Fulcrum, Mavic , Shimano
I feel the need to upgrade the Allez. I saved a bit on the purchase price so can spend a few quid on new bits. From other postings I gather the place to start is the wheels , the wheels on the Allez are branded jalco gx460.
To replace them I have considered:
Mavic Askium œ120 ... seem ok but a little heavy
Fulcrum 7 œ110 .....ok but a little red.
Mavic open pro handbuilt on 105 hubsœ150...I like this idea, but also heavier than factory?
Shimano 105 various (561, 5600 etc) on the web œ90 to œ130....look the best but I tried a bike with some on and they flexed a lot.
Or do I need to move up a bit in the price scale to see any benefits.
advice appreciated.
ta
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To replace them I have considered:
Mavic Askium œ120 ... seem ok but a little heavy
Fulcrum 7 œ110 .....ok but a little red.
Mavic open pro handbuilt on 105 hubsœ150...I like this idea, but also heavier than factory?
Shimano 105 various (561, 5600 etc) on the web œ90 to œ130....look the best but I tried a bike with some on and they flexed a lot.
Or do I need to move up a bit in the price scale to see any benefits.
advice appreciated.
ta
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Comments
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You can get Fulcrum 7's in black, also try Campag Khamsins (about œ80) or Campag Ventos for about œ120.00 both available from www.ribblecycles.co.uk. I suspect the campag wheels only come with a campag freehub so if you running Shimano you'll probably have to go elsewhere.
665 The Neighbour of the Beast'Hello to Jason Isaacs'0 -
I doubt the Open Pro's would be heavier than the Jalco rims. Remember that the rim weight is more important than the hub weight if rotating mass is your game. If you really want superlight wheels, DT240 hubs or similar (Record, Dura Ace) would bring you down to the 1450g area for the set.0
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I am in the same search as you but don't go for the 560s 500s or 550s or whatever the number is this week. I have some on my current bike and they flex even with my pathetic power output. The guy up the road bought some as training wheels [he actually can turn a wheel] and he says they're the worst wheels he has ever had!0
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I have a pair of Campag. Ventos and a pair of Open Pro ceramics on Ultegra hubs, 32H 3x rear with 32H radial front.
The front wheel total weight is approx. 50g less than the Vento (which was admittedly much cheaper), however I went for brass nipples and straight gauge spokes, which add weight.
OP front wheel complete with grease, tape, tube,skewer and GP4000-S is c.1240g with the rear coming in at 1740g complete with cassette being almost the same weight as the Vento rear - give or take 20g.
The handbuilts are a revelation to ride - I'd recommend you at least try a pair before going for factory wheels, though I gather a good factory pair are very good.
You don't mention where you are in the country.
Harry Rowland was a good person to speak to, however I eventually settled for a pair built at my office bike shop - Condor.
I suspect the rotational mass is much lower on the OP as the Vento has a deeper "mid section" aero rim.0 -
MAVIC!!!
Buy them for one reason and one reason only, when you try to put tyres on them you wont loose you thumbs or spend an hour trying to get the tyre to sit straight.
Italian rims (Campag, Fulcrum, FiR, Ambrosio) are a little bigger than the rest of the world make them and are a pain in the backside to fit tyres to.
Search the forum you will se what i mean!
People who worry about one wheel being 20-50g heavier than another really need to get out and enjoy cycling, but as the previous poster said dont assume handbuilts will be heavier.
Coops0 -
i have 105's on my allez and i found them to be much stiffer than the alex's supplied. œ60 bnib off ebay. saying that i have open pros on my roubaix and thet're even better.
winning is everything
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couldn't think of a stupid elephant gag0 -
JW those Open Pros sound just like what I'm after. Sorry if I'm being cheeky, but can you give me an idea of how much they would cost from Condor?0
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Bought a Cannondale CAAD8 late last year. Got my LBS to swap the stock Mavic Askiums for a pair of hand built Mavic Open Pros, in black to match the frame, with Dura Ace hubs. LBS kept the Askiums plus, from memory, œ100. Put a pair of decent puncture resistant tyres on them, Continental GP 4 Seasons and 2500 miles latter no punctures and one happy customer.0
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Thanks for the responses, I mean't the handbuilts would likely weigh more than factory wheels I could buy, not the jalcos that came OE with the bike.s it stands my favourite choice is some handbuilt open pros from the LBS. Although I may have to rethink this upgrade as the jalco rims even with some heavy conti 25c wire tires come in at http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k113/starseven1968/DSC00368.jpg
1200gish.
