Brucey wrote:I can just about see the logic in wanting lighter wheels when you are doing day rides etc but am I the only one who sees a contradiction in wanting to use such wheels when loaded with 20kg of touring gear?
All things being equal (which admittedly they are not, always...) wheels start reducing in strength quite quickly once you lighten them past a certain point. For example just reducing the spoke count from (say) 32 to 28 might save 30g or so but reduces some aspects of the wheel strength by over 10%; not a good trade IMHO.
Mavic put a lot engineering into their wheels but if there is a flaw it is that the spokes in some models are not easily sourced as others have pointed out. In any of these wheels if you lose a spoke you are likely in the poop; I'd suggest that when touring with a load on you should carry spare spokes, especially if the wheel goes so far out when one breaks that you risk rubbing through the tyre or something. Some wheelsets with minimal spokes can suffer permanent damage (rim takes a new set) when a spoke breaks.
You don't say what kind of mileage you do, how long you expect the wheels to last, how hard you ride or how heavy you are, or indeed if you keep your bike clean in the wintertime (washing off winter road salt); all these things can affect wheel choice (aluminium nipples are just a liability in the wintertime). FWIW in your situation I'd keep a set of wheels (and tyres) for loaded/winter work and a different set for unladen/summer riding. If I were really interested in saving weight, I mightn't have got a disc braked bike to start with, either, but that is just me.
cheers
Brucey - in answer to your questions....
about 300-400 on ave when touring, no idea on life expectancy but my current cx wheels are 2 years in and look good, i am around 82 kg, i'm not sure about how hard i ride but according to Garmin - averaged around 12 -14 mph when touring, yes i keep a clean machine - not a dirty nipple in sight !