Allrounder wheel 175pd H Plus Son Archetype Rim vs Velocity oc a23 vs zipp 101…

There is only one all-rounder wheelset option even worth considering: https://madfiber.com/

Anything else is stupid. Building wheels with metal is so nineteenth/twentieth/early-twenty-first century.

Low maintenance cost, high durability per oz:

You might consider building up a 3-cross 36-hole wheelset with Phil-Woods hubs laced to Velocity Aerohead or Mavic-Open-Pro rims. Although, for 175lbs, you probably really do only need 32-hole 3-cross to achieve a pretty bomb-proof setup (Consider: will you commute with these? Ever ride with gear on the bike? If the answer is yes: just go stronger, since the weight savings of weaker builds just isn’t justifiable. The reality: wheel builders generally use low spoke counts because it’s CHEAPER.)

I prefer brass nipples. The weight savings just doesn’t make any sense when considering durability. Sure, if you are building up an elite TT bike and you are a Cat 1 racer… but I’m pretty sure that if you are writing on this forum, you aren’t that “elite.”

I actually build all of my wheels with 36-hole, 3-cross. They are utterly bomb-proof. I’ve not once had to true my road wheelset, and they have over 2400 miles on them. On a previous set, I put 10K, and only had to true once; and it was after I had a pinch flat hitting a rail-road track at about 25mph. I’ve not had problems with my hubs as long as I went with Ultegra, Chorus or Phil-Woods (I do not prefer Dura-Ace or Record becuase they often lack the durability of the slightly heavier lines; but Ultegra and Chorus both have all the technological advances that are available in the top-end lines). I know that White Ind. makes some great stuff, but haven’t used them (their even more pricey that Phil’s stuff from what I recall.)

The nice thing about going with Ultegra: you can get replacement parts anywhere, and for pretty darn cheap.

Here’s the steed with the wheels: I think that black rim, black nipple, black spoke, black hubs—looks pretty nice. But that’s me.

Good luck and God bless!

@hozn 40447 wrote:

There is only one all-rounder wheelset option even worth considering: https://madfiber.com/

Anything else is stupid. Building wheels with metal is so nineteenth/twentieth/early-twenty-first century.

The Price-tag makes these extremely reasonable for the commuter and weekend warrior… :p