Road wheels

Capone

Capone

Likes Dirt
I am after some advice

I need a new set of road wheels for commuting (45km plus a day) that cant handle a bit of abuse and fast riding. My current wheelset which came on my 2012 Giant Defy are the work of the devil, spokes break
all the time and the wheels never stay true.

The LBS has advised ultegra wheels, but im still not sure due to the low spoke count, im currently 95kg, and ride at a pretty decent pace.

What ideas does anyone have
 
Mike95

Mike95

Likes Dirt
Heaps of choice.
depends on what you want to spend.

Ive ridden on the Mavic Aksium race & they have been a cheap & robust wheelset.
No problems with them.
I havent ridden the ultegra wheels, but i would imagine them to be quite solid & fine for your weight.
 
O

Ozkaban

Likes Dirt
Mike95 said:
Heaps of choice.
depends on what you want to spend.

Ive ridden on the Mavic Aksium race & they have been a cheap & robust wheelset.
No problems with them.
I havent ridden the ultegra wheels, but i would imagine them to be quite solid & fine for your weight.
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Aksiums are fine. I had them originally but upgraded to ProLite Braccianos. Much better wheels.
(http://www.pro-liteoz.com/store/) I ride them as a regular wheel for commuting or racing. I'm just under 90kg and they've got 5600km on them under all weather conditions on Sydney roads. They're 1500g (Aksiums are 1800g) they'll be the best $400 you spend on your bike.

The distributor is regularly on the bna forums and provides great support.
 
Capone

Capone

Likes Dirt
Mike95 said:
Heaps of choice.
depends on what you want to spend.

Ive ridden on the Mavic Aksium race & they have been a cheap & robust wheelset.
No problems with them.
I havent ridden the ultegra wheels, but i would imagine them to be quite solid & fine for your weight.
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Money isnt a great issues, but i will cap at $1500

Love the idea of mavic's, hate the reality, that rear hub is a nightmare
 
C

clydesmcdale

Likes Bikes
Capone said:
I am after some advice

I need a new set of road wheels for commuting (45km plus a day) that cant handle a bit of abuse and fast riding. My current wheelset which came on my 2012 Giant Defy are the work of the devil, spokes break
all the time and the wheels never stay true.

The LBS has advised ultegra wheels, but im still not sure due to the low spoke count, im currently 95kg, and ride at a pretty decent pace.

What ideas does anyone have
Click to expand...
I've got a set of Campag Zondas that have been bombproof after breaking spokes on my RS10s that came standard on my CAAD10. Have put about 6k on them and they are as true as ever and never had any spoke problems. Picked them up from Wiggle, delivered for less than $400. When I first got them I was about 105kg, now about 93kg. A mate of mine bought some ultegras recently and they look very similar to the Zondas, almost identical front hub.
 
Alo661

Alo661

Likes Bikes and Dirt
And if you don't want to pay for Campag branding, you can just buy Fulcrum (racing 1's or 3's, only difference between 1's and 0's is the ceramic bearings, which are pointless for anything on a bike.). Anything Mavic will be an upgrade over all the DT made wheelsets that come with Giants and Treks.

If you want a wheelset thats never going to break or go out of true. Mavic CXP33 Rims to 32/36 Hole Dura-ace Hubs. It'll be heavy and stiff, but it'll last decades.
 
F

Fifteen.Hundred

Likes Dirt
My opinion is that you go custom.

All the wheels mentioned are great but all have proprietary spokes which can be hard to source which ultimately could effect your commuting.

You could still build a very light and strong wheelset with standard spokes and have the benefit of being able to find spares anywhere.

might i suggest: Kinlin rims (your choice of spoke count), CX ray spokes (a bit of bling) on your choice of hubs (shimano, DT swiss, White industries)

easily built up for under $1K

take a look at Zen Cyclery http://www.zencyclery.com/ for some ideas.
 
A

al_

Likes Dirt
Alo661 said:
If you want a wheelset thats never going to break or go out of true. Mavic CXP33 Rims to 32/36 Hole Dura-ace Hubs. It'll be heavy and stiff, but it'll last decades.
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I built myself a set of open pro/DA 32h wheels that are lovely, tough and a much better choice for this kind of riding than factory DA or ultegra wheelsets.

I would look for something with plenty of spokes and some bulletproof hubs - perhaps White Industries or similar. They will weigh a bit more than the alternatives, but last forever and take plenty of abuse. Get them built properly and you won't have to think about them again anytime soon.
 
Capone

Capone

Likes Dirt
al_ said:
I built myself a set of open pro/DA 32h wheels that are lovely, tough and a much better choice for this kind of riding than factory DA or ultegra wheelsets.

