Road bike wheels - advice needed
Discussion
Hi all
I'm after some advice regarding upgrading wheels for my road bike. I've had my Focus Izalco for about 2 years, and am wondering if there would be a worthwhile benefit in changing the DT Swiss All Road wheels. Speaking to the guys I ride with at weekends, I'm told wheels are the best thing to upgrade, as they are the thing that's always in contact with the road and I need to be looking at spending about £1k. Unfortunately I'm a complete novice regarding wheels, and would be grateful for any advice.
Typically I ride weekends, 50 - 80m rides with the odd longer sportive thrown in. We're more a social than competitive group, with average speeds only being 17-19mph, which in the fens isn't too fast.
So, the questions I have are
Are the wheels I have good enough or are they worth upgrading?
If I upgraded, how much would I need to spend to notice a difference?
If I were to upgrade, with my type of riding what would be the suggested options? Know brands (Mavic, Fulcrum etc but not specific models).
Any advice would be appreciated from those who've already been down this route. I don't mind spending money if there will be a noticeable improvement, but would rather persist with my current set up if it wouldn't be worth it, as I'm not interested in having the newest kit if it doesn't provide a benefit.
Mark
I'm after some advice regarding upgrading wheels for my road bike. I've had my Focus Izalco for about 2 years, and am wondering if there would be a worthwhile benefit in changing the DT Swiss All Road wheels. Speaking to the guys I ride with at weekends, I'm told wheels are the best thing to upgrade, as they are the thing that's always in contact with the road and I need to be looking at spending about £1k. Unfortunately I'm a complete novice regarding wheels, and would be grateful for any advice.
Typically I ride weekends, 50 - 80m rides with the odd longer sportive thrown in. We're more a social than competitive group, with average speeds only being 17-19mph, which in the fens isn't too fast.
So, the questions I have are
Are the wheels I have good enough or are they worth upgrading?
If I upgraded, how much would I need to spend to notice a difference?
If I were to upgrade, with my type of riding what would be the suggested options? Know brands (Mavic, Fulcrum etc but not specific models).
Any advice would be appreciated from those who've already been down this route. I don't mind spending money if there will be a noticeable improvement, but would rather persist with my current set up if it wouldn't be worth it, as I'm not interested in having the newest kit if it doesn't provide a benefit.
Mark
There is no rational argument to support you splurging 1k on a set of wheels for the circumstances you describe other than to make you feel good
Which to be honest is reason enough to splash the cash
I have 3 sets of wheels and like hills/mountains:
1) £80 bucket shop non branded clearance wheelset from an online retailer fitted with armour plated winter tyres
2) Mavic Ksyrium Elites (ie mid range) with mid range tyres
3) Top spec Fulcrums bought at a massive discount running race rubber and a Dura-ace cassette
Im slowest on the snotters, faster on the Mavics and fastest on the Fulrums
In reality the difference is marginal - ie 10 mins over 2-3 hours - but I feel better riding the expensive set
In my pinion as you mainly ride on the flat these, which are currently on special, may tick your boxes and save some money:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPXF45C/planet-x-ct4...
Cheers
You don't need new wheels. Spend the money on a holiday or on your family. Anyone who says you need to spend a grand on wheels is a numpty. It's extremely hard to justify that kind of money for weekend rides or sp sportives. Sure you can source wheels at a grand (and more) but at the same time you can get excellent, light, strong wheels for £200-300, either factory or hand built. One thing I've learned with the more and increasingly expensive stuff I've gathered, is that I don't need any of it.
JuniorD said:
One thing I've learned with the more and increasingly expensive stuff I've gathered, is that I don't need any of it.
Doesn't stop you wanting it though does it? If it makes you feel faster/better on the bike then go for it ... why not, its your money. I upgraded my Trek Race Lites to Mavic ksyrium elite s's and they're a great all round wheel ... they roll so much better than my standard wheels and 'feel' quicker. As I'm saving 150g - 200g, then I don't think this was purely 'in my head'. Depending on where you ride is a major factor .. we have a reasonable amount of climbing so a 50mm section aero wheel is probably a waste of time/money ... I'm tempted to go for something such as the Mavic 40c's or Bontrager Aelous 3 which are a shallow section carbon, for Sportives etc ...
JEA1K said:
JuniorD said:
One thing I've learned with the more and increasingly expensive stuff I've gathered, is that I don't need any of it.
