Cheap, yet reliable training wheels

[Powerful Pete]

Again, you have to define cheap.

I would recommend handbuilts (nice hubs, open pro or ambrosio rims, 3x spoke pattern, grazie e arrivederci).

But the OP has ruled these out. So consider Campa/Fulcrums. I currently ride Fulcrum 7s and they are heavy but quite bombproof.

If your budget can swing it, go for Fulcrum 5s or even better the 3s, which are nice wheels that can be purchased for under 300 euro on line.

Neutrons are a step above, but there you are going to have a price delta of over 100 euros.

So ya gotta tell us how much cash you have!

[stuarts]

Gotta go along with a lot of guys here, I've trained (and raced quite often) on Neutron's - even have a set of the older version Neucleons, and they just go on for ever.
Another testament to the quality is that I've broken the odd spoke over the years and without fail, all I have to do is replace the spoke and tension that one - no need to touch any other spokes and bang, true as a die!
Highly recommended

[tochnics]

my choice would be handbuilts to
with a minimum of a ultregra hubbed wheel with open pro s

i dont want to clash the fullcrum 7 riders, but they are not bombproof
they seem to have a totally bombproof or wear out fast thing going on
broken spokes and bad seals for the body bearing are the main reasons
and unfornently same goes for the shimano r500 and r550 wheels
have seen all previous wheels die within a year including my own

as for prebuilts i am willing to try out other brands
i havent seen to much testing yet but i am leaning forward for the lower DT wheelsets
i would only call the 1900 wheelset bombproof as a trainer because it has standard brass prolock nipples
also their hubs are wellknown for long live

http://www.dtswiss.com/getdoc/266caf49-7267-458c-bb68-4fb594a64e8b/ProductImage.aspx?maxsidesize=520

alu nippels work flawles for some but here they die after quite some years, lets say well before the other parts are worn out
my last example is not that light but it makes you fly when you mount the racing wheels

but DT also make the 1600 wheelset with alu prolock nipples but 6 rounded shape

http://www.dtswiss.com/getdoc/6fafc95e-3b7d-485f-9e1b-a607a6c90edb/ProductImage.aspx?maxsidesize=520

[sawyer]

Shimano WHR-540 if you can find them. Dirt cheap, very aerodynamic compared to most other shallow wheelsets, 16spoke F&R and amazingly strong. They are heavy swines though ... somewhere just north of 1800g with loads of weight at the rim. Mine are 5 years old and have never needed any maintenance. they roll like thunder once up to speed.

[devinci]

nice guys

I may consider the racing 7s since my budget is quite in that range. Maybe I'll have a look at the 5s cause I got a dealon them too. Thanks for all suggestions, i'd love to get open pros with shimano hubs but cant find any and there is no wheelbuilder here. But again, the willams 19 look so damn nice, I might consider them too. They are light, not that expensive at 500 US $ and pretty shallow.

[Powerful Pete]

You will be ok with a set of Fulcrums, but I would reiterate the recommendation on handbuilts. If you search a bit on the forum you will come across a number of wheelbuilders who will be happy to build and ship to you sans problem! You may still want to consider this option.

Just sayin'...

[devinci]

Humm, of course I should consider hanbuilt. I contacted legs11 once for a set and he advised me that shipping cost to Canada were pretty damn expensive... thats my only concern with a set of handbuilt wheels cause I would by far prefer this option (open pros, shimano hub, laced with I dont know what spokes in a strong patern) There is some handbuilt on ebay but I really dont know about the quality of these, maybe you guys could tell me a bit about this:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mavic-Open-Pro-Silve ... 20ad8b2639

*it is not for publicity purpose*

[c50jim]

Where in Canada are you? Perhaps someone here knows who to call. For example, I can give you sources in Vancouver and Calgary and the Vancouver guy would ship to you on Greyhound, which is pretty cheap for shipping costs.

[devinci]

Hi c50jim

Im in Québec, pretty far from vancouver but maybe its still affordable. If you could give me a reliable contact it would be nice.

also, can someone help me with the lacing patern, number of spokes and spokes brand. I was considering mavic open pros, shimano 105 or ultegra hubs. Although legs11 told me open pros are now not that strong since there is no more ceramic coating or soemthing liek that. I heard of the nipple pulling trough the eyelet too. Whats up about this?

so
-lacing patern
-spokes brand
-spokes number
-open pro issues?

thanks

[mattr]

I would recommend mostly strongly finding a domestic/local wheel builder and going from there.

I've raced (and won) on the road with Open Pro/D-A.
Raced (and finished well) at CX with Open Pro/Ult

And all my (and my wifes) training bikes have either open pro or open sport laced on to miscellaneous hubs.

Depending on usage (weather/terrain/road surface etc) i have got up to about 30000 km/3 years out of a rim. Total cost for a rebuild was well under £100 (or £80 if i do it myself), total wait for parts, usually about 15 minutes....... unless i mail order of course! Then it takes a week.

To get a replacement rim for either of the current race bike wheels could take up to three months, depending on if the rims are even made anymore. A new axle for a still current model wheel took nearly 2 months. The shimano ones i can get by return of post.

If you really are in the middle of no where with few local shops, shimano/open pro makes even more sense........

I'll shut up now. (BTW, i don't work for shimano or mavic........ )

[topflightpro]

If you really liked your Easton Vista's and found them to be reliable, why not look for another set?

I think they are the EA50s now. You could even step up to the EA70s or EA90s. The 70s will be in the $500 price range I think.

[tochnics]

i have to re praise the open pro s on Da hubs

i did a build of open pro ceramic on dura ace hubs and DT Champion spokes and they are bombproof
did some heavy all round testing and they wouldent budge
the extra money above the ultegra hubs and standerd spokes and standerd op rims was a golden move
but for a budget build on the long run the ultragra open pro build will be well worth the money
when needed sparts parts are easy and affordebel to

[Hubert]

Open Pros with Ultegra built 3 cross will ride best and can be maintained for years.

Until the eyelets start creaking like mad.

My set of open pros ( record hubs, 32h, 3x) just developed this issue after a couple years of training.

I'm going with Velocity Fusions as a replacement but I would think that any wheel w/out eyelets would be a suitable replacement. Like a Kinlin XR270 or XR300.

[ahumblecycler]

For what it's worth, I picked up DT Swiss 1900 super cheap and I love them as training wheels. As my cycling time is decreasing, I turned to these to get more out of my ride. I also get no pitfalls from cross winds.

[Geoff]

There are LOTS of used clincher options. I don't think you have to end-up with a heavy piece of junk to get an expensive wheelset for training. I have various sets of quality DT/Fulcrum/Dura-Ace training wheels and have never paid more than $300.