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 costsClincherAluminum brake tracks (I want to keep it simple and give me best braking for mountain descents)Suitable for everyday riding
Don’t care about tubelessDon’t care about aero
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.