Doesn't stop you wanting it though does it? If it makes you feel faster/better on the bike then go for it ... why not, its your money. I upgraded my Trek Race Lites to Mavic ksyrium elite s's and they're a great all round wheel ... they roll so much better than my standard wheels and 'feel' quicker. As I'm saving 150g - 200g, then I don't think this was purely 'in my head'. Depending on where you ride is a major factor .. we have a reasonable amount of climbing so a 50mm section aero wheel is probably a waste of time/money ... I'm tempted to go for something such as the Mavic 40c's or Bontrager Aelous 3 which are a shallow section carbon, for Sportives etc ...
MHB said:
would rather persist with my current set up if it wouldn't be worth it, as I'm not interested in having the newest kit if it doesn't provide a benefit.
Stick with your current wheels, they're absolutely fine for the riding you are doing. There's certainly no need to spend £1k even if you do want to upgrade. numtumfutunch said:
There is no rational argument to support you splurging 1k on a set of wheels for the circumstances you describe other than to make you feel good
Which to be honest is reason enough to splash the cash
I have 3 sets of wheels and like hills/mountains:
1) £80 bucket shop non branded clearance wheelset from an online retailer fitted with armour plated winter tyres
2) Mavic Ksyrium Elites (ie mid range) with mid range tyres
3) Top spec Fulcrums bought at a massive discount running race rubber and a Dura-ace cassette
Im slowest on the snotters, faster on the Mavics and fastest on the Fulrums
In reality the difference is marginal - ie 10 mins over 2-3 hours - but I feel better riding the expensive set
In my pinion as you mainly ride on the flat these, which are currently on special, may tick your boxes and save some money:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPXF45C/planet-x-ct4...
Cheers
Aside from the construction (and availability), what's the difference between those and the ones linked below?Which to be honest is reason enough to splash the cash
I have 3 sets of wheels and like hills/mountains:
1) £80 bucket shop non branded clearance wheelset from an online retailer fitted with armour plated winter tyres
2) Mavic Ksyrium Elites (ie mid range) with mid range tyres
3) Top spec Fulcrums bought at a massive discount running race rubber and a Dura-ace cassette
Im slowest on the snotters, faster on the Mavics and fastest on the Fulrums
In reality the difference is marginal - ie 10 mins over 2-3 hours - but I feel better riding the expensive set
In my pinion as you mainly ride on the flat these, which are currently on special, may tick your boxes and save some money:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPXF45C/planet-x-ct4...
Cheers
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WBPX60CCLHBPC/planet-...
15mm? I've yet to see a speed vs drag curve for aero wheels but once you're well above 20mph it starts to make a difference. A deeper rim will supposedly produce less drag but out in the fens at this time of year they will be harder to keep running straight in windy conditions. 38 and 45mm wheels give a compromise for fast road I supoose.
For sportives and club rides I would've though a light but stiff wheel would be the route to go so you can accelerate quickly from bends and junctions - heavy aero section wheels have all their mass at the rim so the inertia is significantly increased so it takes more force at the pedals to spin them up.
My lad has DT branded rims on his specilaized bike but I've got fed of with truing them so he's now on Fulcrum R3s which haven't needed any attention at all. I quite fancy some for my Boardman (which is on Mavic Aksium) but I'm also looking at hanbuilt Stans Alpha 340/400s from Spokesman Wheels as he made me a nice set of CX wheels.
For sportives and club rides I would've though a light but stiff wheel would be the route to go so you can accelerate quickly from bends and junctions - heavy aero section wheels have all their mass at the rim so the inertia is significantly increased so it takes more force at the pedals to spin them up.
My lad has DT branded rims on his specilaized bike but I've got fed of with truing them so he's now on Fulcrum R3s which haven't needed any attention at all. I quite fancy some for my Boardman (which is on Mavic Aksium) but I'm also looking at hanbuilt Stans Alpha 340/400s from Spokesman Wheels as he made me a nice set of CX wheels.
MHB said:
Many thanks for all the replies.
As suspected there will be marginal gains with upgrading, and in order to satisfy my craving for buying 'bike bling' I don't need to spend the £1k I was anticipating.
Do you know the weight and profile of your current wheels? (have scan read the thread but can't see the info). As you ride the Fen's I would avoid deep section wheels as you will no doubt be fighting with the wind on a good day - deep sections will simply make you more susceptible to cross-winds.As suspected there will be marginal gains with upgrading, and in order to satisfy my craving for buying 'bike bling' I don't need to spend the £1k I was anticipating.
