Best is subjective

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I'll throw a stab out and say the Ultegra 6800 wheelset.

Bought some cheap 32 spoke Velocity Dyad with Shimano LX Hubs. Have been golden. You really don't need fancy wheels. Just wheels that were built to last.

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I'd vote for this. Or perhaps a set of velocity a23's with ultegra hubs. The latter would be heavier given that they're a 32/32 spoke count. But the 23mm wide rims are a nicer ride imho.

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Matt

I've had success with Velocity A23s laced to Shimano 105 and Ultegra hubs. Both 36 and 32 holes. Road, cross and gravel rides while weighing about 200 pounds. I have purchased more than one set from online wheel seller Velomine for much less than $300.

As the trend in rims seems to be to go wider I would consider using Kinlin XR31T or Velocity Quill rims next.

David K

You can get a pair of Fulcrum Racing 7 wheels for around $130 with free shipping.

I like the DT Swiss R 24 Spline as a budget wheel. Shop around, you can get them for a little over $200 shipped from Europe. Be careful to get the newer, 18c (23mm outside width) version, though. Older versions were only 14c.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I use the Wiggle brand Cosine 32mm alloy clinchers for training and they are so far pretty bomb-proof and cost only $277. They are light-weight too for the price, I weighed them at 1480g for the pair. Wouldn't hesitate to buy these again for a training set. Not sure what brand hub they're using, but they're still smooth after ~2 years of use and true as out of the box.

Definitely watching this thread. I am in the process of building a light road bike, and my extra wheels are pigs...

just put Zipp stickers on the stock wheels.

I did just that. I didn't even use 'real' Zipp decals - I bought fake ones off ebay for like $9 or something.

You would never guess how many compliments I got on my wheels after that.

The answer is 3.

I'll second this. Got a set from Merlin last year and they have been good - wish I bought two! Haven't been able to find them in stock since.

One niggle - after a couple of wet rides the outer bearing in the freehub seized. DT Swiss quickly warrantied it but it happened to the warranty freehub also. I pulled the seal off the bearing, blew out the contaminated grease, re-packed with Park Tool grease, and it's been fine since.

You can get them from Bike Discount in Germany for $215 shipped to the US.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/dt-swiss-r-24-spline-qr-11s-shimano-wheelset-502768




I have the R 32 Spline, which are a little deeper and ~the same weight, but about $150 more a set at the same retailer.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Build yourself a set of Flo 30 wheels. BHS hubs, Sapim Laser spokes. Well under $300

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___________________________________
MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

few years back i got a pair of vuelta corsa lites from nashbar.com, paid around 220 i think. nashbar has great sales and markdowns, my pair weighs around 1550g, is 30mm deep (semi aero??). i remember when i got them they were a big improvement from the stock bontrager alloys that came on my trek 1.2 (my first road bike, so i'd never ridden anything else). i still use them as training wheelset, theyve probly got about 5000 miles on them, no issues whatsoever.

theres a few models of vuelta wheels on there, and with a good sale you can get a screaming deal. they're quality wheels for the price IMO.

I bought a set of Titan Forte wheels from PerfBike a year ago. It was like $140 all in, and I have to say that they are damn near indestructible. If you can find a pair of used Aksiums for cheap, they are pretty bombproof as well.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

+1 on the Ultegras.

Yep best low cost solution.

Or Kinlin rims from BHS with their hubs.

Where are you finding a pair of Flo rims cheap enough to be built into a less than $300 wheelset? Thanks. David K.

Responding to my own question. I easily found Flo 30s for $80 on Flo's website. Not sure why I could not find them before I posted.

On a related note, I am having a set of track wheels built using 24 hole Kinlin XR31TS (disc specific, no brake track) rims I found for $40 each a few weeks ago. Hoping for a stout and stealth aero training wheelset.

DK

I don't think you can beat Nashbar, they have 37mm deep Vuelta's for $95 (with discount code) for a set! Insane deal.

....if you don't mind old-school skinny rims.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Good point, guess I'm old school :)