder, you should be fine with whatever your heart desires to be laced to a pw

Forget it all, you know that you want something sick, a la Ted Shred style wheels... http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=240710

Yeah the Wabi ones do sound good and weight seems very nice. The one thing I can't get behind are those ugly machined sidewalls. I know you guys will probably accuse me of being "tarcky" or whatever but come on, everyone can agree that those wheels would look way better if they were all black. Or even all silver. Just black paint with that silver strip doesn't float my boat. And honestly that will stop me from buying them. Unless.... I could paint them?

get silver OPs at velomine

+1

OP's laced to Dura Ace 7600. I love my wheels.

I don't see that Wabi come in black what's the comparable model in black the open pros? Not sure if those were recommended because the OP was talking about them or because they are the best alternative price / quality in black.

@Yung Piss...in your op you stated that you wanted a very light weight wheelset
on a budget
which is why you got so many recommendations for wabi's wheels. there is nothing pre-built that comes close to their high quality & low weight for their under $200 price.
i run a front brake so i want msw there but was not thrilled that they do not offer nmsw for my rear wheel. after a s**tload of comparison shopping i got over it & bought a set. i am really hard on wheels & have been very pleased with them.
can you build wheels? if you must have all silver or all black, then start shopping for the parts & you can put together a very nice & light wheelset for your $400 or even less. if you can not do it, then be prepared to pay-up for what you said you want (unless you get lucky & catch something used).

i am glad you love your wheels GMJ but i had that same set from velomine myself & am sorry to inform you that wabis are lighter & (imho) ride better.

@Humenbean...you posted earlier in this thread that you like phils hubs. if all these guys here got you hot for open pro rims...fyi, velomine has ops laced to hi-flange phils for just a few bux more than their op/da wheelset.

so i guess i should expect tl;dr any second now, hmmm?

kinlin 27mm
formula hubs, road front
24/28 2x cx-ray

$350? ~1500g. or less $$ and barely heavier with round spokes. take the advice of your wheelbuilder!

Read that ****. Thanks, so confused now why local shops are charging 550-600 for the same wheel set with phil wood hubs.

Lighter ≠ Better, same as more expensive ≠ better.

They spin ridiculously good and they look sweet. No complaints. Plus, I'm no weight weenie in the slightest.

Because some people are willing to pay that much and they're charging build labor.

Honestly, shops need to start marking down their wheelsets to stay competitive with online. I was quoted at around $350 for a 7600 laced to a deep-v with HALO coating. For just the rear.

QFT.

Guy I was talking to quoted me a build with Phil Hubs, said it would run $650 and not a second later says, ****, I can't charge that for a set of wheels...Hmm.

The roadie forum has a gajillion wheelset threads with companies like Boyd, Psimet, Soul, Williams coming up a lot. I've had good wheelsets from harriscyclery.com, spinlitecycling.com and a mechanic at the LBS. This forum used to be gaga for Mike Garcia at oddsandendos.com

If you have a good LBS, you may be able to have them build you a wheelset using parts you've bought. You could use the hubs on your B43 wheelset and save some money that way.

Really light rims like the Kinlins will work better if you add more spokes. They are the rims for weight weenie roadies that avoid hitting grains of sand in the road lest their wheels go out of true.

People try to drop weight by going with really light hubs but hubs aren't really rotating mass and it is penny wise and pound foolish to cheap out on hubs. That said, the Formula hubs I have are holding up well, have a classic look, and didn't break the bank.

Sapim CX-Ray spokes are great but damn expensive. Overkill for the vast majority of us not earning a living on the bike. DT Swiss Competitions or Sapim laser spokes are still very nice and not expensive.

Build quality is THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR to look for in a wheel. A well built wheel using dirt cheap components will outlast a poorly built wheel with the blingiest components.

And if you ocassionally pluck your spokes to check for tension and eyeball the rim as it turns past the brake pad or fork blade, you'll catch potential problems before disaster strikes and you've warped or tacoed the rim.

I'd go with some Velocity A23 rims, DT Swiss spokes (32 in 3 cross pattern) and Origin8 hubs and a builder that knows what he is doing.