Subject: RE: hand me down bike, need new wheelsYou don't say how many gears are on the back cassette of the bike; from the age (circa 1998 ), I'll guess 8 (possibly 9: 7 would be different ).
You have what from your description is a bike worth keeping. Lemond doesn't make a low-level bike and hopefully, other than the wheels, the bike is in good shape.
I'd recommend NOT rebuilding the current wheels. Often, wheels are the first place manufacturer's skimp on cost to bring the prices down. That's why stock wheels are usually the first upgrade for any bike owner. A rebuild will result in a better than stock wheel, but you're putting money into bargain parts.
If it were me (thanks for the free bike here! ): I'd look at Mavic Open pro with Shimano Ultegra (or 105 if you can find these ) pre-built wheels. Strong, good performing, train or race every day kind of wheels. Not sexy, but purposeful and relatively inexpensive. Bear had a source a week or so ago which was really inexpensive.
I wouldn't look for the least expensive wheel you could possibly buy, you're replicating the original problem with that. Other choices exist, but become expensive for a marginal performance gain.
My $0.02 |