Which road bike wheels for £300-400? (Could spend more)

[Pulse]

After only 1700 miles, the freehub is gone in my wheel. I need new wheels, as the wheels I have are rubbish anyway, and the hubs are terrible.

I’m considering something like the DT Swiss ER1600 or some Hunt wheels.

Ideally don’t want to go crazy with it, as the bike was only £1100.

Any suggestions? Pretty sold on the DT Swiss for £339, but don’t know much about them!

[Juffled]

I've had 3 pairs of Aluminium Hunt wheels, I wouldn't buy them again (the 3rd pair came with a Dynamo attached for no money so was vaguely worth it).

My first pair had cracked rims around the nipples at 2.5-3 yrs, replaced by Hunt FoC, the 2nd pair had cracked rims around the nipples at 2.5-3 years, gave up and bought some Fulcrum's.

A friend who is a mechanic has a fair few hunts come to him for rebuilding with cracked rims around the nipples, so its not just me. They may have fixed this now, no idea, but I'm done with them, can get perfectly good wheels for the same price elsewhere, and usualy better if you wait for the sales.

[nammynake]

DT Swiss. Good hubs and the rims/spikes are generally decent too.

[tertius]

I would go to DCR wheels and get them to build you a pair. I have their “standard” wheelset (which oddly is their higher spec alloy wheels) and they are fantastic - light fast and roll really well. They came in at about your budget.

Much lighter and nicer than my other set (Hope hubs on DT Swiss rims) which have now been relegated to winter use.

[wpa1975]

I would go for a custom built option Hope hubs on decent rims or DT swiss.

[Harpoon]

Another vote for speaking to David at DCR. The set I have from him are about 4.5 years old and have been faultless. Last weekend they took a hammering on all the cobbles you visit on the Tour of Flanders sportive.

[Pulse]

Thanks everyone. Food for thought! The DCR wheels are above my budget, though I will consider them. My main priority is wheels which will last. I ride a lot (probably about 5,000 miles this year) and in all conditions, so ideally don’t want something which will crap out on me like my current wheels have.

(That’s 5,000 miles over a few bikes though - likely about 3,000 of that on this bike)

[mooseracer]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm on my 2nd set of Wheelsmiths - only because I moved from rim to disc brakes. Cannot fault them at all.

[Dannbodge]

Recently I bought a set of VEL wheels from sigma
38mm front 50mm rear for £450

Had planned on hunts but couldn't justify the extra 2/300 for nothing

[Chicken Chaser]

I've had 3 pairs of Ceros from cycle division, AR30, ARD23 and another which I forget but we're rim brakes and they've been faultless. Probably had collectively 12 years out of the 3.

[CheesecakeRunner]

Very unfashionable, but I’ve always liked Shimano wheels. They just work, and work quietly too, which is a bonus in my book. Something available at all price points.

Someone will moan that they’re mostly cup and cone bearings, but I also think that’s a bonus as it makes them easy to service.

[mcelliott]

Two pair of Hunts here, fabulous wheels never let me down, first one ones are over 4yrs old and zero issues.

[ZetecTDCI]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Very unfashionable, but I’ve always liked Shimano wheels. They just work, and work quietly too, which is a bonus in my book. Something available at all price points.

Someone will moan that they’re mostly cup and cone bearings, but I also think that’s a bonus as it makes them easy to service.

This. Even the el-cheapo's are great quality. I find them quite fast too.

[Blink982]

I have Lightbicycle Carbon wheels (DT Swiss 240) and a set from Spokesman (Hope hubs). I can’t fault either. Spokesman were a pleasure to deal with and they were built and shipped super quick. If you need them in a hurry, the Chinese sellers like LB or Far Sports (Wheelsfar) might not be an option. I think I waited 3 months for my LB wheels but they were very cheap compared to the likes of Zipp.