I would look for something with plenty of spokes and some bulletproof hubs - perhaps White Industries or similar. They will weigh a bit more than the alternatives, but last forever and take plenty of abuse. Get them built properly and you won't have to think about them again anytime soon.
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what kind of money did that cost, and who did it
 
c3024446

c3024446

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I got some 2012 Mavic Ksyrium SL's from a place in Europe and shipped here for under $700. Seem fast, look hot, very light, rear hub is no big deal. Put some mineral oil on it every 5000km or so, and change the bushing of the freehub by paying $20 to a guy on eBay when it wears out. Piece of cake.

I'm 92kg btw.
 
A

al_

Likes Dirt
Capone said:
what kind of money did that cost, and who did it
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I got a set of lightly used hubs cheap, spokes from CRC and built them myself so they didn't cost much at all. I'm sure a set of DA or Ultegra 32h hubs, rims and spokes could be bought for under $500 easily though. Add in $100-150 for someone to lace them up and it won't break the bank.

Can't support the above about Mavic Ksyriums - mine were lovely... until I bashed a pot hole and found the rims can't be replaced, so the whole thing had to be thrown out.

If you are 95kg and commuting you need something tough with lots of spokes. If you use good rims, spokes and hubs they don't have to weigh too much.

My SS commuter uses a White Industry 32h hub/Deep V back and 32h Shimano 105 hub/Open Pro on the front which are also bulletproof. That bike gets bashed around daily and hasn't broken a spoke or needed truing once in nearly three years.
 
Alo661

Alo661

Likes Bikes and Dirt
al_ said:
I got a set of lightly used hubs cheap, spokes from CRC and built them myself so they didn't cost much at all. I'm sure a set of DA or Ultegra 32h hubs, rims and spokes could be bought for under $500 easily though. Add in $100-150 for someone to lace them up and it won't break the bank.

Can't support the above about Mavic Ksyriums - mine were lovely... until I bashed a pot hole and found the rims can't be replaced, so the whole thing had to be thrown out.

If you are 95kg and commuting you need something tough with lots of spokes. If you use good rims, spokes and hubs they don't have to weigh too much.

My SS commuter uses a White Industry 32h hub/Deep V back and 32h Shimano 105 hub/Open Pro on the front which are also bulletproof. That bike gets bashed around daily and hasn't broken a spoke or needed truing once in nearly three years.
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Yeah, new 11 speed DA hubs are expensive. Older 10 speed Ult/DA is getting cheaper. Miche/White/Phil Wood, most good track brands make bombproof hubs. Hell, you could even run Hope road hubs if you wanted to. Open Pro's are good compromise between weight and stiffness, CXP33 weight more and are mainly for tandems or if you have some ridiculous power output of 2 kW's.

What year Ksyriums? I know 2011/12/13 can all be replaced. Had a 2012 pair returned and rebuild front wheel with a new rim because of a crash. Had a set of 2012 Ksyrium Elite's on my Madone last year, shat all over the stock wheels. Trued them once in about 2000kms.

Just jumped on CRC. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=85476 DA C24's, Cheaper than the cost price from Shimano Aus...
 
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The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Mavic wheelsets can be very hit & miss. My own set of Ksyrium Elites (~05 vintage, roughly) have been utterly bombproof, yet I've had customers who have had no end of trouble.

I've built several sets of Open Pro/Ultegra or Dura Ace hub wheelsets for people of varying statures & all bar one (which got crashed) have performed reliably for years.

Not sure about the durability of low spoke-count wheels (including C24s/50s) for commuting under a stocky rider; I'd recommend something with more like 28 or 32 spokes.
 
carpetrunner

carpetrunner

Likes Dirt
go for lots of spokes and build it yourself

For a commuter - bling is probably not warranted - makes bike security more of an issue.

This is a great opportunity to try to build yourself a wheel! It's just like basket weaving, except useful.

I found some 36H hubs on fleabay, ordered some deep-V rims from velocity and the spokes were just straight gauge so over the counter from the LBS. deep-V + 36H = indestructible. I rode these for a few years on Sydney streets commuting from the north side to Balmain with no wheel issues (I broke a frame).

Back then I was 95kg so they got a thrashing. I still have them as backups, they are still true but... yes they are kinda heavy ;)

- carpetrunner
 
Capone

Capone

Likes Dirt
Update on this thread.

I am going the custom route, Chris King R45 hubs on Mavic open pro rims. 32h rear and 28h front

Will comment once they're built and ridden
 
Capone

Capone

Likes Dirt
frensham said:
Before you do that, talk to Greg here: http://www.twebikewheels.com.au/

You will get a much better set of wheels and for somewhat less.
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Im not paying anything now to be honest, so price isnt really a concern. I like the option of Chris King as the reputation is second to none and its ease of service is very appealing.

I read about TWE and the while the comments regarding Greg's ability we very positive the comments about the kit were less so.
 
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