Wheel Poll

[Graham O]

I vote no. I have a set of Fulcum 3's which I paid £300 for. I think that these are a great set of wheels, and could not justify spending a further £700 on a set of wheels. I think that the returns (i.e. relative increases in performance) will diminish quite rapidly as you over £500.

I would slick the money in the bank and use it to go and see the world matey...

[kieran]

I voted 'NO' , maybe it's youth and lack of dependents, Adam and Stu? I earn a good salary and could afford it but with £1000 I can also take my family on holidays for a week , do an over payment on the mortgage (in the long term saving more than £1000) , shove it into an ISA or whatever, buy something for the house/garden (gold plated garden gnome ) etc.

Like Paul, I try to stick to 2nd hand, or old models as you get great value for money from a 1-2 year old frame etc, £1000 would almost get you ex Team GB bikes that come up for sale on the BC website. Also buying expensive stuff you have to be able to maintain/repair/replace/insure it.

My 'new' bike build from discounted (wheels) /2nd hand (frame, forks, crankset, cassette, seat post)/new (front derailleur, BB cups, tyres, cables)/canibalised from my roberts bike (rear derailleur, ergopower shifters, brakes, stem, saddle, handlebars) will cost me < £800.

[-Adam-]

skiing stu, poor excuse! hope u didnt have any nasty crashes to jeopardise your season!?

sean, i have been tempted by the racing 1's, but im not convinved.

kieran, i think you have hit the nail on the head. having no dependants is a big factor in me wanting to invest in the best equipment i can, while i can. if you see what i mean?

i had no idea the idea would be so controversial!

cheers,

adam

[Stu Merckx Man]

nah not any bad ones, some comical ones though like skiing into a snow wall and leaving a perfect imprint of myself

[-Adam-]

lol, so you think you'll be around on saturday week (ie the 3rd march)?

ill probly join the training group again...

[Stu Merckx Man]

yeh i should be as far as i can see

[kieran]

then again, when I was young and dependent free that £1000 would have bought a lot of recreational aids, paid for entry to a lot of clubs/gigs!

[Marek]

I think the answer has to be no, although I have seen some really nice wheels in that price range I agree with others that the difference between £400 wheels and £1000 wheels is going to be marginal.

I have tended to buy my wheels second hand from people in the club and I think that this is a good way to go. Else I would look out for bargains. That rear wheel on Chainreaction Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL for £99, that is a bargain and a half and I bought one so did Simon H. And if you bought something else for a few quid you got an extra 10% off for spending over £100, a true bargain if ever I saw one.

So why don't you ask around the cycling community if anyone is selling some fancy kit for a reasonable price, you never know you may find yourself a really good set of wheels at a reasonable price.

You could then put the money that is left over into other quality parts for your bike. Whatever you decide I hope you have fun on them and I look forward to seeing you out and about in March.

Cheers

Marek....

[Paul H]

I've got a set of wheels:

Carbon Corsair Clincher 700c Wheelset by SpeedFX

Perfect for Road Racing or Triathlon

30mm Rim - Bladed Spokes - Shimano Compatible Hubs

Front - 16 Spokes - 670 grams - Low flange hub for Aero Advantage

Rear - 24 Spokes - 890 grams - High Flange Hub for Equal Spoke Tensions

Brand new £150.00

[-Adam-]

where do you find these bargains paul!?

[Paul H]

ebay

[kieran]

other places to check:

veloriders buy & sell forum
BCF classifieds
CTT classifieds

sometimes singletrack classifieds has road stuff

[Elliot M]

Even with tax and customs fees, with the US exchange rate buying from there can be much cheaper for US manufactured stuff - eg Chris King headsets, Thomson seatposts

[Mike I]

[quote]why buy a heavy italian bike when you could have a light american bike

[Sylv]

I must say I too find those deep section carbon wheels darn sexy. If I was considering buying some the look would account for a good 50% of the decision. How about you, be honest?

I am thinking of options as the rims on my current (system) wheels are getting "groovy" and the wheels themselves are not that light. I've dismissed carbon tubulars for practical reasons (changing brake pads when swapping to alloy rimmed wheels, hassle of tubs ...).

So I want some light and durable wheels, and have come to realise that custom-built wheels will be a far better option:

* Mavic ceramic rims - will last forever and brake better
* Tune hubs - dead light and apparently bombproof
* butted spokes and alloy nipples

I would get them built by Howard at Bromleybike (which I've mentioned twice in my last two posts now, but am not trying to plug!).

They would weight around 1450gm and cost less than £500, including building cost. And they wouldn't look bad in an all-black stealth look. AND I could get them fixed anywhere/cheaply.


You can get a similar-ish build at Poshbikes, although with much cheaper DT alloy rims, and they cost £599.