Lighter wheels (road bike)

[Zigster]

yellowjack said:

Harpoon said:

I've got a set of disc brake wheels from David at DCR which I've had zero issues with and he'd be my first call next time I want wheels.

I've hovered over the Vivaldi wheelset on his website several times. a 1460 gram wheelset for £300 sounds almost too good to be true, and I might even be tempted to up-spec the spokes. I'm struggling now because there are just too many options on the various wheelbuilder sites, and choices mean procrastination. And procrastination just ramps up my anxiety levels. I just need to man up and type up an email, or pick up the phone now...

I bought a pair of the Vivaldi for my winter bike a couple of years ago.
£300 bought me light and strong wheels which have been flawless from the start. I’d definitely use him again - good quality and a bargain compared with the mass manufacturers.

[wobert]

yellowjack said:

mooseracer said:

Whilst I've nothing against the major brand offerings, knowing the riding you do I'd also agree to go to a wheelbuilder.

Everyone has their favourites, I'd vote for some Race 30s from here https://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/

I've had both rim and disc wheels from him and they've been great.

Thanks for the link. £415.00 is just a little too much for me right now. The budget has already crept up from about £240 for "factory" wheels that I was looking at to north of £300 (when postage gets added) for those DCR Vivaldis. I can't afford to let it creep up too much this time. But the endless possibilities when it comes to wheel specification mean that I'd like to maybe spend a bit more on another set in future.

I've seen plenty of 'mixed reviews' about various brands of off-the-peg wheels, but no-one seems to have a bad word to say about these independent wheel builders. I'm 90% certain that the replacement wheels will be from one of them now.

At the same time, I need new chainrings (or a new crankset). Tomorrow I'm going to chat with my bike shop about the possibility of going up to a 52/36 crankset (no difference in cost for that change). Wiggle knock out a cassette upgrade kit of a 105 GS derailleur and an 11-34 cassette (£77.00) which might make it workable. Supply issues for them mean that they are happy to fit stuff I can get online at the moment. Although if I'm honest with myself, I'm not sure a bigger "top end" is what I need really. I might struggle to turn a bigger gear over at my age and fitness level...

I reckon I'll just keep the gearing as-is for now, though, to keep the bill as low as possible. See what the bike shop's bill is likely to be before pressing on and spending money I haven't really got. I'm a complete stress-ball at the moment with all these decisions turning over in my mind.

Slightly off topic, but just a note on the crankset and change in gearing.

I have a 52/36 fitted to two of my three bikes and a 50/34 on one.

They all run 11/32 cassettes.

I find the bigger crank ratios easier to push compared to the 50/34.

Certainly in the intermediate gears my cadence is more aligned to what my legs will do, without feeling I’m ‘between’ gears.

The first bike I had with the larger crank gears (Canyon Endurace) had me a little worried, but since buying another bike with the same gearing I would head to the larger option instead of 50/34.

Edited by wobert on Thursday 18th March 13:21

[yellowjack]

wobert said:

Slightly off topic, but just a note on the crankset and change in gearing.

I have a 52/36 fitted to two of my three bikes and a 50/34 on one.

They all run 11/32 cassettes.

I find the bigger crank ratios easier to push compared to the 50/34.

Certainly in the intermediate gears my cadence is more aligned to what my legs will do, without feeling I’m ‘between’ gears.

The first bike I had with the larger crank gears (Canyon Endurace) had me a little worried, but since buying another bike with the same gearing I would head to the larger option instead of 50/34.

Edited by wobert on Thursday 18th March 13:21

Thanks for the info. But I think I'm going to stick with a 50/34t chainset this time. Simply to keep the cost down to only what is absolutely necessary. The rear mech is fine, but won't take an 11-32t or 11-34t cassette. So going up to 52/36t would need a lower gear on the back, which would mean buying a cassette AND a mech. Not heard back from DCR Wheels yet either.

[yellowjack]

Zigster said:

yellowjack said:

Harpoon said:

I've got a set of disc brake wheels from David at DCR which I've had zero issues with and he'd be my first call next time I want wheels.

I've hovered over the Vivaldi wheelset on his website several times. a 1460 gram wheelset for £300 sounds almost too good to be true, and I might even be tempted to up-spec the spokes. I'm struggling now because there are just too many options on the various wheelbuilder sites, and choices mean procrastination. And procrastination just ramps up my anxiety levels. I just need to man up and type up an email, or pick up the phone now...

I bought a pair of the Vivaldi for my winter bike a couple of years ago.
£300 bought me light and strong wheels which have been flawless from the start. I’d definitely use him again - good quality and a bargain compared with the mass manufacturers.

Well it took a couple of days for David to reply to my email. But it all looks promising. I supplied the details (my weight, riding style, etc) and a load of other guff. He said that he'd recommend the standard Vivaldi build for me. So I've placed an order now. £300 delivered still.

