Wheel upgrade

have a look at Julius Wheels AC22. about 1260g, fully customisable and handbuilt in the netherlands. yours for around £550

http://juliuscycling.com/wheels/aluminium-AC22

Have a word with Derek at Wheelsmith (wheelsmith.co.uk). He'll make the point that light wheels are great for going up but, unless you're getting a helicopter at the top, you have to come back down again.

That's one of the problems with carbon glinchers, as giobox says - heat build up in the braking surface. You also want to be confident that your rims are strong and you've enough spokes (and the right pattern) for your weight.

I've got a set of his Race 23s (H Plus Son Archetypes) that come in at a shade over 1300g. So they're light. They're also stiff. Oh, and they're yours for £450, hand built.

If you really want to blow the grand though, they'll build you up something a bit fancier, carbon or alloy, and you'll have bombproof set of wheels, hand built in Britain. For example, a set of 38mm carbon rims on Chris King hubs. Very tidy.

Riding Reynolds Assaults here, seem pretty good. I'd take that weight figure with a pinch of salt though - Like most wheel sets, the real world weight with rim tape etc will probably be 100 grams or so more. That was certainly the case with my Reynolds Assaults. Braking performance isn't the greatest, but it isn't terrible. I live in California so I can't comment much on wet weather performance which I've heard can be sketchy.

In my eyes if you are looking for a climbing wheel set, don't get carbon. Fine on the climbs, but when you eventually have to descend again you have much worse braking performance. Carbon's real advantage is in light weight aero wheel sets, alloy climbing wheels aren't really that much heavier, if at all. There are big mountains here with some crazy descents, and I do often find myself wishing I'd just stuck with an alloy braking surface on the way down.

There's also a lot of reports online of the reynolds carbon rims getting hot enough to melt the resin holding the carbon in place on long descents, causing some pretty terrifying wheel failures. Supposedly their new cryo blue brake pads prevent this, but given that both Shimano and Mavic refuse to manufacture fully carbon breaking surfaces on clincher wheels for this very reason, despite huge customer demand, you have to wonder! Even Mavic's latest Cosmic 40s still have an alloy heat dissipating layer under the carbon brake track.

Completely agree with beefy about the feel - the ride quality is noticeably less harsh with carbon, similar to the vibration damping properties of carbon forks.

it isn't 'just' about weight though, is it...

Carbon wheels have a stiffness that I think makes them feel better and perform better than alloy.

There is the aerodynamic factor as well. Admittedly it's often overstated and less relevant in climbing wheels, but you're not just going up the hills.

Having said that I can't offer an opinion on the Reynolds as I haven't used them. I can strongly recommend Enve if you can afford them though.

I did some research regarding wheels a few weeks ago, at first I was blinded by carbon but after some reviews and wheel weight, pound for pound alloy are miles better. I opted for racing zeros had I opted for carbon I would have either ended up with a heavier or more expensive wheel.

if it's just about weight, then don't get blinded by the black stuff. it's much easier to extrude a light, strong alloy clincher rim than make one from carbon. so they're a *lot* cheaper.

Something like Novatec's Sprint (http://extrauk.co.uk/product/detail/Novatec/Road_Wheels/3154/) would weigh about the same as the attacks for half the money.

there are plenty of other options too

Shimano Dura Ace C24...awesome wheels!

Having spend the weekend working a demo event and seeing some of the new American Classic's up close.

I'd say, have a look at the American Classic magnesium's. Coming in around your £1k budget and only around 1150g