as above about to drop on three pairs of the the same wheels,need to be fairly solid and light.... what would you get and why!
thanks

Probably some good hand mades or Shamals from Campy. Re H/M maybe White Industries on ambrosio excellence, or Stans if your light enough/good roads, DT hubs perhaps as well.My Zonda's have fantastic smoothness and Shamals would only improve on this with USB bearings.If your a Shimanoist they might have something. I think reliable boutique wheels start at £800 but I might be wrong.You might get into the lower end of the aero 30mm plus market rim but they would be heavy.


Personally, as a tubsie, I would go for record on open pro or stans, which come under 1300g I believe with aerolite spokes. Record on OP would be in the 16-1700g region and cost around £400 as a rough guide.

Atm I'd probably go with archetypes, mig/mag & 20/28, maybe 20/24 if using non-butted on the DS rear. Assuming using aci DB's & buiding yourself to get into the price range. Not too heavy, sturdy rim, nice tire profile, good looks.. what more do you want?

I'm 73kg & 24h archetype on 240s with DB's laced x2 DS is a bit light in terms of rigidity, so I'd build it either with a sturdier spoke next time around or more of them (hence 20/28). The different hub (tune mag) would help as well for sure as the 240s flanges / spacing is poor.

FWIW on the ambrosios, the rim is pretty narrow & the quality isn't that great imo. I wouldn't bother personally.

If your set on factory wheels, the shamal would be a good pick. Holds it value as well if you don't like it. Most folks say it rolls well & takes a hit. Watch for wear on the brake tracks though if giving them heavy use, as a re-build will be pricey.

On the whole ymmv side of things.. I also ride alpha340s, open pros, excellights & 404 firecrest clinchers. The alphas are nice, but a bit fragile & you won't get super high mileage out of them due to the brake track being fairly light / lacking meat... so its a bit of a summer rim. The open pro's are just dull & you can't trust the eyelets. Excellights aren't great imo on build quality & will be replaced with open sports when they wear out. 404's are great for the flats, but very expensive if your going to crash them & out of your price range... I would notice the different between climbing on the alphas & riding on the flats on the 404s, but as an all around type of build the archetype ticks most of the boxes in a nice rounded way.

BTW why three pairs of the same, why not a range of different ones? You could go cheaper on one set & push the budget available for the others that way...

well basically its for me and my dad to have identical set ups on our summer bikes and a spare pair to swap in... I was looking at Kysrium SL and Dura ace 9000 as options

I have both ( well, 7950s) and would go for the Shimanos every time

I don't have any experience with riding the dura-ace wheels, but I've heard that for being all around solid wheels they are exceptional. The best wheels I've ridden at around $900 new have been hed ardennes. If you're willing to buy used then generally you can find some really nice carbon tubulars for around $900 (I got a nice pair of 303s for 1100 and a pair of mercurys for 400).

Archetypes are good rims. I wasn't happy with Mavic Elite hub bearings, I would say Campy and Shim have higher quality hubs.

If you have to have clinchers, then I'd get two sets ... one set of clinchers and one set of tubs (once funds allow)

Campag: Zonda ... £250ish
Shimano/SRAM: depending on weight RS80s/handbuilt

Use the rest to save for tubs.

If you look around you can find really nice hoops ... new in box from people who have had second thoughts etc.

To give you an idea I got a pair of F4R tubs for Euro630 including new Schwalbe Ultremo HT tubs, QRs etc. 1270g and they kick the ar5e off clinchers I've ridden (DAs, Shamals, Zondas etc. etc.)

Try some of the Dura Ace C24 if you want a wheel which is a bit more climbing and wet / downhill braking oriented than a carbon aero wheel. I got mine for £500. Or you could build something yourself - Tune hubs and Stans rims would probably be a bit lighter, but probably not as strong.

If you ride in flatter drier conditions Planet X carbon tubulars are also good value for money. Or if you stretched a bit you could pick up some nice Mavic CCUs second hand.

any experience of reynolds attack?

Reynolds Attack are the same weight as a good aluminum clincher and all the drawbacks of a carbon clincher......and no aero to boot. Waste of money in my estimation. You'd be better served to buy C24 clinchers, or as others have advised go custom.

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2012 Fuji Altamira SE - 6.42kg

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There's a lot of good advice in here, 4crosswheels. Let me start by saying my philosophy generally follows a pattern. I'd rather have one of the best aluminum alloy clinchers vs one of the lowest end carbon wheels. There are a multitude of reasons for this, many of them practical, but for me one of the most important is overall experience.

As for your requirements and other suggestions here... C24's are out of your price range likely unless you go finding a use set. Personally, I could go with (In no particular order):
a) Campagnolo Zonda: save the extra cash for other cool stuff. These wheels are nearly as solid as wheels at the upper end of your price range. They are often on sale for stupid cheap.
b) Boyd Vitesse or another Kinlin XC279 rim laced to a solid hub (White Industries, Alchemy, Tune mig/mag 70/170)
C) Pacenti SL23 laced to a good hub (see above)

Independent testing, such as the Tour Magazine have shown the difference between a good aluminum alloy setup and a cheap aero carbon is often nothing. Aero carbon is sometimes less aero than lower profile aluminum despite appearances. Alloy has many fewer problems especially on clinchers. For some 2011 data see http://www.tour-magazin.de/services/qtr ... 7.html#/94" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Zonda's come within 2-3 watts of many ~45-50 mm deep carbon wheels that cost 3 times as much. The older Kinlin rim beats many of them by a couple watts. What's not to like about that value proposition?

+1 divincere

None of the aluminum rims tested are shaped as nicely as the SL23 or XC279 either. Look at how well the Corima rim did for its dimensions.

A good rim (wide as the tire, and nicely rounded) doesn't need to be very deep... even 24mm can be good. With minimal aero spokes the wheels will be quite good for aero.

Even the best deep carbon rims only show significant benefits at high yaw. Might be why we see mostly shallow rims in the pro road races.

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formerly rruff...

+2 (I know that annoys some of you )
Zondas + a 40-55mm carbon tub

Zonda's and a nice hi fi. Sorted.