best fixie wheelset for ~£200

Hi people, first time poster here.

I'm wondering whether its possible to get a decent fixie wheelset for around the £200 price point. Something to buy then forget about for a long time i.e. sturdy but also in the early 2000g range or lower. My last set were halo aerotracks, served me well for 6 years 'til the bike was stolen a few days ago, but cant seem to find these anymore. Is 2nd hand advisable with a few caveats or not worth it as far as wheels go?

Thanks in advance

If you want to try making your own you could easily do what you want for that.

Novatec hubs, whatever rims you find on offer (Spa Cycles had some Ambrosio ones I'm trying), basic double butted spokes).

Thanks for your reply Kramertron, I've never done anything like that before though. How fiddly is it and whats the likelihood of me producing a sub par wheel because somethings ever so slightly wonky through lack of knowledge

I'm not sure I could confidently and reliably tension them evenly. Sounds tricky

Not sure to be honest. I would say if you can put up a shelf you can make a wheel. And slightly wonky is ok but you can always remove the wonk with practice. Other than a spoke key you don't really need anything else - truing the wheel in an upturned bike is fine.

But it's really down to whether you like doing that sort of thing or not. It you don't then don't bother because life's too short. It does also depend on what you want the wheel for - racing on the track maybe not. Commuting go for it. Wheel building thread is place to go if you want to go that route.

I know a guy who had his bike with halo wheels stolen a few days ago too. If you are in Cambridge then you'd be welcome to borrow my truing stand, and even a little help to build the wheels or true them up.

I'm not sure how even my spoke tensions are but they suffice for commuting.

My second hand halo aero track have surpassed my expectations.
Trued once in 4 years..and rock solid and smooth. quite heavily used on my beater.
Youd probably get a bit of change too.

Haha! Very kind of you Alex thankyou, I reckon i'll take you up on this offer if my purchase of an old claud butler dalesman goes through. Reynolds 531 frame too - looking forward to seeing it in person.

This is tempting, I'll have a look around. I keep reading bad things about the hubs, though this was never my experience.

I hope the dalesman works out for you. I spent a good bit of time looking for something like that, bought a couple of random frames which didn't work out too well. One had a cracked fork crown brazing and the other turned out to be plain gauge. Ended up buying the 531c Mercian.

I can lend you some wheels while you build or buy some. You might be converted to the six bolt cog.

Thanks a lot, as it stands I may ask if I can borrow that fixie you mentioned earlier, cycling to work on that MTB adds about 5 minutes full pelt to what is essentially a 10min journey if taking it easy and im covered in sweat by the time I get there. Oosh I bet that Mercian is a beut. How did you figure out that other frame was a mere plain gauge? Did it just not have a sticker, did you do the tap test or do you have a portable x-ray machine?

Only just heard about this 6 bolt cog for the fixed cog thing. I am intrigued, looks great!

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The overall weight, the tapping test, the seatpost tube size all pointed to it being plain.