Road Wheels & Road Wheel Recommendations?

I don't know if this is frowned upon, but I'm gonna give my lovely LBS a bit of a plug because he's just gone headlong into a more serious wheel-building business.
So the shop's Rat Race Cycles in Nunhead, but Pete's now calling himself The Wheelist: http://www.thewheelist.com/
I've had a few things built up by him - a set of Pacenti SL23s on Spin hubs (the Spin freehub is made of fucking cheese or something, the cassette dug in a lot more than I've seen on any other freehub, but other than that they're good) which are ace, a Velocity A23 built on my old rear RS80 hub, and a cheap but solid single speed rear wheel. All have done many kms and all are still solid and true.
Most of us know handbuilts are great, and a new venture could always do with a bit of help, so check him out if you're in SE15 or near.
PLUG OVER, RETURN TO BUSINESS

Might be worth mentioning him in this thread too;

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/129776/

@dancing james when you decide, let me know? I think i world like some new wheels too

If the hub is not the 40t engagement you can't put the 11spd Shimano free hub onto it.

I have just had to get new wheel built with the new hope hub to run an 11spd group set.

Oh yeah, bit more relevant, that thread.

Any 650b, QR, 11s and reasonable lightweight wheels available off the peg?

Can anyone help me out with a bit of advice please? Im pretty strapped for cash but my wheels are going home, and were rubbish to begin with, so need replacing. Im eyeing up a few options and am considering 105 hubs with open pro rims from rose. Is this a good or bad idea? Ive seen a few other options at similar prices but think these will probably last a long time and be pretty bomb proof.

Do you need 11 speed?

R501 for £65?

Sounds like a reasonable wheel set. If you know someone who can give the wheels a once over and check spoke tension/true and stress the wheels the they should last a long while.

@AWu-Tang You need 11speed freehub?

No, I have 9 speed sora.

The wheels im replacing are some exceptionally poor alex rims laced to ok felt hubs. Ive also had a look at the 501s, did not realise they were quite that cheap, i might go for them instead ill see how my account is come pay day.

Thanks though, im just making sure i wasnt going to make a rubbish decision with my cash.

@dancing james, yeah a mate will give them the once over whatever i decide.

If you don't need 11 speed, then it's hard to argue a case for anything other than R501 for cheap, solid wheels.

For just another £13 you can add a bit more blam, with bladed spokes and 30mm rims.

I hammered a pair (converted to fixed) for a couple of years and they never missed a beat. Put the freehub back on and my friend is now using them.

sounds like exactly what i want. I was under the impression that the better rims would last longer, but the basic 501 sounds like they will do the job.

Open Pro aren't bad rims, but they're pretty dated and I don't know that I would jump to the conclusion that they're better, just because they're branded.

R501 rims aren't wide, by modern standards, but they are wider than classic, narrow rims and in that regard they are better.

And I don't recall reading of R501 suffering from cracking around the spokes...

501s are 622x15, that's the same as the Open Pro.

I stand corrected (again): I was sure they my tyrez came up a little larger.

Either way, they're a great wheel regardless of being half the price of 105/OP.

15mm is a smidge wider than lots of road rims (they seem to be ~13.5mm).

I'd go for wide rims, even if it's cheap 25mm wide touring rims. They just handle better and are nice and stiff... but then I must the only person on the planet who doesn't appreciate light rims/wheels. I just don't think they're really noticably faster until you actually get to deep (50mm+) carbon tubs.

I'd go for wide rims...

So would I, but I proposed R501 against OP rather than a blank slate.

I bagged a pair of Rigida Grizzly when they were £20-odd and a pair of Planet X (System Ex) fixed hubs for a similar price: when I get around to building them up they'll be "better" wheels, but even at those bargain prices the R501 are cheap enough to be a contender against the properly wide Grizzly.

... tubs

And that's where we'll have to part ways... :)

Fulcrum 5s or 7s.

Is there really any difference going to 5s. Both are cheap and weighty.

501 is a great wheelset, go for it.

We already established that at lunch time.

Ran into bit of an issue; so I got Vittoria Rally for the EC90 Aero 55mm deep wheels I've got. Rally don't have removable valve core so I have to use Zipp style (or topeak) valve extender. I've tried Topeak and Genuine Innovations and both don't fit through the valve hole; whats my solution?

Get some decent tubs for your decent wheels.

lol yeah next time maybe :P I already have 3 of rally to go on these ..

There's at least 15 watts in Crr losses from those tubs compared to a proper race tubular. How much do you think your 55mm carbon wheels are saving you?