Venn 50mm Carbon clincher Rims. Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Bitex hubs
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Racing Alloy WheelsetSuitabilityThese are a light weight race /sportive wheelset. Using a light weight alloy rim they are a great place to start if you are looking to improve the feel, weight and ride of your bike. A set of alloy wheels built around quality hubs will be the go-to wheelset for almost all applications.
Example build: Cats Whiskers Wheels alloy clincher rim (23mm or 30mm profile (tubeless compatible), Sapim D-lite spokes and Bitex hubs: £360 Upgrade to Sapim CX-Ray spokes £410 - Cats Whiskers Wheels Rims are high quality, alloy, tubeless compatible rims. They have a welded joint and build up very well into a light and stiff wheel set. The rear has an offset drilling for the spoke holes for a more even spoke tension. Finished in a black, shot peened finish. I use them personally and they go toe-to-toe with rims from any of the large manufactures, often bettering them for weight, stiffness and price. The ProsLight weight and great as a race or racier all round wheel set. They can be built with various choices of rims, hubs and spokes to better suit the application and this can be talked through in detail so they are made to the spec that best meets the demands you will place on them. Spokes and bearings are all replaceable and easily serviced. Built around quality hubs you have a wheelset that will out perform factory built equivalents. Many rim options are available from the wider H Plus Son Archetype and Pacenti SL23 to more traditional width rims from Ambrosio and Ryde (Pulse Sprint and Comp).
The ConsNot many, in truth. They won't have the aero dynamic advantages that deep section carbon rims offer and won't be quite as light as some carbon tubular wheels. Also please note these aren't winter wheels and the rim/spoke options are generally lighter and more performance orientated. They will deal with wet rides easily however, If you want a wet/winter rides mile eating wheelset, take a look below.
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Boyd Altamont Lite rims laced to White Industries T11 hubs.
Cats Whiskers Wheels 30mm alloy clinchers, Sapim D-lite spokes and Bitex hubs: £360
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H Plus Son TB14 rims
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Winter Training WheelsetSuitabilityA sturdy and well sealed set of wheels. Higher spoke count (32h - 36h) built in a 3 cross pattern on a well sealed set of hubs mean they will see you through winter training rides on rough wet roads.
The ProsStrong and functional. They probably won't set your world alight but they are the corner stone to a successful winter training outfit. High spoke count means they deal with rough roads and well sealed hubs increase bearing life and maximise the time between service intervals. The rims are slightly heavier and have more life in the brake tracks… Pulling the brakes and hearing your super light wheelset's braking surface being ground down is no fun and neither is knowing the hubs are getting turned from super silky smooth bearings to tubes of aluminium filled with musket balls and silt…. save them for after spring.
The H-Plus Son TB14 clincher rim is a classic look similar to the Ambrosio Nemisis tubular rim and ideal for a Spring Classics/winter training wheelset. Built onto a quality set of hubs these would complement a steel or older carbon/aluminium framed bike perfectly and ride like a dream. They can be built with Shimano hubs for an economic mile crunching wheelset or onto something a little more high end (Royce) for a traditional looking wheelset that has understated class. The ConsThese are generally functional wheels, although with the right choice of components they can go from utility to a beautiful classic in a heart beat. Good all rounders and designed to give comfortable and hassle free riding. They lend themselves to winter training or commuting. Therefore they won't be the lightest or most aerodynamic wheelset going.
<Ambrosio Excellence rims on Bitex hubs. |