Replacement/Upgrade bits for Ventura Bilbury 19"

[Owen Williams]

Hello, I need to change the wheelset on my Ventura Bilbury 19" bike. When I first got it some grit
got stuck in the brake pads front and rear which then carved nice grooves into the wheels. I get
through brake pads very quickly and the bike gets filthy because of it.

The wheels at the moment are 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/2 700Cx39C.

My girlfriend has a Scot Sonoma TR3 with Weinmann Zac 19 wheels with Schwalbe County Cruiser
Puncture Protection tyres. This seems to be a very fast bike.

I'd like to get some similar or better but I have to bear in mind the the original bike was
only £200.

I mostly have a 5 minute ride to work but we occasionally do 'big rides' like the Gulthaxton (?)
trail in Leicester. Or Leicester to Twycross Zoo and back.

I'd like to buy the a wheelset fully built online and do the rest of the work myself. It seems a bit
of a minefield though. I get the impression that you buy the rims, spokes and hub separately.

Also, to be a bit flash I thought about upgrading the brakes, maybe to disk brakes.

Any other general upgrade advice would be great.

What do you think?

Thanks,

Owen.