He has warned that they've none actually built and 'in stock' but that they are batch-building them weekly so there's hope for me being able to have a set fairly swiftly. Fingers crossed. I can't wait to be able to update the thread after I've had a chance to ride them. This will be my first foray into the world of new wheels other than when they come with a bike, and the first time (aside from SwissStop brake pads) that I've bought anything that could be considered an 'upgrade'. I couldn't believe it when I found a sub 1500 gram wheelset for £300 - I'd convinced myself that such a thing couldn't exist. More spokes than a Fulcrum Racing 5 wheelset, and the same price, but lighter weight. Fingers crossed for a speedy delivery now. I can hardly wait...

[gazza285]

There’s the rub, less spokes means you need a stiffer rim, which means a heavier rim, and this extra weight is right where you don’t want it.

[mie1972]

Cero for lightness, the AR24 seem a bargain for weight. Narrow rims don’t look that pretty tho.

I’ve recently swapped for some 50mm carbon wheels and the difference is huge. Over 15mph they just keep the speed. Wish I’d switched earlier to be honest.

[yellowjack]

yellowjack said:

Well it took a couple of days for David to reply to my email. But it all looks promising. I supplied the details (my weight, riding style, etc) and a load of other guff. He said that he'd recommend the standard Vivaldi build for me. So I've placed an order now. £300 delivered still.

He has warned that they've none actually built and 'in stock' but that they are batch-building them weekly so there's hope for me being able to have a set fairly swiftly. Fingers crossed. I can't wait to be able to update the thread after I've had a chance to ride them. This will be my first foray into the world of new wheels other than when they come with a bike, and the first time (aside from SwissStop brake pads) that I've bought anything that could be considered an 'upgrade'. I couldn't believe it when I found a sub 1500 gram wheelset for £300 - I'd convinced myself that such a thing couldn't exist. More spokes than a Fulcrum Racing 5 wheelset, and the same price, but lighter weight. Fingers crossed for a speedy delivery now. I can hardly wait...

I got an email reply from David at DCR Wheels yesterday - a 'part built set' of the Vivaldi wheels is going to be completed and hopefully shipped this week. I'm looking forward to getting back on my Emonda. Just got to pull my finger out and get a crankset sorted now...

[lufbramatt]

gazza285 said:

There’s the rub, less spokes means you need a stiffer rim, which means a heavier rim, and this extra weight is right where you don’t want it.

Counter-intuitively a stiff rim is more likely to suffer from brake rub (on rim brakes) than a lighter, more flexible rim, too. As the whole wheel flexes, rather than just the bottom half of the wheel.

[louiebaby]

If anyone is looking for a set of road wheels in Devon, I might know of someone with some Flo 30 wheels for sale.

He found them excellent for his lardy-arse!

[yellowjack]

yellowjack said:

I got an email reply from David at DCR Wheels yesterday - a 'part built set' of the Vivaldi wheels is going to be completed and hopefully shipped this week. I'm looking forward to getting back on my Emonda. Just got to pull my finger out and get a crankset sorted now...

Email at 3 pm yesterday said my wheels were on their way. Parcelforce have them now, processed through their depot already and "out for delivery". I'm proper giddy with excitement now. Which is quite unlike me...

[yellowjack]

Well they're here now. Well packaged and sent 24 Hour Delivery with parcel force.

I've unboxed them, and test-fitted a 700 x 25c Conti GP 4 Seasons tyre (without a tube for now). On and off again with no drama.

Claimed weight on the DCR Wheels website was 1460 grams for the set. Mine weigh in at a slightly heavier 1524 grams for the set, including rim tape. They're still a good 250+ grams lighter than the wheels that came off, and below the claimed weight of the factory built branded wheels I was looking at for the same money. So they definitely qualify as "Lighter wheels" per the thread title.







I've just got to get a new crankset now, and get the bike put back together. Then I'll post an update when I've put a few miles onto them...

Edited by yellowjack on Wednesday 24th March 13:49

[TheInternet]

yellowjack said:

and below the claimed weight of the factory built branded wheels I was looking at

...which would've undoubtedly have been greater in reality.

I like the no stickers look.

[yellowjack]

First ride today on these new wheels (I was waiting on delivery of a new chainset) and with a few new bearings in the headset and bottom bracket.

Initial impressions? Excellent. Not sure if it's reduced weight, new hubs/bearings, or the slightly wider rims, or if it's just the "new wheels" placebo effect. But I smashed a few PRs on today's ride. Some of which dated back to 2013. They're definitely very smooth riding, and I felt like I was faster up a few hills. Not scientific, obviously, but I also felt that they were quicker/easier to get speed back into after cresting a hill.

They're not a miracle by any means, and it may be confirmation bias, with me having spent good money on them, but they definitely felt nicer than the wheels that came off. So that's the first 58 miles done.

Only one real complaint so far. And that's that the spokes are thinner than the ones on my old wheels, so the clip-on "stick" reflectors I had on the old wheels now don't grip the spokes and stay at the rim. They now slide up and down like Spokey-Dokeys so I didn't refit them. A wrap of electrical tape might help but that's for another day.

[jontysafe]

Glad you're enjoying them.

I have same bike and went cero ar30 evo at 350 squid. Great wheels.