First wheel upgrade

[gifdy]

After a lot of hard work I've finally justified a new set of wheels to myself. This will be the first time I've done anything to my bike since buying it a couple of years ago. I thought the best upgrade was to work on the engine but I reckon I can now treat myself.

I've read a lot of reviews, browsed Wiggle/Planet-X, read Cycle magazines etc etc. but I haven't managed to settle on what to buy. My local bike shop is an Evans but they weren't particularly useful.

Maybe I'm asking too much. I use the bike for general fitness training, I do a 2-3 triathlons a year and I've signed up for a LEJOG in September this year. I was hoping for a set of wheels that would cover all of these.

In terms of riding, I seem to be pretty good up hills but not so fast on the straights so I'm thinking wheels with a bit of aero to help on the flat would be better even if they're a bit heavier. I have a Shimano 10 speed cassette and am thinking standard inner tube wheels but with the ability to use the tubeless ones as I hear these can reduce punctures (handy for the LEJOG)

Budget is 500-600 bit would stretch a bit further for the ideal set. I'm not at any competitive level so I'm not going to blow upwards of 1K on wheels.

The ones I've been looking at are : Vision Trimax Carbon 35 or 30 KB, Token C55A Alloy/Carbon Clinchers, Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon Road ( although don't know what type of tyres they have ), Campagnola Zonda C17 and also from another thread Selcof Delta 40mm ( although they seem only to be for Shimano 11 speed ).

Am I on the right track, or way off ? Any suggestions or helpful advice?

[Tri_Doc]

For that money, i'd go for the cosmics:

https://www.acycles.co.uk/mavic-cosmic-pro-carbon-...

As there is a little aero but also alloy brake track for the LETJOG thingy.

My first wheel upgrade was a set of chinese wheels and after researching I bought them from Carbonspeed Cycle. I went alloy brake tracks and at the price they were excellent:
http://www.carbonspeedcycle.com/product/20-52325mm...

Or some nice lightweight alloy wheels would be good. Hunt make these that have been well reviewed:
https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collections/road-ri...

They also do some nice carbon versions.

[hilly10]

I have upgraded my wheels and they came today Mavic Ksyrium Elites I wanted some better wheels than the Bontrager Race fitted to my Trek Emonda SL5 I am not an out and out serious rider so I think these will suffice. They get great reviews from the bike mags (best sub £500 wheels)and as they are 2017 they came at a great price £344 delivered. I am going to use them for summer and keep the stock wheels for winter.

Edited by hilly10 on Friday 12th January 16:45

[adam85]

Have a look at "Prime" wheels.. I have a set of the 38's and they've been very good throughout last season.
For added "aero" their 50mm Carbon Clinchers are within budget:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-rr-50-carbon-clinche...

ETA: they're also tubeless compatible which ticks another one of your boxes, nice and wide internal rim diameter too for 25/28C tyres

[gifdy]

Good point about the braking surface, never considered that. The Hunt wheels look really nice, a bonus that they don't have massive stickers all over them.

The Mavics - can you fit tubeless ? They seem to be different in that they come with tyres. Does this mean you are limited in choice ?

[hilly10]

The Mavic Ksyrium are tubeless ready

[gifdy]

adam85 said:

Have a look at "Prime" wheels.. I have a set of the 38's and they've been very good throughout last season.
For added "aero" their 50mm Carbon Clinchers are within budget:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-rr-50-carbon-clinche...

ETA: they're also tubeless compatible which ticks another one of your boxes, nice and wide internal rim diameter too for 25/28C tyres

I did look at these. They seemed ideal but reviews said they fill with water when it's raining and the hubs are noisy.

[Matt_N]

Btw when it says 11 speed for Shimano you can use 10 speed no issues, just need to use the normally supplied spacer (1.7mm) to take up the difference in cassette size.

[lufbramatt]

Iirc the Hunt wheels use off the shelf Kinlin rims. Can get pretty much the same thing slightly cheaper with possibly better hubs from the cycle clinic (Borg range of wheels).

[adam85]

gifdy said:

I did look at these. They seemed ideal but reviews said they fill with water when it's raining and the hubs are noisy.

Odd! Mine did neither

[ALawson]

lufbramatt said:

Iirc the Hunt wheels use off the shelf Kinlin rims. Can get pretty much the same thing slightly cheaper with possibly better hubs from the cycle clinic (Borg range of wheels).

There will be Cero mentioned by others.

I have a DA Hubs with SL23 front and Borg31. Great wheels running tubeless for three years now, Malcolm is a top bloke.

Something like these (you would need to spec tubeless tyres at purchase).

https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-rim-...

Or new Open Pro (tubeless ready), with Bitex Hubs 1400g.

https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-rim-...

[gifdy]

Thanks everyone for the advice. After a lot of chin scratching I went for the Hunt Aero alloy wheels, they should arrive this week. I'm going to try tubeless to see how I get on. The reported added comfort should help with the long ride training.

[ShortShift811]

Good call on the Hunts. Seems like you're a similar rider to me: I didn't want to spend silly money and a good set of lightweight alloy wheels offerend more advantages over cheap carbon (including more reliable braking).

I received my Aero Race Wide wheels in the post last week. Seem beautifully made and can't wait to get them on the bike.

Edited by ShortShift811 on Wednesday 14th February 14:14

[gifdy]

Nice ! What tyres are you putting on them? I've gone for 25mm tubeless.

Let us know how you get on.

[ShortShift811]

I'm still debating - see my other thread on whether or not to go tubeless for the first time.

My current tyres are the 24mm Specialized Gripton S-Works and they've been faultless. So I may just run those with a tube in and switch to tubeless when they need replacing. The wider rim profile of the Hunts plus the weight reduction should mean I get a much better ride anyway.