Rim Choice

FWIW. Alex rims are "okay" ... I don't know about the Alex wheelsets, themselves.

If you really want to improve your wheelset, you should consider replacing your hubs with a set of SHIMANO, CAMPAGNOLO or DT SWISS hubs (the cartridge bearings which they use are superior & I love the star ratchet mechanism) ...

• I haven't decided, yet, whether or not FORMULA hubs are a good, economical alternative to DT SWISS hubs for those who prefer a hub with cartridge bearings
  

MAVIC rims are ubiquitous ... AMBROSIO rims are better ... VELOCITY rims have a very good reputation.

The REAR hubs in MAVIC's ready-to-ride wheelsets are suspect ... that may be a legacy of French engineering!?!

I'm not a fan of Alex Hubs. In my experience, they are OK once you replace the bearings, but brand new out if the box, they don't have the silky spin that other hubs have. They spin smooth, but a little stiffer than others, and it doesn't go away until you replace the bearings.

Ok. So my budget is about $500 dollars. I weight about 155 lbs and i am trying to determine if i should go aero or light. I personally think light since i enjoy climbing and i would like fast acceleration for sprints and crits when i start racing. For my price range, would it be better to have a custom built set of wheels, or factory built? If i go factory or custom what are some suggestions. I see alfeng offered me some nice information on custom builds. More information would be great! thanks for your time guys

FWIW. If you insist on a new wheelset rather than simply replacing your current hubs with some DT/Swiss 240s or Shimano Ultegra hubs (the less expensive Shimano hubs are actually good, too), then I recommend you simply get a set of semi-generic wheels from an on-line shop like COLORADO CYCLIST ( coloradocyclist.com25350Open ↗ ) ...

• 32h MAVIC Open Pro rims laced x3 with straight 14g spokes & brass nipples on Shimano Ultegra hubs ... about $380 (w/ rim tape) + shipping.
  

Many people believe the myth that double-butted spokes are better ... maybe they are ... I don't think so ...

• Double-butted spokes ARE better for the wheelbuilder because they add an unnecessary premium to the cost AND they can compensate for a more casual build
  

If 'I' were building wheels for someone else, then "I" would want to use double-butted spokes for the fore mentioned reasons!

Nashbar has a sale on Vuelta wheels, see: nashbar.comSubCategory 10053 10052 202356 1 202328 202328Open ↗ There is also a 10% coupon code available online as well.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Froze [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Nashbar has a sale on Vuelta wheels, see: nashbar.comSubCategory 10053 10052 202356 1 202328 202328Open ↗ There is also a 10% coupon code available online as well.

Also like to add if you use Mr.Rebates there is a 4% rebate on all your nashbar orders. Mr.Rebates is a great link if you purchase a lot on line. Cost zip to sign up and me and the wife get a few hundred bucks back a year. They also give you the current coupon codes to the sites you link through them saving you some search time.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by davereo [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Also like to add if you use Mr.Rebates there is a 4% rebate on all your nashbar orders. Mr.Rebates is a great link if you purchase a lot on line. Cost zip to sign up and me and the wife get a few hundred bucks back a year. They also give you the current coupon codes to the sites you link through them saving you some search time.

Thanks for mentioning that because it reminded me of somethings I have on my Google search engine as a add on called Invisible Hand and PriceBlink. These add on automatically search the web when you go into certain stores and especially Amazon as well as Nashbar and a slew of others and find the lowest price from a different online store if one is available. But it is tricky with both working together because Price Blink will show a price first for about a couple of seconds then Invisible Hand will push it out the way, so you have to be looking at the prices close and if you see Price Blink lower then just hide the Invisible Hand so the other will reappear then go to the web site it shows. Both can save a lot of time looking for the lowest price. Not everything your looking for will be handle by these add on's and some may be handle by one but not the other. Also coupon searches are done automatically if your at a particular site that has a coupon and is using the service of course. These services are free and only available through Google...that I know of.