I'm doing a ride across Canada for kids with Cancer and I want a set of wheels to go in the RV with me.

I don't need to buy super expensive ones, because I am not racing. I want wheels that can be easily fixed at any bike store along the way (no crazy spokes, no crazy connections).

My problem is that i don't really know what I need. My bike is a carbon Devinci, I can put up to 700x25 tires on it.

Any suggestions?

David.

Low end Mavic's might be a bit heavy, you can see if there is a LBS in your area that can get Velocity's, price on those usually isn't too bad and weight is reasonable.

Can't remember whether I got them from Nashbar or Performance (same company now anyway; I think Nashbar), but under the same circumstances, I bought a set of Velocity Super Gliders for something like $160 18 months or so ago. I weigh 240, and I've used them mainly as bang-around, commuter, occasional fire-trail wheels on my Atlantis. Can't remember what low-line hubs they have (I'm at work, bike's at home), but they roll fine and the rims have stayed true. The only quirk I've found about them is that they absolutely WILL NOT hold a set of Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy tires with Grant Petersen's Speedblend sidewalls, even at 75 psi. No trouble with any other tires, and no trouble with those tires on any of my other wheels, but Ive remounted that combination three or four times, and the bead blows off the rim at about 70psi.

I would have a set built by a competent wheelbuilder. Something like Open Pro rims, laced to 32 hole 105 or lower-end Campy hubs, 3 cross spokes with 14-15-14 spokes. That's hard to mess up, and anyone along the way should have replacement spokes and be able to true it for you if needed.

Have fun!! That sounds like a cool ride.

The best deal for wheels is to get a reputable builder to make you a set on Ultegra hubs using a decent rim (i.e. Mavic open pro). They're more expensive up front than crappy NashFormance machine built wheels, but they'll last a long time with little maintenance. Excel's wheel builder prices open pro/ultegras at $330. I use one of their rear wheels as my main training set and have had to true it twice in over 10,000 miles. The $200 performance set I got came under-tensioned, required frequent truing, and started breaking spokes on the rear after under 1000 miles. Oh and Performance got me for about $70 for shipping. Not much of a deal in the long run.

Ditto to the suggestion of Open Pro rims and a respectable hub (like Ultegra). Bombproof and reasonably priced... often on sale through Performance, Excel Sports, Colorado Cyclist, etc.

Keep an eye on eBay.....you can usually nab a pair of Ultegra/OpenPro wheels for sub-$300. I bought a pair as back-up/off-season trainers for $275 a while back. You can't beat Open Pro's for durability and simplicity for wrenching.

Third vote for Mav open-pros on ultegra or 105. You can normally find them on sale and if you are already planning on being able to fix them on your ride then you should be able to tension them perfectly when they arrive (if you go the mailorder route).

check these guys out. They are doing neutral support for local Colorado races. I think they were offering for another 60$ a pair of Conti 4000 tires + rim tape and tubes.
http://www.rolwheels.com/