The Wheel Deal!

[Winnershsaint]

Would be grateful of some help here. Looking to upgrade wheels on my best bike. Ridley Excalibur Flandrien. The stock wheels 4ZA Flandrien come with the boast 'tested on pave' but since I have had two spokes go in less than seven months they haven't been able to deal with the roads of Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, South Bucks and North Hampshire. My LBS can do a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elites for just over £400. Ribble on the other hand can do Fulcrum Racing 3's for £320. Both weigh in at around 1550g. a weight saving of around 200g on the existing wheels.if there is anyone out there in Internet land who is able to offer an opinion one way or another i would appreciate it. Many thanks in advance.

 

[derrick]

I bought the Mavic Ksyrium Elites a few months back, done a few hundred miles on them now and they have been great, have hit a few potholes no probs so far, just think they are a great set of wheels, i had to decide on the Ksyrium Elites or the Fulcrum Racing 3s, the web searches i did came up with the Fulcrums break spokes and are hard to get hold of new spokes, don't really know how true that is but i went for the mavics and love them, look really nice aswell.

 

[Winnershsaint]

Thanks for that. I've had enough of breaking spokes on existing wheels. Last break was in the middle and in an instant and before I realised it had caught in the rear mech cable and dragged said rear mech into the wheel. That was a five mile walk I would care not to repeat.

 

[black'n'yellow]

how much do you weigh? If you're breaking spokes on those wheels, then going for a lighter pair with a lower spoke count might not be the optimal solution.....

 

[StuAff]

Got Zonda 2-way Fits (identical to the F3s apart from branding and rear spoke pattern) and they're excellent. No problems in something like 5k miles, much of it on the same kind of roads as yours.... Black'n'yellow's made a good point though...you might be better off going for something a bit tougher.

 

[Winnershsaint]

how much do you weigh? If you're breaking spokes on those wheels, then going for a lighter pair with a lower spoke count might not be the optimal solution.....

I'm certainly not a climbing lightweight but have lost plenty and hover around 12.5 stone and probably likely to fall further.

 

[black'n'yellow]

I'm certainly not a climbing lightweight but have lost plenty and hover around 12.5 stone and probably likely to fall further.

ok, that's hardly what you'd call 'heavyweight'.. I just wondered if that might be a reason for breaking spokes, but it doesn't sound like it. Sounds like a replacement pair of wheels might be the way to go - if you're looking for a bombproof set, I can thoroughly recommend Easton EA70s - I've had a set for three years and in that time they've been used for road races, winter training and cyclocross - and they're still as straight as the day they were bought. Possibly a bit cheaper than the options listed earlier as well...

 

[l4dva]

The Mavic elites are a solid wheelset, mine have been used over londons crappy roads and potholes with no issues. They are still new Ish tho so I cudnt say if this will be true over time.

One thing to note they are very stiff, when I changed over to these wheels the first few rides you really feel every bump in the road and big pot holes hurt! After a while you get used to the stiffness those though. And it does help you get away that little bit quicker so you can forgive them for it.