New wheels...

[AyBee]

I currently have a Trek with bontrager race lites (I think) on them, and having been slightly out of true, I snapped a spoke during a long ride on saturday and they went miles out - I now don't really trust them and the bearing isn't that smooth so I'm tempted to get a new set as a nice pair for the summer and rebuild them when I have some time. I'm a student so not rolling in money but do have a bit saved up due to working heavily over the summers but have a few questions before I part with my money...
Are there any decent second hand online adverts for things like wheels?
Am I better off buying a cheaper pair new or a reasonably decent pair second hand? (possibly thinking Mavic Cosmics right now but not sure I can stretch that far....).

Any advice welcomed...and if anyone is looking to sell, let me know what you have

Thanks, Arry

[Sarkmeister]

I wanted a new stronger set of wheels so yesterday ordered Mavic En321 on Hope Pro II hubs from Merlin. Might be a bit expensive though.

Try the Merlin wheelbuilder page, the Shimano hubs are surprisingly cheap.

[mackie1]

Yup the XT hubs + XM317 are a good and pretty cheap combo.

[OneDs]

If the hubs are gone then ok but it might be worth getting them checked over first, to fix the spoke and true on my paired spoke bonti select rear wheel that threw spoke and went massive out of true a couple of weeks back cost me £15.

The retrued wheel was amazing to ride on much better than when it was brand new.

[NitroNick]

Try ebay.
I got a pair of 6 month old carbon cosmics for 400 euros 3 years ago and haven't had an ounce of trouble with them, i use them for training and racing.
What is your budget? SRAM seem to do deep rim carbon wheels at good prices, not sure what the quality is like.

[itsnotarace]

I am just looking for new wheels myself. My research has led me to believe the Ultegra 6700 wheels are the good value for money factory built wheels and Merlin are doing them for £229 a pair

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/mountain-and-road-bi...

I'm probably going to take a chance and go for a set of Soul S2.0, they are the lightest I can find for the money and they get good reviews at bikeforums and weightweenies

http://bikesoul.com/2009/index.php?option=com_cont...

Alternatively I may just get something a bit more serviceable and just go for some custom handbuilt wheels with Ultegra hubs, DT Swiss RR415 rims with Sapim spokes. Will be just as light and stronger at the expense of aesthetics

Hmm decisions decisions!

[AyBee]

NitroNick said:

Try ebay.
I got a pair of 6 month old carbon cosmics for 400 euros 3 years ago and haven't had an ounce of trouble with them, i use them for training and racing.
What is your budget? SRAM seem to do deep rim carbon wheels at good prices, not sure what the quality is like.

I've been following a few pairs of Mavic Cosmics on ebay. They seem to be going for about £4-500 for pairs that are a few years old. If I could get a pair for £400 that were 6months old...they'd be in the post now Love the deep dish look and a guy at work who has Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLs (probably a model or 2 above what I can afford though) loves them, very strong, light and he hasn't serviced them at all....

[NitroNick]

AyBee said:

NitroNick said:

Try ebay.
I got a pair of 6 month old carbon cosmics for 400 euros 3 years ago and haven't had an ounce of trouble with them, i use them for training and racing.
What is your budget? SRAM seem to do deep rim carbon wheels at good prices, not sure what the quality is like.

I've been following a few pairs of Mavic Cosmics on ebay. They seem to be going for about £4-500 for pairs that are a few years old. If I could get a pair for £400 that were 6months old...they'd be in the post now Love the deep dish look and a guy at work who has Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLs (probably a model or 2 above what I can afford though) loves them, very strong, light and he hasn't serviced them at all....

I've never serviced mine either!
Plus I got mine for 400 euros which at the time would have been more like 300 sterling.
Deep rim carbon wheels definitely look the buisness, they are solid and they have a very distinctive sound.
I swear by deep rims, the only issues is cross winds which can be frightening when passing a gap in a ditch at speed.

