UKC

I'm considering upgrading the wheels on my road bike, but i'm not sure if its worth it. I ride a 2007 giant SCR, which has stock wheels made by Alex.

If i was to get some wheels i'd probably be looking at spending around £100. My question is, whether or not there'll be any significant benefit to buyings wheels in this price range (such as PlanetX model B, or Shimano Tiagra) or whether i need to be spending more (such as the Shimano RS30 for £150+)

I know the normal rule is whatever your budget its about half what it needs to be, but really, how much do i need to spend to make a difference...

Ta
Steve

In reply to VS4b: £100 won't get you much to be honest, unless they're a reduced price deal. Up to £200 RRP will give you better wheels and possibly more choice. They will still all be machine built at those prices however. Hand built is the way to go. Try spa cycles in harrogate, they do decent wheels. They have a website.

My understanding is that you should go for hand-built wheels if at all possible, and there are on-line operations that provide these relatively cheaply: you chose your hubs, rims spokes, and they build them and send them out. You won't get the best for 100 quid of course, but you'll get something, and I think better value than with off-the-peg wheels (though who knows what bargains your local bike shop might have - worth shopping around).

I looked into this last year, and was all set to commit to an on-line custom build - can't remember which website, but have a search and you'll find a few - then I found a similar pair on ebay which I went for instead. Have a look there too - second-hand wheels are risky I suppose as they're unlikely to be completely true, but I found an unused pair - a quick tweak and they've been great ever since. One thing to look out for there is that even if the wheels haven't been ridden on, the spoke nuts can get a bit corroded/seized-up, making them hard to adjust - but you know, you could always replace those, if you fancy getting into wheel-building yourself, which is certainly on my list of the 1000 crucial skills I want to learn before I die!

In reply to VS4b:

Merlin cycles have some Mavic Askiums for £149, or some Fulcrum racing 7's for £109

Both good sets of wheels.

Re getting wheels built, nice idea, but no on this budget.

Tap in the askiums and Fulcrums into the web and read some reviews

Good luck

Paul

In reply to Darragh:

OK so my assumption that you'd get a decent custom hand-build set for 100 was optimistic or out of date. But you can do OK for not too much more - e.g. have a look here:

http://www.byercycles.co.uk/29R0809.html

Or some bargains on Ribble:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/pp/road-track-bike/Wheels-Handbuilt-Road-Tria...

In reply to Paul Trueman:

agreed Askiums very good value; would steer clear of shimano at this price.

In reply to stonewall:

Shimano RS20's and 30's are alright. I'm getting some RS80's Cant wait!

In reply to VS4b: The Planet X Model B get rave reviews for value for money pretty much anywhere you look. They will certainly be the lightest off the shelf wheels up to £200.

The quality won't be amazing, but certainly no worse than anything else at the price and they won't be the strongest. Nor do they have the big brand kudos.

If you're not a brand snob and not a heavy/powerful rider, to me it's a no brainer.

Oh, and as I'll always say, you'll probably notice more of a performance benefit for changing the tyres and tubes first. Save yourself some cash, too.

Rob

In reply to R8JimBob88:

Nice wheels pleased with mine

It may be worth looking on bike radar for second hand wheels, as above wheels are often the first thing upgraded and it is possible to pick up a pair of little used askium's, fulcrum 7's or shimano rs 20/30 that came with a £1500 bike as people upgrade to RS 80s, racing 3s or such like .
A lot of people keep them for winter wheels but enough sell them on to make it worth your while looking.

In reply to jethro kiernan: for example

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12761358