Aftermarket wheel newbie needing wheel recommendations
 

Hi There, looking for a wheelset to spin up a bit faster than my oem wheels on my sirrus x 4.0. I'm about 265lbs and oem wheels have held up well so far with 24 spoke front, 28 rear. Looking for something a bit lighter and spin up a little quicker for commuting. Think I'm good with 24 to 28 spokes to save a smidge of weight. A decent hub would be nice too. Trying to keep the budget around $500. Been looking at hunt super dura for reference, but dont know if there are comparable options for cheaper or better options for the same price. Just so many different options to know what is a good value.

SORRY, GO FOR 36 SPOKE MAVICS, the weight difference is neglible at yoiur weight and you won't have to worry about them again

I too agree with the safer side of wheel building. I too am about your weight and I ride 36 spoke hoops. I will take the extra weight for very little maintenance work on wheels. I have two wheel sets and both are 36 spoke and neither one has ever had to be trued in 8K miles. My good wheels are ultegra hubs with h plus son hoops...a really nice set for me.

You’re essentially looking for a wheel with a lighter rim. Be careful of lighter wheels, a lot of builders use lighter hubs and less spokes as a means to reduce weight while you need a lighter rim to get the qualities you desire. But chasing such a wheelset for commuting will likely come at the cost of longevity so bear that in mind

As a commuter, you very likely have some wicked flat resistant tires. I would look there.

I don't know of any light enough wheel sets that would be light enough to have a perceptible difference with in the $500 budget you specified.

For scale: A DT240 rear hub alone is between $4-500 by itself. It's just a middle weight, quality, rebuildable hub with generic cartridge 6902 bearings, nothing fancy. Add in a single decent $90-110, 450-ish gram aluminum rim, & $80-ish of double butted spokes & brass nipples to handle your 265 pounds & $100 labor for just the rear...It's not hard to see how a wheel set can get pretty expensive. (Or why many of us here at BF build our own.)

Your OEM wheel likely isn't any heavier. The Sirrus is a pretty decent bike right off the showroom floor. I'd stay married to it & look at high quality tires & research if the rims that came on your particular bike are tubeless capable. $500 buys a lot of rim tape & Panaracer made rubber.

You want hubs with a steel axle, so Shimano or Miche.

I'm the same weight - I went with handbuilt wheels, 32/36 spokes from a UK builder, using MIche Primato hubs and H Plus Son Archetype rims. Hunt are more expensive and annoy me by using re-labelled / rebadged parts rather than stating e.g. which Xinlin rims they're using so you can comparison shop.

You're saving weight in the wrong place, and for commuting it's a terrible choice, I'd be using the most reliable wheels possible. Look at your tyres first, and then your gut.

n.b. "Spin up faster" is a phrase used in every terrible wheelset review and widely mocked by all sensible riders.

Previous posters have been incredibly kind to the o.p. I am impressed. I don't know. The o.p.'s wheels would be extreme on a dropbar roadbike being used on public roads. On a flat bar hybrid they are simply outrageous. You'd think a commuter would value reliability and safety over performance. But, no, they want to double down and (try to) go even lighter? I really don't know what to think.