If your wheels weigh in at around the 2kgs mark (most bikes ship with 'stock' wheels around this weight point as they are usually the first thing riders upgrade), then I would suggest that you would see an immediate improvement by going down the route of low profile, lightweight wheels (24mm / <1.5kgs). You don't need to spend £1k to make the investment though, I have a set of Shimano RS80's (now superseded with RS81's), and a set of Fulcrum Racing 1's; both excellent low profile wheels with a low radial weight, so easy to spin up, easy to keep going, and don't suffer from cross-winds.
If you are looking for 'everyday' wheels then I personally would not go down the route of carbons. Great on a sunny day but even the most expensive of carbon hoops are not great in the wet, I could only speculate that cheaper ones would lead to a few white knuckle moments on wet and cold days if you need to stop hard! Also, carbon rims are much less likely to survive a big pot hole impact.
With the change you could buy some carbon bars, stem and seatpost as well as a set of Yokozuna Reaction cables.......
I don't have much experience with deep section wheels (saving those for the summer)
But the difference in feel between lighter and heavier wheels is massive - ironically if you have half decent wheels at the moment you won't gain much from improving to better ones.
For example, switching from a 2.2kg wheel set to 1.5kg made an incredible difference - the bike was faster to spin up to speed and easier, out of the saddle acceleration was replaced by seated in the same places.
It didn't make the bike faster per se but did make it faster to acellerate and crucially, easier to accelerate.
Climbing while I didn't feel much difference was much improved according to strava.
Shifting from 1.8kg wheels to 1.5kg wheels didn't make much difference - either in times or feel - the variable of "how hard I was going that day" more than eclipsed it.
Yes I was faster, however I'm faster every month than the one before at the moment.
For my next upgrade, I'm waiting till i can once again make a massive difference, small changes are pretty much imperceptible.
So my next set of shiney wheels will be circa 1.1kg - where I will hopefully once again feel the difference in effort needed to accelerate.
I'm half tempted to avoid any further wheel spend till at least 2016 - where I expect hydraulic discs and 11 speed to have proliferated and need a complete new bike at that point (frame, gruppo, wheels).
At that point even the sexiest ten speed kit will probably cost buttons....
But the difference in feel between lighter and heavier wheels is massive - ironically if you have half decent wheels at the moment you won't gain much from improving to better ones.
For example, switching from a 2.2kg wheel set to 1.5kg made an incredible difference - the bike was faster to spin up to speed and easier, out of the saddle acceleration was replaced by seated in the same places.
It didn't make the bike faster per se but did make it faster to acellerate and crucially, easier to accelerate.
Climbing while I didn't feel much difference was much improved according to strava.
Shifting from 1.8kg wheels to 1.5kg wheels didn't make much difference - either in times or feel - the variable of "how hard I was going that day" more than eclipsed it.
Yes I was faster, however I'm faster every month than the one before at the moment.
For my next upgrade, I'm waiting till i can once again make a massive difference, small changes are pretty much imperceptible.
So my next set of shiney wheels will be circa 1.1kg - where I will hopefully once again feel the difference in effort needed to accelerate.
I'm half tempted to avoid any further wheel spend till at least 2016 - where I expect hydraulic discs and 11 speed to have proliferated and need a complete new bike at that point (frame, gruppo, wheels).
At that point even the sexiest ten speed kit will probably cost buttons....
[quote=MadDad]
Do you know the weight and profile of your current wheels? (have scan read the thread but can't see the info). As you ride the Fen's I would avoid deep section wheels as you will no doubt be fighting with the wind on a good day - deep sections will simply make you more susceptible to cross-winds.
quote]
The wheels are DT Swiss R1850 - which I believe weigh 1850g. I take your point about deep sections wheels and cross winds, as one of the guys in the group has just got some and struggled pretty badly with them in the wind. Great place the fens, what it lacks in hills, it makes up for with an almost permenant headwind!
Do you know the weight and profile of your current wheels? (have scan read the thread but can't see the info). As you ride the Fen's I would avoid deep section wheels as you will no doubt be fighting with the wind on a good day - deep sections will simply make you more susceptible to cross-winds.
quote]
The wheels are DT Swiss R1850 - which I believe weigh 1850g. I take your point about deep sections wheels and cross winds, as one of the guys in the group has just got some and struggled pretty badly with them in the wind. Great place the fens, what it lacks in hills, it makes up for with an almost permenant headwind!
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff