The best wheel manufacturers?

I add SRAM which are built in the Zipp factories....
SRAM bought Zipp a while back
I have a SRAM S60 front and SRAM S80 rear on my Felt B12 TT/Tri bike

riderInTheNight said:

Hi All,

I thought I should create a list of the best cycling wheel manufacturers in the world and put it on my blog.

Until now I have:
Shimano
Fulcrum
DT Swiss
HED
Zipp
Bontrager
Mavic

Anyone important I forgot?

Thanks 🙂

Campagnolo

riderInTheNight said:

Hi All,

I thought I should create a list of the best cycling wheel manufacturers in the world and put it on my blog.

Until now I have:
Shimano
Fulcrum
DT Swiss
HED
Zipp
Bontrager
Mavic

Anyone important I forgot?

Thanks 🙂

Best based on what? Is Mavic one of the best because of their [censored] rear hub design? It looks like you're just compiling a list of manufacturers with bright, shiny magazine ads. Are DT really one of the best? Is so, you better include Reynolds because Reynolds provides DT with their CF rims. Fulcrum is one of the best.....and yet you don't include Campy, the people behind fulcrum.

What constitutes "best?" Reviews in Bicycling magazine? How about reviews on Roadbikereview.com? The best are brands that Americans can think of? No, wait: I guess "best" would have to be boutique wheels, right? I mean, surely custom wheels can't be the best.

What about Lightweight wheels? AX Lightness wheels? Tune wheels? Speed Composites wheels? Corima? PMP? Ambrosio? Extralite? C-4? Citec? Easton? Soul? Nimble? Spada? Xentis? FFWD? X-Treme? Topolino? Miche? Stella Azzura? Madfiber? The list goes on and on and on. Good-luck trying to put a credible list of the "best" together.

Great idea! I've got some Forte Titans that are still going strong, so Forte should be included as one of the best.

I'm sure you'll get some consensus here real quick like. Furthermore, I'm very interested in the results as I'll probably base my next wheel purchase on this thread.😉

Don't forget to include on your blog the best bike manufacturer and best bike component manufacturer as well. Starting another thread for each would be perfect...

tonyzackery said:

Great idea! I've got some Forte Titans that are still going strong, so Forte should be included as one of the best.

I'm sure you'll get some consensus here real quick like. Furthermore, I'm very interested in the results as I'll probably base my next wheel purchase on this thread.😉

Don't forget to include on your blog the best bike manufacturer and best bike component manufacturer as well. Starting another thread for each would be perfect...

I have a set of C-Record laced to Mavic Mach IICD that I built 10 years ago and they are GREAT, those should be on the list I guess.

Most 'wheelsouttaboxes' suffer from the same malady, really poor hubs, made for the middle of the bell curve, use unique to those wheels parts and are expensive. shimano, Campagnolo/Fulcrum and DT use great hubs but all use propriatary spokes/rims. If they support the rim/spokes-OK, can repair but if they don't...Think Helium front with a 26h front rim..hub=expensive pen holder.

I have some cheap Alex Rims on my MTB that are really sturdy and have lasted me well for years. I wouldn't call them an amazing wheel, though I would buy them again as I am on a budget.

I guess as was mentioned you need a criteria to compile a list.

alienator said:

Best based on what? Is Mavic one of the best because of their [censored] rear hub design? It looks like you're just compiling a list of manufacturers with bright, shiny magazine ads. Are DT really one of the best? Is so, you better include Reynolds because Reynolds provides DT with their CF rims. Fulcrum is one of the best.....and yet you don't include Campy, the people behind fulcrum...

Hi alienator,

After reading your post I could not stop myself from clapping my hands - I mean it!
I loved what you wrote because you are so true - what one says the word "best" one also must set the borders - best for what?! For whom?

An F-1 racing car is the best for racing around curves but is very bad when you want to carry cargo. So is it still the best?

My title was a bit of a teaser and you saw right through it.

I recently started reading a bit about cycling wheels. The more I read, the more I get confused about it. The more homepages I visit the faster my head is spinning. All the colors and the explosive names and show room shine just makes my life more complicated.

I noticed that even if I read the technical stuff on the manufacturers' sites I can barely sort out the amount of information being thrown in my general direction. I end up feeling rather stupid.

What I am looking for is some kind of a guide, a pathfinder in this spinning world of carbon fiber and aluminum. As I couldn't find a guide to become friends with, I decided I will make one for myself and "donate" it to the community.

From your post I already learned some stuff. Do you have any further tips? What wheels do you use? Why do you use them? What should I look for in a good wheel?

I am very new to this but I am thirsty to learn - just for the fun of it! 🙂

Thank you

The best wheel is the one that best suits a rider's needs, fits his/her budget, and sates his/her desires.

My best wheels right now are custom wheels that I spec'd with the help of a wheel builder. Another set was a "best" set at the time based on what I wanted out of that set.

There is no conclusive way to say what is best, as best doesn't have a singular definition among all riders. If you want to base "best" on physical characteristics, would "best" be the most laterally stiff wheel? The lightest wheel? The wheel with the lowest moment of inertia? The wheel with the lowest drag at α=0°, α=10°, α=15°? The wheel with the most spokes? The wheel with aero spokes? You can see where this is going.