Maybe I should leave the wheels alone and get some new gears and such.
Sorry about the state of the scales the missus is ever so dirty in the kitchen.
[:)]
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HCullen: Urm - I had mine specially built by Monty Young!!
Not sure if that cost extra.
My mail has gone in to meltdown, so I seem to be unable to get the price breakdown (bought as a package with my second Condor this year - been really pleased with Condor to the point of becoming a bore).
From memory, they were about 130 notes for the pair more than the Ventos. At the end of the day, most people charge the same price for the spokes/nipples/rims/hubs - it's just the fixed build cost per wheel that varies, so that's the question to ask.
Best to "Ask Bern" - He has a thread on this forum and can recommend the right guy in the shop to telephone and calculate your spec.
They're superb wheels - the bike it's fitted to was customised down to the handlebar tape for me - I shaved *27* minutes off my 40 mile time!
(OK, put in a bit of training in-between).
These handbuilts, coupled with my new build, really give bags of confidence and a surefooted, stiff yet conversely comfortable ride.
Don't skimp on the spoking - the extra weight is negligible. (apols if i'm teaching you to suck eggs).
Sheldon Brown's wheel building article is worth a look.
Ultegra hubs are front radial lace compatible. It's not advised to radial lace a 105, but is possible. Plus for the tarts amongst us, the Ceramic rim colour goes well with the Shimano hub colour (and silver spokes for contrast in my case - talk on forums that some black spokes are weaker prob. due to anodisation). Ask Ronan what he thought - he really liked them.
I had the cheaper of the two top-spec. Mavic rims - They're great and much harder/better stopping than the Ventos - I didn't think it worth going for the top ceramic rim. Top two Mavics only come in grey.
Harry Rowland was also very good, and someone posted to say he subcontracts for Condor.
I also visited Dauphin in Box Hill - I didn't like the DT Swiss rims due to some bad press - The also sell OPs.
I am just over 80Kg, so needed a sturdy wheel for my North Downs potholing/climbing and was not bothered about aero sections.
Should have gone 28H front, but have a rock solid responsive 32H.
Radial front is supposed to give better feedback.
When the Vento rims are toast, I'd have the same again with DB spokes instead of straight gauge, and poss. ally nipples.
Hub-wise, whilst the Shimanos are servicable and have quality skewers compared to Campag/Fulcrum, they don't no-load-spin as free as the Vento hubs. Not that it's noticable when riding.
The best bit about Condor was when I had a problem with my rear Vento, due to the circumstances they changed it without quibble for a brand new one FOC without any prompting! A similar forum story about a different London dealership with whom I've also had good experiences, ended with the guy waiting months and months for the wheel to go back to the factory, be fixed and returned. Probably due to their lower Campag. turnover.
Condor's worth it for the extra few pennies, having them on the doorstep, and getting my bits on the day.
Condor-bore bit over.0 -
Wow! That's a ton of information JW and I'm really grateful for all of it. Cracking forum this.
Thanks
Harvey0 -
Another vote for Open Pros, I have Open Pro CD on a Chorus hub on my Van Nicolas and Open Pro Ceramic on 2007 Record hubs on the Quest to replace the Aksiums. As already mentioned, very stiff and probably equally as bombproof as the very strong Aksiums. As I'm a fairly large ride at 90kg ish I like the way the rear wheels are nice and taught with no flex. I can't compare them to a top line factory wheel but other than a few grams I can't see them being any better.
<b>My Bikes</b> Van Nicholas Quest Giant MTB
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