maltosenegative

I recently picked up a '99 Litespeed Classic with Campy Record buildout for somewhere between nothing and a steal. I got it as my One Bike, and have been using it for long commutes in NYC. The only downside were the Eastons on it, which ride great, but I had seen all the reviews from when they first came out, and true to form I'm two spokes down in a week (rear drive side, popped in the middle). I'm not going to bother with them at this point, and am looking in the ~$300 range for something around 1400g and bombproof.

Looking through the message board I saw some good reviews of old Campy Nucleons. They can be had used in good condition and in my budget. Anybody have experience with them more recently, or have any other recommendations for ways to pick up a set of inexpensive bomb-proof fast rollers? Spoke count is not a consideration.

WhyFi

1400g, bomb-proof and cheap? Good luck.

genejockey 

"Strong. Light. Cheap. Choose any two." - Keith Bontrager(?)

Frank72

Vuelta Corsa Lite. Strong and light (1570g pair) Not sure who has these in stock. If you can find them they should be about $300. I have them on 2 bikes and I'm not light.

Campy hubs: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vuelta-Cors...oAAOSwxTlc41Pf

maltosenegative

Cool. Where do you normally ride them? Nice roads, or potholes paved with glass?

Frank72

I ride them everywhere including rough roads and pot holes. I did some checking and Corsa lites are either out or discontinued not sure may just be the run on bike stuff. The set on ebay is new and I'm not the seller. I found them really tough. I ride about a hundred miles a week.

maltosenegative

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. After a bit more research I decided that the thing I liked about the Eastons was their acceleration, so lower weight became a priority, and brand name less and less so. I'm trying some BWW Blackset Race 28's with the 30 spoke count on the rear, so sub-1500g for $375. My only concern there is their house hub and its durability, but we'll see once they show up. If I don't like those I'll probably look at some used Vueltas.

In the meantime I popped ANOTHER spoke on the Eastons, and can't wait to get something- anything- else and get riding confidently again.

Seattle Forrest

At this point all of the remaining spokes have been stressed by picking up the slack from the ones that are no longer with us. You're probably going to break more.

maltosenegative

RIP spokes. You rolled true, you rolled well. Except for you drive side ****ers, you sucked.

smashndash

“These wheels are built with top quality Sapim Dlight 2.0/1.65mm black stainless butted spokes, and silver alloy nipples, laced to one of the best road hub sets that doesn't say Dura-Ace that we've ever built with.”

And yet I have no idea what those hubs are. Any leads?

maltosenegative

It's their "Pure" hub, which is their baseline and then you can upgrade to dura ace or whatever, though on Campy the Pure is your only option, which is annoying. I'd imagine I could send them the hubs I wanted and they'd sew the rims on, but in terms of cost effectiveness this was the way to go. My understanding is they're Taiwanese no-name hubs that these guys get built to spec for a dime. Saw a few complaints from a decade ago about bearing wear on the rear hub, but no complaints since then.

smashndash

Ah ok. https://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/Co...-Set-311g.html

Seems reasonable. I'd argue that there isn't much to making a good cartridge hub these days (inb4 people who spent $700 on hubs say I'm wrong). The hardest part is making good bearings, which are easy to source. As long as the tolerances are fairly decent, you'll be alright.

maltosenegative

Update: Have had the wheels a little less than a week and am generally happy with them. Weight is as advertised (~1460g), build is good and wheels are properly stressed. The hubs started off a little tight but have worn in nicely without any play. They spin up fast and roll forever, which is what a wheel is supposed to do, right? No true issues after jumping a few curbs and running down some dirt paths.

Given that I'm going from a wheelset that retailed for ~1K to <$400 there have to be some tradeoffs, and that's lateral stiffness and looks. The Eastons were incredibly stiff, but the front BWW (20 spoke) is pretty noodly. Given that, I'm keeping the Easton front, as it's never had a problem, and the BWW rear which is great with the higher spoke count. In the looks department, the glossy rims look a little cheap-plasticky, and since I'm doing some paint work on the bike I may do something about that.

In all, for a handmade wheelset, BWW is a very solid budget option, though as a do-over I might just spend the money on a rear wheel and get a name brand (assuming one could get lucky on a used wheel). Thanks for the help, all.