I think the best you can do is list wheel characteristics and let the buyer do with that info what they will.

On the subject of ‘best’ there is the phrase
Strong - light - cheap: pick two.

One wheelset choice I made and somewhat regretted was the Shimano WH7800. I trust Shimano engineering, and thought I was going with ‘strong and light’. Another cool plus was the nipples on the hub instead of rim - rotating mass, you know. Also, on the nice aesthetics, is the sound. Very high tension spokes combined with the big triangular rim shape, combined with a nice smooth road surface and maybe a little wind at your back so you could really hear them, these wheels just ring with an almost musical note. BUT - the rims tend to crack at the spoke holes, three times so far. To be fair to Shimano, I ride a lot. Shimano has a 3 year warranty on wheels which they honored no problem. Also to be fair to them I should point out that in two cases, these cracks appeared after nearly 30k miles. Is it unreasonable of me to complain of rim failure due to fatigue, after this amount of use?

I would also suggest trying to figure out what category of riding you want wheels for. Hill climbing, sprinting, Century Rides, Touring, Triathlons? All don't require different wheels, but different wheel characteristics will certainly make the journey better in each case.

paulmurphy said:

... Another cool plus was the nipples on the hub instead of rim - rotating mass, you know.

I9 tried a similar approach with their ego and superego wheelsets. Really nice looking wheels, but what made sense for many reasons on paper didn't pan out in the real world. Lots of broken spokes forced a redesign for 2010.

Can't answer the ? about what mileage is reasonable - matter of personal value ... strong, light, cheap. 🙂

The "strong, light, cheap" thing is only relevant in Keith Bontrager's mind, as those terms are only relative terms. A person can certainly find wheels that are strong enough, light enough, and cheap enough for them.

paulmurphy said:

On the subject of ‘best’ there is the phrase
Strong - light - cheap: pick two.

One wheelset choice I made and somewhat regretted was the Shimano WH7800. I trust Shimano engineering, and thought I was going with ‘strong and light’. Another cool plus was the nipples on the hub instead of rim - rotating mass, you know. Also, on the nice aesthetics, is the sound. Very high tension spokes combined with the big triangular rim shape, combined with a nice smooth road surface and maybe a little wind at your back so you could really hear them, these wheels just ring with an almost musical note. BUT - the rims tend to crack at the spoke holes, three times so far. To be fair to Shimano, I ride a lot. Shimano has a 3 year warranty on wheels which they honored no problem. Also to be fair to them I should point out that in two cases, these cracks appeared after nearly 30k miles. Is it unreasonable of me to complain of rim failure due to fatigue, after this amount of use?

I'd consider 30K miles before rim cracks appear to be excellent life, likely exceeding the mileage a large percentage of riders get from a wheelset. Of course, life depends on how much you weigh, how and where you ride, your ability to dodge potholes and stand on bumps, etc. Shimano's warranty coverage also seems exceptional.

If your definition of "best" is longest-lasting, you probably could have a wheelset built that would be even more durable. But few of us ever put that many miles on wheels; most trade bikes before then. Even fewer want to compromise on race performance to gain durability these days. After all, final sprints are won or lost by inches all the time; no one wants their wheels to be the deciding factor.

dhk2 said:

I'd consider 30K miles before rim cracks appear to be excellent life, likely exceeding the mileage a large percentage of riders get from a wheelset. Of course, life depends on how much you weigh, how and where you ride, your ability to dodge potholes and stand on bumps, etc. Shimano's warranty coverage also seems exceptional.

If your definition of "best" is longest-lasting, you probably could have a wheelset built that would be even more durable. But few of us ever put that many miles on wheels; most trade bikes before then. Even fewer want to compromise on race performance to gain durability these days. After all, final sprints are won or lost by inches all the time; no one wants their wheels to be the deciding factor.

More races are lost due to equipment than won.

Peter, my last comment was an attempt at satire. I do find it amazing how many people buy into the hype around low-spoke counts, bladed spokes, alloy nipples, etc hoping the investment will move them to the front of the pack on their club rides. Of course, if a $2000 ultra-light aero wheelset could save me a few minutes at our All-You-Can-Eat Century later this month, I might be interested 🙂

I'm riding Neuvation wheels light,strong and inexpensive, I have 3000 miles on the wheelset and still as true as the day I put them on my bike IMO great wheels

What about Velocity Rims out of the USA?

Velocity makes some decent rims, kinda heavy and not terribly sophisticated but not bad. I run some Velocity tubular rims for cyclocross and like them a lot, tough as nails but kinda porky for tubulars coming in over 1700 grams for the wheelset.

I'd add Kinlin for quality rims that a good builder can turn into very nice wheelsets.

I'd also add Boyd for complete wheels as their new line of full carbon wheels since they invested in their own closed mold are very nice looking wheels. Definitely some other decent built wheelsets like Williams and Neuvation but those are open source components and nothing unique.

-Dave

What daveryanwymoing said. I've had great success with Velocity rims (currently using Velocity A23's) and Kinlin rims. You should also consider Pacenti rims and H Plus Son rims. Are you looking for just rims, complete pre-built wheels, or custom built wheels? Note that Velocity USA is the same as Velocity our of Australia.