Overwhelmed with wheels!

No experiance with Bontrager wheels, but I have heard bad things.

What about Mavic Cosmic Elite $450, Mavic Cosmos $300, Mavic Ksyrium Elite II $450, Campy Vento G3 $300, Fulcrum Racing 5 (these are actually campy wheels) $395, Reynolds Alta Comp (don't like Reynolds) $300, Shimano R550 $280, Velomax Vista $295

My point is there is plenty of choice out there, I would choose Campy or Mavic wheels over Bontrager's. Check out the respective websites for details of the wheels.

NB: Prices are as per my local, so you may pay more or less and check for deals on last years stock.

coldplay610 said:

Hey everyone, I need a bit of help. I'm finally ready to scrap the wheels that came standard on my Trek 1000 and upgrade to some decent racing wheels for next spring. The trouble is that many opinions I hear about racing wheels are contradicting, with areodynamics, weight, and everything else. Finally I talked to a local guy at a bike shop built for racing and he recommended Bontrager Selects or if I have the money Bontrager Race Lites. Are there any opinions out there about these wheels and race quality or any other wheels at sub-$400 that would suit a man ready to race? Also important is weight for new wheels? Is there a magic ballpark figure that most racers keep in mind (i.e. sub 1800g)? Any help will certainly be appreciated!

Campy Proton's. $400 a set and 1640 gms. They are stiff and fast.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news....you know that old saying...you get what you paid for.

In any case, I used Bontrager wheels and I will never trust them. For one single reason: 190lb crit rider. I am too heavy for ANY of the rims. The hubs are very nice, but the flex while cornering is just too scary.

I would suggest buying some used Ksyriums. I am rolling on ES' and they are wonderful. I was going to buy the SSL' but I came accross a deal for the ES'.

SSL' are somewhere around 1500g, they are stiff as hell and you can get them used for the amount of money you are willing to spend.

JH

Dura Ace hubs, DT Swiss rims, DT spokes. $418 at Excel Sports. Excellent quality hubs/bearings, parts. Fairly light. Extremely strong. Completely serviceable.

I can't imagine buying pre-built wheels at that price range. Most of those other choices are paying for the name.

tcklyde said:

Dura Ace hubs, DT Swiss rims, DT spokes. $418 at Excel Sports. Excellent quality hubs/bearings, parts. Fairly light. Extremely strong. Completely serviceable.

I can't imagine buying pre-built wheels at that price range. Most of those other choices are paying for the name.

Just wanted to "second" tcklyde's comment. Especially for a beginning racer, the "standard" good quality hub (Campy or Shimano, depends on the grupo on your bike)/DT spokes/DT or MavicOP rim wheel is a very good place to start. There is really no point in going to a pre-built wheel unless you are ready to spend at least double your $400 range, and you can then consider various carbon fiber aero wheels such as Zipps or Reynolds (which make no sense for a beginning racer). Unfortunately crashing seems to be all too common in cat5 races, you want a wheel that can easily be rebuilt. As a side comment, most of my "power training" friends actually ride most of our races with our "heavy" PowerTap wheels, it isn't harming our racing at all!

tcklyde said:

Dura Ace hubs, DT Swiss rims, DT spokes. $418 at Excel Sports. Excellent quality hubs/bearings, parts. Fairly light. Extremely strong. Completely serviceable.

I can't imagine buying pre-built wheels at that price range. Most of those other choices are paying for the name.

I just got a set of DT Swiss wheels (240 hubs, aerolite spokes and RR1.1 rims) and they're fantastic so far. I've only done a few 100 kms so I can't say for sure, but the most noticeable difference is that they are so stiff that I can fly through corners much faster than on my previous Shimano 550's. So I can attest to the quality of the rims and spokes that tcklyde is suggesting.

coldplay610 said:

Hey everyone, I need a bit of help. I'm finally ready to scrap the wheels that came standard on my Trek 1000 and upgrade to some decent racing wheels for next spring. The trouble is that many opinions I hear about racing wheels are contradicting, with areodynamics, weight, and everything else. Finally I talked to a local guy at a bike shop built for racing and he recommended Bontrager Selects or if I have the money Bontrager Race Lites. Are there any opinions out there about these wheels and race quality or any other wheels at sub-$400 that would suit a man ready to race? Also important is weight for new wheels? Is there a magic ballpark figure that most racers keep in mind (i.e. sub 1800g)? Any help will certainly be appreciated!

How much do you weigh?
What type of racing will you be doing?
I think it is hard to beat Shimano DURA ACE or Shimano Ultegra hubs. Excel Sports has a DURA ACE DT Revolution/Competition, Mavic OpenPro set where you can pick 28 or 32 spokes front and rear. All Revolution Spokes built 2X front and Revolution spokes Left rear. This is a good package and meets your price range. As other posters have already mentioned, it uses standard components that are easily serviced and replaced at reasonable costs and minimal hassle.
I also build wheels. My approach is similar to the above package but I use Velocity Aerohead front rim and Aerohead OC rear rim. The OC stands for Off Center and refers to the spoking. Thus you get much more even spoke support angles and better sharing of spoke load Right to Left on the rear wheel. I still use a lighter spoke on the rear left side as Excel Sports does on their Cirrus.
I use Sapim Race 14/15 DB spokes right rear and Sapim Laser 14/17 DB spokes front and left rear.
If you want a little more Aerodynamics, I would use Sapim CX-Ray 14G spokes in the front. They shave a little more weight and make the front wheel slightly more aerodynamic at an increased cost.
dave at ornee dot net
David Ornee, Western Springs, IL

Mavic Cosmos are the way to go, they aren't super-light but their super strong and can take a lot. Also they won't get squirrelly in a Crosswind and they have very smooth hubs. I've got the 2005 model cosmos and the 2006's only get diffrent graphics and a slightly different rim.

Cyclist14 said:

Mavic Cosmos are the way to go, they aren't super-light but their super strong and can take a lot. Also they won't get squirrelly in a Crosswind and they have very smooth hubs. I've got the 2005 model cosmos and the 2006's only get diffrent graphics and a slightly different rim.

They have been a good all around wheel for me too. About 1500 miles on mine and no problems. I weigh 190.

I've heard mixed reviews for a lot of Bontrager and Mavic wheels in that price range, and have personally had very marginal experiences with Mavic Open Pro rims despite their popularity.

Although I've never ridden them, I keep hearing the DT Swiss rims & spokes on a decent hub (like Shimano Ultegra or Dura Ace) are a very solid choice.

Also check out Easton Circuits at ~ $450, and Neuvation M28 Aeros ~ $300. I run a set of the M28s now as my every day wheels and they're worth a lot more than you'll pay.

neuvationcycling.comneuvationcycling.comOpen ↗

As far as weight goes, Keith Bontrager pretty much summed it up:
"Strong, light, cheap. Pick two."