Mid- Level 650c Race Wheel Sets

[TDB]

Slight addendum: I’m also looking to find a good set of wheels for training, as I’m just not sure whether or not I should trust these old ones.

[TDB]

Update: Found a seller offering a spinergy rev-x carbon clincher rear wheel for 80, says its got no cracks or damage. Is this a good buy?
Thanks,
TDB

[DaveK]

@TDB 10425 wrote:

Update: Found a seller offering a spinergy rev-x carbon clincher rear wheel for 80, says its got no cracks or damage. Is this a good buy?
Thanks,
TDB

Those are somewhat notorious for exploding. I think there was a revision to the construction at some point but there’s got to be someone out there who knows more about it than me.

[Tim Kelley]

Yeah, I had some guy tell me he knew a guy who knew a guy whose wheelset like that exploded and ended up with long shards of carbon embedded in under his calf muscles…

[CCrew]

@DaveK 10450 wrote:

Those are somewhat notorious for exploding. I think there was a revision to the construction at some point but there’s got to be someone out there who knows more about it than me.

They have more urban legend than actual failures. It’s always someone’s mothers brothers uncles friend too. I ran a set on a tri bike with no issues at all, and sold them to someone else that’s still running them.

There were some hub/bearing issues in the early gens, and they need to be checked for cracks where the cross spoke transition is. Last gen ones have a small rivet in the center of the spoke at the rim.

Carbon frames explode without warning in the cold from what I hear too

[CCrew]

FYI, looks like this is getting parted out, he wants $150 for the wheelset which IMHO is a touch high..

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bik/2707985482.html

[TDB]

Update:
I found a guy selling a pair of 650c Velocity Aerohead Deep V laced to Quintana Roo hubs, with tubes, tires (that he claims are in good condition), and cassette for 200. Can anyone speak to the quality of this setup, and whether or not they’re worth the asking $? These would be replacing the Sun Me14A rim / ultegra hub wheels that came with the bike.

Here are some pictures sent by the seller.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]573[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]574[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]575[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]576[/ATTACH]

Many thanks,
TDB

[americancyclo]

Can’t really speak to the QR hubs, but the Velocity Aerohead rims go for $69 each and that cassette might be of dubious quality and/or wear.

[DaveK]

@TDB 13057 wrote:

Update:
I found a guy selling a pair of 650c Velocity Aerohead Deep V laced to Quintana Roo hubs, with tubes, tires (that he claims are in good condition), and cassette for 200. Can anyone speak to the quality of this setup, and whether or not they’re worth the asking $? These would be replacing the Sun Me14A rim / ultegra hub wheels that came with the bike.

Here are some pictures sent by the seller.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]573[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]574[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]575[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]576[/ATTACH]

Many thanks,
TDB

Those are just the stock wheels off someone else’s bike, and your Ultegra hubs are better than those no-names.

[Dirt]

Velocity makes an Aerohead and Deep V model. Which is it? Is it an Aerohead up front and Deep V in back? The Deep V’s are arguably the industry standard for somewhat aero, extremely durable, alloy rims. They’re definitely training rims.

I’ll post up my thoughts on other wheels in the near future.

Edit: Those are Velocity Deep V rims, not Aeroheads.

Also Edit: There is usually a parade of quite nice 650 wheels available on eBay. I always have a feeler on 700c race wheels and there always seems to be a few set of 650s for sale. I’ll try and post up some links. You’re looking for clinchers?

Pete

[TDB]

I was having the same difficulty after looking at Velocity’s site, but from the image the sticker claims to be both aerohead and deep v, not sure what to make of it. And yes I am looking for clinchers.

TDB

[Dirt]

@TDB 13082 wrote:

I was having the same difficulty after looking at Velocity’s site, but from the image the sticker claims to be both aerohead and deep v, not sure what to make of it. And yes I am looking for clinchers.

TDB

Aerohead

Deep V

Trust me. Those are Deep V rims.

[Dirt]

Just doing a quick eBay search, I found a few good deals on tubulars and a few good sets of Rolf Primas, Mavic Ksyrium Elites and the like. Depending on the vintage of the Rolf Primas, they used DT hub internals with their own proprietary hub bodies (due to the opposed-pair lacing pattern). For people in the designated weight range (Rolf was always good about saying which weight range should ride particular wheels) they have proven quite good. I’ve got a friend who did loaded touring on a set of Rolf Primas…. he did the Trans-America route and had no problems at all. He raced for a few more seasons on those wheels.

Mavic probably does more real-world testing of their rims than most manufacturers. They’re rarely the lightest, but they’re often the most durable. They also generally have a good feel for them. I’ve had 5 or 6 sets of Mavic wheels over the years (2 sets in the Ksyrium line, and the rest were different versions of the Cosmics) and never had a tiny problem with them.

I’d check a few things with any used wheelset that I buy… Naturally check them to see if they’re true and round on an actual truing stand. If dude will let you, take a very short ride on them. If the spokes make a “PLINK” sound when you roll the first 15 feet, it means that the wheel was recently rebuilt or had some serious retensioning of the spokes. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is something to ask about. If you can’t ride them, sometimes you can get the same sound by just leaning your weight on the rim while it is on the ground. That sound is the spokes settling in after being twisted and adjusted in the truing process. It isn’t a bad sound. It doesn’t always happen after building/truing. Just something to listen for.

I’d ask when the hubs were serviced last. If they don’t know, you might factor getting the bearings checked/changed into the price of the wheels. Some wheels really need very little maintenance and might not really need service.

Hope that is a little help.

Pete

[elcee]

I don’t know if these meet your criterion of “mid-level race wheels,” but Handspun builds 650c wheels with a decent paper spec: Mavic Open Pro rims, Shimano 105 hubs, DT Swiss spokes 3x 32H. Handspun is a QBP spinoff that, as far as I can tell, machine-laces then hand-tensions their stock wheels. They can also build you completely custom wheels if you prefer.

Bikeman has these for $153/$175 front/rear.

[TDB]

This seems like a dumb question but there are no dumb questions, just dumb people. That being said, is there a reason not to mismatch front and rear wheels? I can’t imagine the weight imbalance from front to rear would have a significant impact but I am curious, as finding used wheels is often a one-at-a-time venture.

TDB

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