Wheels-OTP or Custom?

Got the Braccianos fitted with some Vittoria Pro Lite tyres and ultra-light tubes... they feel amazingly light!

Can't wait to get back on the bike and try them out

Also now have a rather grubby and abused set of Ksyrium SL SSC's sitting in the flat that I picked up for £60-I've serviced the bearings for the short term but need to find someone that'll sell me some replacement rims/spokes at a sane price so I can re-build them myself as they are really down to the bone... anyone?

I got them on ebay from a seller called Fastpartsforbikes,

quick, free postage so all good there. Just want to use them now!

Funnily enough as well I've just been offered a 2nd hand pair of Ksyrium SL's by a mate for a silly low price as he's just gone carbon (need to service the hubs though... he's not one for getting his hands dirty or maintaining stuff) so will be able to make a comparison between them

Just arrived in the post....

Look damn nice. Very impressed so far-the freewheel is sooooo quiet, almost worryingly so-I thought that the bearings weren't engaging for a second but you can feel them clicking.

Impressively light to the point that adding the skewers probably doubles their weight (well, not quite, but it's noticable) and the aero spokes feel nice and sturdy.

Wheels perfectly true and just waiting for a bike to be attached to so I can try them out~!

How can I say no?

Just pulled the trigger on these... 249 beans new, with a warranty. Must be better than some 2nd hand Eastons off of eBay and sans guarantee... right?

Will wait and see. Hoping to get back on the bike soon to try them out!

Hmmm....the testimonials are stacking up for the Braccianos then!

Narrowly outbid out on some 2nd hand Easton SLX's this morning on the fleabay so I'm deeply considering the Pro-Lites now as I've just shelled out for a new helmet, new bibshorts, new gloves, new pump, new tyres, new rear mech hanger, new rear mech....

waaaaaahhhhhh.....

JJ I understand what you mean-would be interested to hear what hubs you built them up with?

I had already ordered the rims from Planet-X before I had an accident on my bike (writing off rear wheel...) and then when I got them last week I rang him up..

I sent them back for 3 reasons in the end:

Quality-wise, I thought the finish on them was really shabby-there were small dinks and chips in the epoxy even on the braking surface. Some was aesthetic-i.e just in the lacquer but some were in the mould itself. Some of the 'voids' in the mould on the underside were deep enough to cause concern about them cracking, and there was also what looked to be metal shavings mixed set in the epoxy.

When I spoke to the builder he laughed more because I was talking about descending alpine hills on 20/24hole tubs and he had concerns about what would happen if a spoke went front or rear, or tubs rolling off because of the heat. He thought the risks outweighed the gains really... which on reflection of how much it would help my performance I did too. Not to say that low spoke counts or carbon rims are fundamentally dangerous though.

Finally... The final build would cost c. £370 for which I wanted a reliable, light, wheelset that wouldn't put any doubts in my mind when both grinding up and screaming down hills on them; with the quality issues alone I wasn't happy, but speaking to the builder he recommended a good 28h minimum alloy rim that would maybe be 4/500g heavier for the total build but would be more durable for general riding and the UK's potholes as he said he saw super-posh rims every week that had bought it from bad road surfacing.

So that's it... Carbon would be lovely but I'm just not good enough to merit it atm and need to be able to ride them both up the alps and round the UK's crumbling infrastructure so I'm better playing it safe as I can't afford to buy twice!

hmm. Just googled them expecting a ridiculous £5000 wheelset... They look ok and are about what I can pay.

Interesting-thanks for flagging them up.

Anyone bought them or have other suggestions/advice?