Alex ALX265 wheelset

Tell us what the wheel is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

General purpose budget training wheels with modern specifications.

AlexRims says, "ALX265 is a workhorse wheelset. Possibly the best value wheelset on the market the ALX265 ticks all of the boxes: wide rim, tubeless ready, cartridge bearing hubs. A real winner!"

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the wheel?

AlexRims lists these features:

RIM

Proprietary EXA material 24mm deep with 17mm inner width | TRS road tubeless profile with inner bead lock can be used with tubeless tires with the use of the Alex Rims Tubeless Conversion Kit | Machined sidewalls for ultimate strength and braking performance

SPOKES

Stainless spokes with brass nipples | 20 front wheels – radial lacing | 24 rear wheels – 2 cross lacing

LACING

F: RADIAL 278MM

RR: 2CROSS 287MM

RL: 2CROSS 285MM

HUB

Smooth rolling sealed cartridge

cassette hubs | Low resistance sealed cartridge bearings | Compatible with Shimano/Sram 8/9/10/11 speed cassettes

They look a pretty robust set of wheels. The rims were true out of the box, the only slight imperfection was a raised point at the weld. All spokes were properly tensioned and the bearings super-smooth.

I set up the wheels with Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tyres and the ride was generally very good, though some of this was down to the rubber in my opinion. Although there wasn't too much flex at the front, the rear did rub on the blocks when under pressure on out-of-the-saddle efforts, but not to an extreme degree – and I do run the brakes close to the rim. For their weight they spin up as expected: not fast, but then not covered in syrup either.

Tough to say – I did put nearly 500 miles or so on them and they have worn well in the dry summer weather, but they are a general budget construction. The bearings can be swapped out, so as long as the freehub holds out they should do well enough if looked after.

They are in the ballpark for this price range, with comparable sets from top end manufacturers being similar or slightly lighter by up to 100g, so not much in it.

The price is very good for a wheelset with these features; the ability to run wider rubber, and tubeless ones at that, is an asset.

Did the wheels stay true? Any issues with spoke tension?

The front didn't suffer any issues but the rear went out of true a little after a good few miles on rough roads. This isn't unusual though and an easy fix.

How easy did you find it to fit tyres?

Even the tubeless Pro Ones went on with little issue and no tools (just a strong set of thumbs) so no problem here.

How did the wheel extras (eg skewers and rim tape) perform?

The wheels did come fitted with standard rim tape which I removed to apply tubeless tape, and the skewers were a fairly standard open-cam design, but looked well made.

Tell us how the wheel performed overall when used for its designed purpose

For training use they are a good choice, able to stand some abuse while not breaking the bank. They are still running smoothly, though they haven't seen much wet weather, and with the tubeless setup they're comfortable too.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel

The modern setup – wide rim, tubeless ready and sealed cartridge bearings.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel

Those raised rim welds were an issue for the first few rides until they wore down to a smooth surface, but other than that nothing stands out.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

I tested a very similar set in the Ambrosio i20s a while back, and like for like they are really close, a similar spec and money – with the Alex wheels just pipping them on price and ease of fitting rubber.

Use this box to explain your overall score

The modern features are a big plus over similar budget sets and the quality seems OK. Time will tell on that, but for the money they are a good option for training and winter wheels.