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Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset
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This is another spin on the other recently started thread about best $300 wheels, but I did not want to hijack that thread... Most of the cheap wheels come in well north of 1,500g. I would love to find something snappier.

I am in the process of building an occasional use road bike for training, group rides, and good climbing. The goal is budget, since the bike is not for primary use. But at the same time, the rest of the bike will be pretty light, so I would like to compliment it with light wheels. I do not want to spend premium dollars on ultralight, racing wheels. I have wheels for now, so it is not a hurry... it gives me time to strategically look for good used wheels also.

These are the selection criteria:
  • ~1,400g plus or minus; minus desired within reasonable costs
  • Clincher
  • Aluminum brake tracks (I want to keep it simple and give me best braking for mountain descents)
  • Suitable for everyday riding
  • Don't care about tubeless
  • Don't care about aero

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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Building your own set would probably be the best and most economical, if you're able to do so.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [rubik] [ In reply to ]
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I am capable. Done it many times. Just not sure if I feel like hassling with it now. I guess it would depend on how much I could save.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Without building it yourself you're going to have trouble getting below 1400 for much less than $400 and even then you might have to make some silly choices.

The Cosines are probably the cheapest that get you close.
BWW has some cheap and light wheels. http://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/...-700c-wheel-set.html
Revolution wheel works might be higher quality. http://www.revolutionwheelworks.com/rev22.html
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
....compliment......

You're going to use the wheels to tell your bike it's pretty?
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [PoorLBSEmployee] [ In reply to ]
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Haha. Great catch!
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Cosine 32mm. I'm actually astonished how cheap these are (£185 UK sterling right now on Wiggle) and may have to buy some. Damn you.

More familiar names I think you'd be looking at something like the Mavic Ksyrium Elite or the Pro Lite Bortola A21, both closer to 1500g but quite a bit more than the Cosines.

Looks like I'm getting new wheels..
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [knighty76] [ In reply to ]
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The Cosine discovery is the primary point of this thread for me. I had never heard of them, and they are a massive bargain for the weight and performance. Unless I discover something better, I will likely get a set.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Seems like a bit of a no-brainer if that is the budget you are working with. I bought some Vision Team 30s a year or so back for my workhorse bike and they are fully 450g heavier.

Worth noting it looks like these are on at a sale price for the moment. As above they are about 185 quid UK money just now, but I know folks who bought them at 250 quid. Strangely the rest of their range isn't available just now (the 42mm and 55mm carbon clinchers), which makes me wonder if they are dropping the line. Worries me for things like freehub body replacement as it looks like they use their own model. My experience with lightweight alloy freehub bodies is that they can get a bit chewed up by the cassette sprockets biting in over time, but I did note on the product page that these have a "steel bite guard" built in which will help. Looking at the Q&As the freehub is serviceable with standard cartridge bearings (I think).

Weirdly - they sell a spare freehub for the carbon clinchers which shows 3 pawls. On the Q&A somebody asked if it was the same freehub body as those, and the wiggle person replied that yes they were the same across all models. However on the product description for the 32 it talks about 4 pawls in the freehub, so something doesn't make sense there. If it was a bit clearer that the freehubs are definitely the same I'd consider buying up a spare straight off for 25 quid.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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IMO, below about 1.5kg with alloy clinchers you're starting to trade reliability for weight unless you're willing to spend some good money. The hubs on light, cheap wheels are often crap. If you're willing to give up 100g, there are lots of options. Fulcrum Racing 3s are bulletproof and come in around 1.5kg and can be found for about $350. Vuelta Corsa Lites are similarly reliable, about the same weight and cost about $275.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Neugent Cycling is worth a look. He's been making wheels for a long time and I have had great experiences with both of my sets. Excellent spinning hubs and no build issues. Most of the aluminum clinchers are in the 1400-1500 gram range for $400-500. They should last a long time without any issues. A quick search of John Neugent or Neugent Wheels should turn up very positive reviews. Maybe that's more than you're looking to spend though?

http://www.neugentcycling.com/Alloy-Wheels.html
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [dangle] [ In reply to ]
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FYI
My Cosine32mm wheels are (per digital kitchen scales):

Front 665g
Rear 857g
Both weights are with supplied rim tape
Skewers 86g for the pair

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/...ncher-road-wheelset/
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Here's a possibility:

All from bikehubstore:

79g Front hub
210 g rear hub
24/28 spokes. Sapim Laser Front (1.5 mm) Sapim Race rear (1.8 mm) assuming 4.5 g/6g per spoke
Kinlin XR19W rims (406 g)
alloy nipples (.33g)

Makes 600g front, 794g rear 1394g total

Cost approx $250 for parts

This is a reasonably conservative spec

The rims are light so need extra spokes to make up - would normally spec 20/24 but I think you would need the XR22T rim at 440g for that - going above 1400g target.

