New road wheels ~£125?

[crazyjoe101]

Hello all, I have a 2005 Trek 1500 SLR and by some miracle it still has the stock wheels it was sold with. Understandably the wheels are showing considerable wear and I'm looking for a replacement clincher wheelset. Shimano 105, 9 speed cassette.

This is my only road bike and as such it's ridden frequently in a variety of environments, as such the wheels will need to be fairly robust but also perform decently. I realise my budget of £125 isn't massive but I think it corresponds with the value of the bike, if there is a good justification though I'll go a bit above this budget though. So far I've seen the following two:

Fulcrum Racing 7 (2013)
Shimano R501

Please could you recommend me a good wheelset? If I've missed anything out then please so let me know.

 

[coco69]

These are a touch under 2kg but I had these on my old kuota
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...shimano-rs30-clincher-wheels-pair/shimwhfr382

 

[crazyjoe101]

Ah, I should have mentioned that I'm looking at black wheels, constantly muddied white would look unpleasant I think. It's a shame they were out of stock in black, thanks for the suggestion coco.

 

[coco69]

Never had these but what a bargain

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...bladed-spoke-clincher-wheels-pair/shimwhfr203

 

[HLaB]

I think I got the 2014 Fulcrum 7s on ribble for £130 a whole 90g lighter than the 2013, IIRC Ribble are also doing a 12% discount just now too.

 

[jay clock]

Merlin ad Ribble are good places to look. These meet your budget and leave you with a penny change http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-rs21-wheels-pair-59772.html

As long as you have a Shimano hub you will be fine for 8,9 or 10 speed

 

[Hacienda71]

Spend another £25 and get some Mavic Aksiums or Planet X Al30's both have sealed bearings. I would say the AL30's are probably a tougher wheel although the longevity of the bearings has been suspect in the past The cost of changing them is not much if you needed replacements after a few thousand miles in. I had one dicky bearing after about 7000 miles of commuting through two winters in all weathers.

 

[crazyjoe101]

So far the Planet X AL30's are looking like the best option, they're the lightest and seem to come with a 9 speed spacer. The main competition is the Fulcrum Racing 7s. The Shimano RS21's seem to be heavier and lack the sealed bearings while the RS31's have only 16/20 spokes, which for my use would seem somewhat fragile?

£149.99 Planet X AL30 (1622g no skewers)
£143.99 (from £159.95) Fulcrum Racing 7 2014 (1760g no skewers)
£127.96 (from £169.99) Fulcrum racing 7 2013 (1849g no skewers)

I think the Mavic's are out of my budget, I can't really go above £150.

One thing which confused me in the Planet X options dropdown was the choice between 10/11sp and 10sp versions, the product description simply stated "Available with Shimano 8/9/10 speed or Campagnolo freehub body" so I suppose they supply spacers.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Hacienda71]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/pair-of-aksium-700c-wheels-id_8164046.html

£144.99

 

[crazyjoe101]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/pair-of-aksium-700c-wheels-id_8164046.html

£144.99

[Clearly] I hadn't seen those, I did skim through Ribble, Merlin and Planet X though. They appear to be the 2010 model however, that probably puts them a little bit behind?

 

[Hacienda71]

Can't see them being that different from the latest offering although the decals will probably be different. I had the model before these I think the 08 or 09's and put probably 12 to 14 k on them before the freehub started playing up.
To be honest though I prefer the Planet X wheels which I am running at the moment.

 

[400bhp]

One thing which confused me in the Planet X options dropdown was the choice between 10/11sp and 10sp versions, the product description simply stated "Available with Shimano 8/9/10 speed or Campagnolo freehub body" so I suppose they supply spacers.

Thanks for the help so far.

It confused me as well. I phoned them and didn't get a very clear answer to be honest. The guy clearly didn't know and said I might need 2 spacers.

I then bought the previous version of the Al30, the Model B's. These clearly stated 10 speed compatible. They don't need a spacer. Now, here's the odd thing. I got a phone call from Planet X saying sorry, but they didn't have any Model B's in stock but I could have the [newer] AL30's at the same price as the Model B (£125 IIRC). They stated they came with a spacer and they would fit 10 9 speed. I then receive a pair of Model B's in the post-go figure

 

[crazyjoe101]

I've more or less decided to get the AL30's and replace the bearings as soon as they arrive. I'll send them an email to see what the differemce between the 10sp and the 10\11sp versions is although I expect the 10/11 version may just be an updated version to accomodate 11 speed cassettes.
I'll order them once I get a response, thanks to all those who posted.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Here's the message and the response from Planet X.

"Hello,

I intend to purchase the Shimano/SRAM 10/11 speed version of the AL30 wheelset when it comes back into stock.

My bike has Shimano 9 speed gearing and I'd like to know if the wheelset comes with the required spacer(s) and if not, which spacer I will need.

Regards,
Joe."

"Hello [Joe]

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry for the delay in our response, unfortunately with the wheels having a 10/11spd freehub you would be unable to fit a 9spd cassette.

You would need to purchase wheels with a 10 speed free hub only

Kind regards

Will"

I've sent another email enquiring about a 10sp version of the wheel as it doesn't seem to be available in black. I thought you could add spacers to any wheel to make them work with less gears, perhaps it's a wider wheel?

 

[the_mikey]

That does seem strange, there is such a thing as a Shimano ten speed only hub, but those aren't too common. Most 11sp hubs will accept a 9 or 10 speed cassette as long as there are sufficient spacers to ensure the cassette fits properly. It could just be the case that planet X don't provide a suitable spacer, so it would be dishonest of them to suggest that the hub is compatible with a 9 speed cassette.

Shimano 9 speed cassettes are slightly wider than the 10 speed.