After reading your post I conclude you want to buy a good and solid training wheels. I use to ride Mavic Open Pro while in training and despite being strong wheels for that I think for you budget you could consider other like:

1) Mavic Cosmos - I bought these ones afterwards and I still use them for my training. They are great for up hills exercises and can manage pretty well in flat courses. I have them for 2 years now and never had a single problem. This would be my advice to you. I think you can easily get a set for less than $200 in the US.

2) The new Mavic Ksyrium Equipe - I never had a set of Ksyrium but always heard some of my team mates and reviews saying great stuff about them. These new version of Ksyrium, are heavier than SSC SL and Elite so they are meant to be used in training. I don't know how much they cost in the states, but if you go to whttp://www.shockbike.com you can buy them for €279 ($300?).

Good luck :)

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http://twitter.com/krepster || http://www.pedro-gomes.com || follow all the action on facebook

how about Velocity spartacus? 30mm rims, available in a 16/20 or 20/24 bladed spoke

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I use a Mavic/Ultegra combo for training and have had no problems except for the annoying clicking every once in a while. The reinforcing rivets click sometimes at the beginning of a ride for a few minutes, but they have remained true and strong for a loooong time. Being 32 hole, fairly heavy and non-aero they aren't too great for racing.
I have a Spartacus 16 spoke front and it is way too flexy for my 155lb. I wouldn't recommend it for your 183lb. I have considered the Campagnolo Scirocco at a reasonable weight and 24 spokes. I have no idea how strong it is, but I'd find it hard to be worse than the Spartacus. A pair would run around $300-350 I think.
The Ksyrium Equipe pair are about $350 new.

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gotta go with 20! I used to have Velocity Deep V, I weigh over 200, no problem, and they cost less.

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If you go with buying used wheels, I suggest that you go to the best wheel builder in your area and have the wheels thoroughly checked over.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

triguy42,

Could he get a set of Rolf Vector Pros on ebay in his price range? Great wheels for training or racing!

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Ben Cline


Better to aspire to Greatness and fail, than to not challenge one's self at all, and succeed.

Both wheelsets you describe are very solid options.

The Cane Creeks are obviously lighter wheels, but even with a lower spoke count they are very durable wheels. I've ridden them before with very good experiences and have certainly eyed the deals being offered via mailorder recently. I believe they have gone through a recent design change (hence being on sale in the "old" version), but I personally don't think you can go wrong with this selection for a solid set of racing/training wheels. I assume the wheels you are considering are new.

That said, the second set you describe are slightly more serviceable (since they use standard spokes rather than straight pull) and are are arguably marginally more durable. However, since they are used, albeit by a known quantity, they may or may not have as much life left in them. I think it's also important to mention that the rims of these wheels will be nicer than the Cane Creek's rims. Not a huge difference, but there is a difference.

Between the two choices, ultimately I don't think durability will be much different.

So, with Cane Creeks you get: light, durable, new... solid wheelset. With the Hugi/Open Pros: durable, solid quality, slightly nicer rims... good wheelset. Either way you can't go wrong. I'd opt for the new wheels myself.

I hope this helps...

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Jeff Larson

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Ghandi

You might want to conseder Velomax as well. Their tempest and circuit wheels are reletively light for a semi aero wheel 1500 and 1650 grams respectively. There is a dealer on ebay selling the circuit for 299 brand new(not me by the way). I know people that have put quite a few miles (over 1000)both training and racing and are quite happy.

The top end Mavic wheels are nice for about $800, but the rest of their line is quite heavy, like over 1800 grams, and not very aero.