New Wheels but which.

[Marcellus]

I may be having to buy a new wheelset as both my Front and Rear Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon Exaliths have cracked rims, doesn't look good for them as I like to think I take pretty good care of my wheels, am well within weight limits and have never buckled a wheel let alone cracked a rim before!!

Still waiting for Mavic France to re-open to give their verdict on my claim but if they don't accept it but in the mean time I thought I'd see what else might be available.

Budget of around the £1,000, rim brakes, Shimano freehub (if that makes any difference) take it away what are peoples recommendations and why?

[Teebs]

https://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/product-page/aero-38-...

38/50/60mm Carbon tubeless ready, built to your spec. Push the budget out slightly and go for Chris King R45 hubs in a fancy colour. I had 2 sets, including a 38mm from Wheelsmith and they were superb.

Braking was excellent, stiff enough and you can easily replace the rim when worn out. I've done 1,000's of miles on CK45's and they've never given me an inch of trouble. One set is on my winter bike and they have covered circa 8,000 miles and still run as smooth as from day 1.

Slightly higher outlay but worth every single £0000

[Gruffy]

Left field option but I have my Knight 65 clinchers which I've been meaning to ebay, looking for £1k. They cost double originally and are in great condition, just surplus to requirements since switching to discs. Genuinely amazing wheels. Incredibly fast and make a glorious noise. Also remarkably confident in cross winds. Even at 65mm I've ridden them in storms with names.

[JEA1K]

Just avoid anything with Novatec hubs!

I had some 38mm wheelsmiths a few years back and they were great wheels ... they used their standard hubs which were ok. I really like DT swiss hubs though as they seem to last for ever ... the seals tend to protect the bearings well so run for ever and lead little maintenance. If I was going hand built, I'd choose the DT240 hubs.

£1k sits you a bit between the budget end and higher end so I'd be tempted with a decent used pair of high end wheels at that price.

[gazza285]

JEA1K said:

Just avoid anything with Novatec hubs!

Why? The more expensive ones are alright, both me and my youth race XC and cyclocross on Novatec hubs, never had an issue.

[Marcellus]

I’ve been looking at the Hunts, does anyone have any experience of them

[gazza285]

Hunts use Kinlin rims and Novatec hubs, rebranded and priced to suit. They do not seem to be well regarded in the industry, more a triumph of branding over substance. You can buy similar wheels for less from The Cycle Clinic.

[BenGismo]

I've a few wheels running on Novatec hubs and they have been great to be honest. Never had a problem yet. I'm comparing them to my other wheels which have Dt swiss, american classic and XTR hubs so the novatecs should be the worst based on cost, but they are not at all!

[Gruffy]

gazza285 said:

Hunts use Kinlin rims and Novatec hubs, rebranded and priced to suit. They do not seem to be well regarded in the industry, more a triumph of branding over substance. You can buy similar wheels for less from The Cycle Clinic.

All of this. You might also consider having somebody build you some wheels. Hunt's markup could be put to better use with higher spec components in a wheelset tailored for you.

[duff]

Just Riding Along do some decent wheels, I’ve only had MTB wheels from them but their road offerings seem well reviewed.

Hunts are over rated ime.

[mooseracer]

Teebs said:

https://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/product-page/aero-38-...

38/50/60mm Carbon tubeless ready, built to your spec. Push the budget out slightly and go for Chris King R45 hubs in a fancy colour. I had 2 sets, including a 38mm from Wheelsmith and they were superb.

Braking was excellent, stiff enough and you can easily replace the rim when worn out. I've done 1,000's of miles on CK45's and they've never given me an inch of trouble. One set is on my winter bike and they have covered circa 8,000 miles and still run as smooth as from day 1.

Slightly higher outlay but worth every single £0000

I've got the aero dimpled on Chris king hubs, brilliant wheels.

These replaced an earlier set of rim braked aero dimple on standard hubs which were also brilliant and gave me no issues whatsoever over many thousands of miles.

[andySC]

Zipp 302 ? Less fancy & more robust version of 303’s ? No dimples on the rims, higher spoke count & the hub shells aren’t as machined. I dropped on & bought a pair in December for £740. They’re light enough, feel very robust, look the part, braking is great with Swisstop Black Prince pads. I have them in my Supersix Evo, this thing feels fast anyhow so it’s difficult to discern if the wheels add to that but I’ve definitely got no complaints at all.

Edited by andySC on Thursday 30th April 13:36

[Teebs]

Marcellus said:

I’ve been looking at the Hunts, does anyone have any experience of them

I had a set of Hunt 4 Seasons a few years ago. They were ok but not really worth the money they're commanding.

[Piginapoke]

I have a pair of Disc Hunt Aero Light wheels, they're light, stiff, seem to roll well. All good from me.

[frisbee]

andySC said:

Zipp 302 ? Less fancy & more robust version of 303’s ? No dimples on the rims, higher spoke count & the hub shells aren’t as machined. I dropped on & bought a pair in December for £740. They’re light enough, feel very robust, look the part, braking is great with Swisstop Black Prince pads. I have them in my Supersix Evo, this thing feels fast anyhow so it’s difficult to discern if the wheels add to that but I’ve definitely got no complaints at all.

I’ve got a pair of the disk version. Very similar opinion of them.

I’ve got a pair of Dura Ace C24 rim brake wheels on another bike and they are very well made, light, much stiffer than the Bontrager wheels that the bike came with. The free hub is titanium so doesn’t get chewed up by the cassette, which annoys me with other wheels .

[okgo]

Teebs said:

I had a set of Hunt 4 Seasons a few years ago. They were ok but not really worth the money they're commanding.

Welcome to carbon wheels.

The only difference I think I've noticed among the many pairs in various depths is how good they are in the wind. That should be of some concern vs anything else. All these firms like wheelsmith etc all using the same chinese rims etc I'm sure, the bloke building them and the hubs/spokes they're using more important I'd imagine.

I've never bought a set from a wheelsmith type outfit, either from a brand, or just used my local wheelbuilder.

[z4RRSchris]

lightbike seem to be a decent chinese type outfit.

https://www.lightbicycle.com/

[JEA1K]

gazza285 said:

Why? The more expensive ones are alright, both me and my youth race XC and cyclocross on Novatec hubs, never had an issue.

4 x replacement freehubs in 2 years, the last one resulting in damage to hub ratchet so the hub had to be replaced. Also seals poor so bearings required replacing more regularly. Summer/Spring/Autumn use only ... all on a road bike.

[Jimbo.]

Suspect I’m being highly unimaginative in saying I’d personally opt for a set of Shimano DA C24 wheels myself. £800 leave change for a couple of decent sets of tyres and brake pads. Aluminium braking surfaces and decent, easy-to-service hubs. That’ll do me.

[gazza285]

JEA1K said:

gazza285 said:

Why? The more expensive ones are alright, both me and my youth race XC and cyclocross on Novatec hubs, never had an issue.

4 x replacement freehubs in 2 years, the last one resulting in damage to hub ratchet so the hub had to be replaced. Also seals poor so bearings required replacing more regularly. Summer/Spring/Autumn use only ... all on a road bike.

You must have a cheap set, ours get ridden through all sorts during the season, including jet washing the cross bikes, the only problem I’ve had over five sets of wheels is a set of sticky freehub pawls on a hub I hadn’t used for a few weeks, a quick clean and some more lubricant and it was working fine again.