Wheel upgrade - pro-lite merano?

kuro_man · 06-09-2011 10:55am #1

Rather than buy a new bike, I have decided the upgrade the wheels and keep the old rear one for the trainer. I was thinking of pro-lite merano but I read stories of broken spokes...any other experiences or alternative?
Thanks.

Lemag · 06-09-2011 11:43am

Upgrade from what and for what reason? I have Mavics. I like them. Ksyrium Elite probably represent their best value-for-money aluminium wheelset. If you could get them somewhere for a good price you could do far worse. Can't comment from experience regarding the Pro-Lites although I have thought about Braccianos in the past.

brians947 · 06-09-2011 12:13pm

Try ringing Humphries in finglas. He will give you great advice as im finding out. I was talking to him about upgrading wheelset. Gave him a budget of 500 as saw wheels on web i liked. He told me i would be wasting my money spending that much and recommended wheels he had. Mavic rims, Shimano Ultegra hubs. 250 Euro.

kuro_man · 06-09-2011 12:57pm

Upgrade from what and for what reason?

5 year old stock shimano's - not sure which ones.
Was going to get wheel + cassette for the turbo anyway, so thought this would be a better way to go.

kuro_man · 06-09-2011 1:13pm

brians947 wrote: »

Try ringing Humphries in finglas. He will give you great advice as im finding out. I was talking to him about upgrading wheelset. Gave him a budget of 500 as saw wheels on web i liked. He told me i would be wasting my money spending that much and recommended wheels he had. Mavic rims, Shimano Ultegra hubs. 250 Euro.

thanks, let us know how you get on.

Lemag · 06-09-2011 1:30pm

Planet X have their Model B wheels going for a fairly nice price.

cantalach · 06-09-2011 1:40pm

I recently went from Mavic Ksyrium Elite to Pro-Lite Merano and had two unprovoked rear wheel spoke failures within the first few weeks use! Both occurred while on tour which was a bit inconvenient to say the least. They have been going fine since. They are stiff with no discernible flex when out of the saddle (at least none that my meagre power can provoke). They roll very smoothly and are apparently quite aero thanks to the 30mm profile rims, fat bladed spokes and low profile front hub. They 'feel' fast on a descent. But truth be told, even if they were the best wheels ever, the whole experience with the two broken spokes has left me with very little confidence in them.

It's worth saying that I'd had the Elites for two years (~20,000km) and had no spoke problems during that time. However, what ultimately caused me to get new wheels was that the rear rim developed a crack either side of one of the nipple eyelets. Whether or not that is acceptable wear after 20,000km is open to debate.

Wheel upgrade - pro-lite merano?

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