Is this a worthwhile upgrade?

[Superhoop]

There was a thread on here recently about moving from a £600 bike to a £1000 bike, where the general thought was 'A £1200 bike isn't twice as good as a £600 bike, but an £1800 bike is three times better'. Is this the same for components or in this case wheels?

My current bike came fitted with Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels and I'm thinking of replacing these with a set of Campagnolo Zonda's from Ribble.

These in fact: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/w...

They will be used as summer wheels, with my Fulcrum's becoming my winter wheel, so is this an upgrade worth making, or am I better off either a) with something else at a similar price, or b) saving for a while and getting something in a higher price bracket?

[anonymous-user]

Superhoop said:

There was a thread on here recently about moving from a £600 bike to a £1000 bike, where the general thought was 'A £1200 bike isn't twice as good as a £600 bike, but an £1800 bike is three times better'. Is this the same for components or in this case wheels?

My current bike came fitted with Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels and I'm thinking of replacing these with a set of Campagnolo Zonda's from Ribble.

These in fact: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/w...

They will be used as summer wheels, with my Fulcrum's becoming my winter wheel, so is this an upgrade worth making, or am I better off either a) with something else at a similar price, or b) saving for a while and getting something in a higher price bracket?

lol, that was my comment! it kind of rings true but the value of upgrades starts at a lower price point. regarding wheels, Fulcrum 7s are about £100 and are a great upgrade for any bike that originally cost around £7-800 from the stock wheels. But going from the OEM wheels on said bike to Fulcrum 3s (£300) would be like riding a completely differnet bike as they are something like 450gs ligher than the 7s...

So, I would say that if the Zondas are going to be summer wheels, how likely are you to use them between now and Spring? so can you add another £200-£250 to the budget before you will seriously start using them in anger.

I was just about to buy a set of Fulcrum 3s to replace my 7s for the nicer months of 2013 but then realised that i wasnt going to use them for the best part of 4 months and have shelved the idea, save some more cash and will probably get some Campag Neutrons in the Spring. there seems no point buying summer wheels now just to keep the in the garage for the winter...

If I were you, I would keep saving and wait until the spring to see what is about. www.bike-discount.de are very cheap and reliable. Fulcrum 3s are around £300 from them. I'd also look at Hed Ardennes, Mavic Ksyriums and the Neutrons.

that all said, i have a friend who rides campag zondas all year round without issue!

[mcelliott]

I bought some Zondas for my Planet X in February and they've been hammered since. Cannot fault them, up there with my Dura Ace 24s. Excellent value for money.

[Superhoop]

Thanks for the information, it's all sounding good so far.

I should have added, these are going to be a Christmas present from the OH, hence buying now. Well that and they have 20% off at Ribble, and I'm not sure how long that'll last for.

[Catchme]

Or you might want to look on the bay for some 'hand-me-downs' - there are bound to be some folk who will be trading in the wheels they used this season for some new (better) kit ready for next. I got my Aksium Race for £60 from the bay and there are some nice-looking carbon wheelsets coming up all the time.

Worth a thought...

[anonymous-user]

Superhoop said:

Thanks for the information, it's all sounding good so far.

I should have added, these are going to be a Christmas present from the OH, hence buying now. Well that and they have 20% off at Ribble, and I'm not sure how long that'll last for.

fair enough, there are a lot of places with sales on, try parker international and the tri store. awcycles come up in a lot of google searches, as do tredz and you could try tweeks cycles to see what they have. ribble will be har dot beat price wise though and as i said, i havent heard any complaints about Zondas.