Road Wheels & Road Wheel Recommendations?

I personally would go with the A23s, but I am heavily biased towards any form of DIY over buying a complete product.

400g extra is also substantial for a set of wheels too, although I'm sure a large amount of that is in the hubs which wont make much difference.

Cheers.

The A23s were my original plan, but I'm put off by a couple of really small points, first (and mainly) I could just get everything in one box from BHS, second, I'd like something a little deeper if possible and I'd be ok with sacrificing the 30-odd (claimed) grams per rim.

I know what you mean about the satisfaction of DIY, altho I'm a bit jaded after the headaches of my lastcurrent project.

Probably stupidly the weight is the one thing that does keep me from just pulling the trigger on the 3t's...and then makes me think about the cost again. Also I'd have thought most of the weight would be in the rim given that it's 38mm. The Kinlin's that are that depth are c.550g iirc.

Ah ok, if you want more depth then that's another matter. Archetypes are a couple mm deeper than then A23s for the same weight* iirc, but not close to the depth of those 3T's.

If you do decide to go down the self-build route and are having problems I'd be happy to give you a hand getting them sorted.

*ish

A23 + Hope Pro 2 + double butted spokes.

Aren't Hope 2 pro's mtb hubs... and also the best part of £200?

Taking the build to £350 odd.

Or Wheelsmith's choice for a standard build which is Ambrosios.

Or Wheelsmith's choice for a standard build which is Ambrosios.

Excellent VFM in my opinion. Also Harry Rowland's hub of choice.

Ha... Ok just to clarify, the options are:

a) BHS own brand / home build for ~ £180 / 1,500g; or
b) OTP 3t for ~ £300 / 1,900g.

The only option c) I think I'd be interested in would be something like a random exceptionally good deal - like that Stans Alpha deal one a while back.

The logic is that to my knowledge the 3t are the only deep and wide OTP wheels (and rims for that matter) available that don't cost bucks. BHS seems like the best budget light stuff out there from general internet consensus.

Aren't Hope 2 pro's mtb hubs... and also the best part of £200?

Taking the build to £350 odd.

Pro 3, my mistake.

Around £150-180 for hubset, last forever and make a pleasant buzzing noise that make you stand out from the sit-up-and-beg sportive crowd.

depends if you like loud freehubs or not.

I'm pretty pleased with my winter wheels' Ambrosio hubs - shame about the crappy Open Sport rims

^^Yeh, but if we say £150 + £80 for A23 rims we've already exceeded the price for the BHS wheelset before the spokes... and those are generous estimates.

That said the wheelsmith A23/Ambrosio for £315 really is good value. But for me it's not really worth it as I could build them myself for less and if they're standard ACI spokes I wouldn't have any worries about fucking them up... so part of the rational (for me) of using a good wheelbuilder falls away.

So... anyone have any thoughts on the a) vs. b) choice? ;)

I think you're over thinking this.

Everyone (myself included) always over thinks wheel builds

Pro 3 ....last forever...

Maybe I'm being niaeve here, but when you say last for ever do you mean;

... they will last a *very *long time without care or attention?

or

...the hub bodies should last pretty much forever, but after a decent amount of time the bearings will go and then you will have to service/replace as with most other hubs. Which is fairly easy because they're sealed and the hub bodies are well made and easy to dissemble?

I just always wonder as I've been lucky enough to not have any major problems with any of my hubs, but which have mainly been high end vintage / cup and cone ones or pretty cheap sealed ones.

Everyone (myself included) always over thinks wheel builds

Yes you're right.

If someone offered me £120, I'd take it. So why spend more.

It's just the 3t's look awesome and are very good value imo.

So with that, **a specific question;
**
For the front if I'm using a 28mm deep rim and a 20h low profile hub with sapim lazers what lacing patter should I go for?

Instinct says radial, but would a 2x be a better stronger choice?

Deep carbon or GTFO

Yeh I did wonder about some Chinese carbon with Zipp stickers...

...especially after seeing how good yours look on the 'dale in the CP thread again ;)

Pro 3, my mistake.

Around £150-180 for hubset, last forever and make a pleasant buzzing noise that make you stand out from the sit-up-and-beg sportive crowd.

What the actual fuck are you talking about? Sit-up-and-bugger-off.

If you gave a shit about reliability you'd recommend boring old Shimano 105.

The pro 3's aren't without issues. Even those that make a living selling them will tell you that.

The above is a repost. I called you out for buying Phil Wood for your Bob Jackson, which you sold a few months later. Did they last 'forever'?

So... I've decided to actually get around to building my new wheelset as my xmas present.

The 3ttts look like an ok choice for racing, although bladed spokes would have been nice.

Otherwise sale price Aksiums (with their 15mm internal width) or home built a23s (for a little more cash) are the way I'd go. I'd go for Shimano or Chris King hubs personally or Ambrosio if you must have cartridge bearings.

The above is a repost. I called you out for buying Phil Wood for your Bob Jackson, which you sold a few months later. Did they last 'forever'?

Actually sold it with the Condor to fund my Retrovelo.

Hope hubs are pretty good, don't think I heard any problem with them.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=29086

Pro Lite Bracciano are great training/all round wheels-hand-built, light at 1487g, cheap and have been really reliable. Not sure what the rim width is though. I had a pair of ambrosio excellight/white ind. wheels built and i'm not sure which I prefer tbh.

Actually sold it with the Condor to fund my Retrovelo.

Hope hubs are pretty good, don't think I heard any problem with them.

Problems exist. Hope do seem pretty good at sorting warrantee issues.

It's good to buy British perhaps but let's not pretend they're the sensible choice for reliable hubs.