Carbon wheels for racing

[Andy OH]

My son is racing under 16's now and he's doing quite well. At present he's using my Mavic Ksyrium SL's with GP4000s clinchers. I'm thinking of buying him some 35-40mm carbon wheels and running tubs. The budget is around £650 for the wheels without tyres.

Can anyone recommend a set of wheels that will do the job?

Thanks.

[lynus2004]

Bit less than your budget but have you considered the Planet X tubs? See plenty of people racing on them.

[ditchvisitor]

Look on bike radar, there's always some nice wheels at a decent price

[anonymous-user]

www.timetriallingforum.co.uk is worth a look too for some s/h bargains

Planet X are popular and the "guru" wheels are pretty light for the money.

Wheelsmith will build some superlight carbon tubs for around that budget using Gigantex rims and Novatec hubs which is probably what I would do but then there are also a few Far Eastern suppliers on ebay worth a look, again they use Novatec hubs and Gigantex rims and are about £350, there are so many people running these now that ignoring them or writing them off as rubbish is getting hard!...

[Andy OH]

Lynus,

Thanks, the Planet X are definitely worth condiering.

Pablo,

Could you have a look at the item number below on ebay for me please and let me know if these are the carbon wheels you're talking about.

item number 281083371577.

Many thanks.

[NitroNick]

Just remember that you will need to use carbon specific brake pads so you need to change the pads when you switch between wheelsets.
Plus even with carbon specific pads: in the wet carbon rims are a lot harder to slow down, just make sure he is aware of the stopping distance or use the training wheels in the wet.

[anonymous-user]

Andy OH said:

Lynus,

Thanks, the Planet X are definitely worth condiering.

Pablo,

Could you have a look at the item number below on ebay for me please and let me know if these are the carbon wheels you're talking about.
K
item number 281083371577.

Many thanks.

Yes that's the sort of thing, there are sone huge threads on bikeradar with user reviews and particular ebay sellers to go through, I appreciate there is doubt about the build quality, that's the risk you take when they are half the price of UK builds but the components are certainly proven.

[lynus2004]

I got some carbon wheels from the seller of ebay item number 221200993626.

Communication was very good and the wheels look and feel good, roll well etc. So far I have only ridden them twice in races so can't comment on long term durability.

I managed to get them at a very good price and thought it would be a good introduction to the benefits of carbon wheels, if they turn out to be a poor choice I will put it down to experience and look at other options.