Road Wheels - cup n cone Vs cartridge

[Smartboy]

I am getting my wheels replaced on my road bike (warranty issues) and thought it would be a good opportunity to upgrade.

Spotted a few sets I might be interested in and on-paper the main difference I can see is that one is cup-n-cone, while the other are cartridge bearings.

I use my road-bike as the daily commuter (around 25 miles a day in all weathers) and my main interest lies in MTB where the bearings on my MTBs are all sealed cartridge type.

Cup and cone seems to me like a step backward to an old-fashioned approach, but maybe that works well on road-wheels? Guess I just keep them greased up and adjusted correctly, they should last for many years.

The wheels I'm looking at are:

Fulcrum Racing Quattro (with cup and cone bearings)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fulcrum/racing...

Mavic Askium Elite (with cartridge bearings)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fulcrum/racing...

and Vision Team 30 (also cartridge)... but not heard of this wheel manufacturer before
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/vision/team30-...

[Herman Toothrot]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

May want to read this thread.

[Smartboy]

Hmmm, useful advice on that thread.
I was a bit suspicious of the Vision wheels to be honest.

I've had plenty of Mavic rims on MTBs which always did me proud and I wonder if the Fulcrum ones significantly 'better' (lighter? stronger?) than the Mavics?

[Matt_N]

Nothing wrong as such with cup and cone, but yeh they do need a little more care.

Shimano are keen on them, they use them in their Dura Ace wheels due to them having a lower rolling resistance, in their words.