Lasers are ok for front but I don't like them on the rear.

You could save weight by reducing number of spokes and going with lasers on rear but I would have doubts about durability. If you build these they would need minor truing every few months, IMO. If you weigh more than 180lbs then give up on 1400g wheels.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [carlosflanders] [ In reply to ]
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This is excellent, and I will definitely think hard on it.

When I last bought parts and built wheels, 36 spoke 3x for F/R was the norm, and 32 spoke F/R was for light race-day wheels. Today, I am riding 20/24 every day. I am not light at 180 lbs, but I am dropping on a path to the low 170s. One of the challenges of building is spec-ing all of the individual parts to get both light and durable. That is one reason why I prefer to get built wheels-- to save the hassle factor. However, if I can spec very good wheels for this cheap, it is almost a no-brainer to buy and build again.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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A set of Flo 30's are $500 and weigh 1624grams....
However they are faster than any of the above mentioned wheels.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [dnomelgreg] [ In reply to ]
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dnomelgreg wrote:
A set of Flo 30's are $500 and weigh 1624grams....
However they are faster than any of the above mentioned wheels.
Flo 30 rims are a bit porky in the realm of light wheels. The difference in rotational inertia is massive. I have Flo carbon 60/90 for speed. This exercise is about light wheels for all-around riding and climbing.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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You may want to browse http://weightweenies.starbike.com/.../viewforum.php?f=113

I suspect you'll find more people that share a common desire.
Last edited by: rijndael: Mar 22, 17 6:18
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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It doesn't matter how light wheels are. The aerodynamics on the Flo 30's outperform the above mentioned wheels...which makes them faster...just sayin.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Are you sticking purely to new wheels or would you consider used?
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
dnomelgreg wrote:
A set of Flo 30's are $500 and weigh 1624grams....
However they are faster than any of the above mentioned wheels.
Flo 30 rims are a bit porky in the realm of light wheels. The difference in rotational inertia is massive. I have Flo carbon 60/90 for speed. This exercise is about light wheels for all-around riding and climbing.

Massive? Really?

-------------------------------
´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [Barchettaman] [ In reply to ]
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Barchettaman wrote:
Massive? Really?
It was meant as a play on words... the difference in rotational intertia is massive, get it? Though, a Flo 30 rim is 570g, which is 100g to 150g more mass than a lot of the other lighter rims out there.

dnomelgreg wrote:
It doesn't matter how light wheels are. The aerodynamics on the Flo 30's outperform the above mentioned wheels...which makes them faster...just sayin.
My hunch is that you may not have ridden a bike with light wheels. It is not about the speed, it is how they make the bike feel. It is like a Porsche 911 compared to a Mazda MX5. The Porsche is faster, but the Mazda has a far more interactive driver road feel because of its lower mass.

GwennyPants wrote:
Are you sticking purely to new wheels or would you consider used?
I am open to about anything... The bike I am building is mostly used parts. This is purely exploratory to figure out what the possibilities are. There are a zillion wheel brands around, many are cheap crap, many are very good but expensive, and some are good and economical. I am in search of the latter. For example, I am super intrigued by the Bicycle Wheel Warehouse Blackset Race 24. I had never heard of them, but they seem like a great performance value.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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You never specifically said what do you consider "economical"? Is is the $300 you mentioned in your first post? Because outside of used, I don't think you are going to find that.
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Re: Economical ~1,400g Clincher Road Wheelset [JoeO] [ In reply to ]
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JoeO wrote:
You never specifically said what do you consider "economical"? Is is the $300 you mentioned in your first post?
Good point... that other thread started the general idea but with a different objective. I did not anticipate that I would also discover a light wheelset $300. Though, the Cosine 32 at $250 on sale are pretty amazingly close. And the Bicycle Wheel Warehouse Blackset Race 24 at $400 pretty much lock in. So, I would say that the ~$400 USD point gets to the economical range. I am searching for the Flo of light alloy wheels-- delivering the performance at 1/3 the cost of the highly-marketed brands.
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