[AyBee]

Sorry to bump this. Currently failing the sub £400 Mavic Cosmics unfortunately so might just go for some cheaper wheels for the mean time, the rear hub on my bike is really rough so could do with sorting some new wheels asap. Did a sub 30 minute 10 miles into work this morning with a bag on my back, I want to see how much quicker I could make that without a rubbish back wheel If I was to say my budget was £250, what would you suggest? There are the Ultegras suggested above - how much maintenance would they require considering I'm currently doing about 100-200miles/week?

[OneDs]

AyBee said:

Sorry to bump this. Currently failing the sub £400 Mavic Cosmics unfortunately so might just go for some cheaper wheels for the mean time, the rear hub on my bike is really rough so could do with sorting some new wheels asap. Did a sub 30 minute 10 miles into work this morning with a bag on my back, I want to see how much quicker I could make that without a rubbish back wheel If I was to say my budget was £250, what would you suggest? There are the Ultegras suggested above - how much maintenance would they require considering I'm currently doing about 100-200miles/week?

Are you completely set against your bonti's? How long have you had them? the hubs are warranted for more than a year I think (5?)

Just repeating that the paired spokes are very weak if the spokes aren't maintained trued but offer some advantages. My on selects paired spoke, one went after not servicing for two years so they were already slightly out of true and when one snapped I had to release the brake in order to get home. Got the spoke fixed wheel trued and it is better than when I brought the bike.

Check out whether your hub is covered first and get the wheel trued. If this fails then look into new wheels

Edited by OneDs on Friday 23 April 10:18

[AyBee]

OneDs said:

AyBee said:

Sorry to bump this. Currently failing the sub £400 Mavic Cosmics unfortunately so might just go for some cheaper wheels for the mean time, the rear hub on my bike is really rough so could do with sorting some new wheels asap. Did a sub 30 minute 10 miles into work this morning with a bag on my back, I want to see how much quicker I could make that without a rubbish back wheel If I was to say my budget was £250, what would you suggest? There are the Ultegras suggested above - how much maintenance would they require considering I'm currently doing about 100-200miles/week?

Are you completely set against your bonti's? How long have you had them? the hubs are warranted for more than a year I think (5?)

Just repeating that the paired spokes are very weak if the spokes aren't maintained trued but offer some advantages. My on selects paired spoke, one went after not servicing for two years so they were already slightly out of true and when one snapped I had to release the brake in order to get home. Got the spoke fixed wheel trued and it is better than when I brought the bike.

Check out whether your hub is covered first and get the wheel trued. If this fails then look into new wheels

Edited by OneDs on Friday 23 April 10:18

I'm not dead set against but although the bike is a 2005 model which I bought in 2007, I imagine it's probably a wear and tear item unfortunately My intention is to get a nicer set and then rebuild them in my own time (possibly with new hub) to use as winter wheels.

[OneDs]

Fair enough, good luck, according to my Brother-in-law who does much more road biking than me (and as has been mentioned) shimano in particular 6600 ultegra hubs are reasonably good VFM and a good starting point for a custom build when you take it on yourself.

Edited by OneDs on Friday 23 April 13:31

[itsnotarace]

AyBee said:

If I was to say my budget was £250, what would you suggest? There are the Ultegras suggested above - how much maintenance would they require considering I'm currently doing about 100-200miles/week?

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/gear/127682/1/shimano-ultegra-6700-tubeless-wheels.html

They give them a 9/10 at £399, so surely at £229 for tubeless/clincher compatible, they are a steal

If you want durability and easy maintenance then shy away from the factory builds and go for some custom builds, something like this. With your budget you could upgrade hubs or the spokes

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/...
http://www.harryrowland.co.uk/

ETA - I'm currently rolling on Shimano RS10's than came with my bike. Nice silent freehub and they roll well but are heavy so acceleration is not as snappy. Nice and true for factory wheels and no flex that I've noticed either. I'm averaging 100 miles a week at the moment

Edited by itsnotarace on Friday 23 April 14:13

[okgo]

I've got RS10's too. They are not much heavier than the ultrega ones..around 200 grams?

Seem solid though, mine are still pretty true and I am a big guy cycling on st roads.

[Jimbo.]

Granted they're out of stock (only recently launched, IIRC), but:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Sensible build with good parts, so perfect for everything from commuting, to training, to road racing if it takes yer' fancy!