Wheels Upgrades

philak

My Giant SCR has Alex DA22 rims. I've read in quite a few threads that wheels upgrades can make one of the biggest differences to a bike and i've also read in one thread to beware of Alex rims,especially on cheaper bikes. I was looking at Mavic Aksiums but wonder if this is a worthwhile upgrade or do i need to spend double the £107 i have seen them for?

I didn't buy a road bike with the idea of getting too seriuosly into it. I wanted it as a tool to get fit for mountain biking but having done a couple of weeks "training " and my first 10 in 28 years last night i cannot let a time of 30'22" go unchallenged and i am looking for quick improvements!

The current wheels also have 700x26C tryes. Seems sensible to me that i should go for 23s (maybe Michelin Pro Race 2s) but i have also read narrower tryes doesnt mean necessarily less rollling resistance.

Advice needed please.

Down the Road

What does your LBS recommend. Never know he might know what he is talking about.

philak

One LBS said you don't need 23s,stick with 25 0r 26 tryes. The other said that makes no sense cos 23 is less air resistance and less contact area to push......

i didnt get into the wheels yet.

Down the Road

which specialises in road and TT Talk to that one and find the staff that ride.

23 are the most Aero clincher tyres but you can spend anywhere from £15 to £45 for racing tyres and the performance varies. Wheels. Good starting pointy is around £150

Think along the lines of Racing 5 from Fulcrum Bonty Race Campag Vento or Sirrocco for starters.

The more you spend the better they get as well.

Ste_S

What is wrong with your current wheels, anything you can put your finger on ?

if not I wouldn't bother changing them until something goes wrong, unless your just looking to bling up your bike.

If you're looking for quick improvements in TT times, get some more training in.

philak

I can see obvious deficiencies in the current wheels. Spokes have gone loose afrer just a couple of rides (yes i checked them beforehand) and the front wheel is out of true slightly but less so than before i redid the spokes.
Secondly the wheels aren't eyeletted so there are obviuos strengh issues. Thirdly the tyres,at 26C ,seem wider than standard and common sense tells me narrower might mean less effort.

Lastly ,but not least, there seems to be a wide body of opinion on both road and MTB forums and in general that better wheels are the best upgrade you can make. In particular, many threads on road bike forums have stressed what a big change in feel and speed a wheel upgrade has made.
Yes i could train more and do intend to do so but when someone in your LBS suggest,as they did today, that you can knock minutes off your 10 time by riding a different bike then i guess its not asking too much to knock less off buy changing bits here and there.
I could flog myself to death and bring my times down but at 46 it's going to take a lot of time and effort to knock seconds off and if the bike isn't really up to scratch in its current form then why not attack on both fronts, fitness and bike.

Big Tcp

If you're looking to improve your 10 time, then the best upgrade is a pair of clip-on tribars. These will save you about a minute in a 10. Better wheels won't make that much difference. To get a real performance boost from the wheels, you're going to have to spend in excess of £300.

Time trial specific training really can pay dividends and could knock 5 or 6 minutes off your time, which will dwarf any savings made by better equipment. Obviously, the best bike fot TT's is a TT specific bike with disk wheel, aero front, aero helmet, etc. But even all this will only save you a couple of minutes in a 10.

Ste_S

philak wrote:

I can see obvious deficiencies in the current wheels. Spokes have gone loose afrer just a couple of rides (yes i checked them beforehand) and the front wheel is out of true slightly but less so than before i redid the spokes.
Secondly the wheels aren't eyeletted so there are obviuos strengh issues. Thirdly the tyres,at 26C ,seem wider than standard and common sense tells me narrower might mean less effort.

Lastly ,but not least, there seems to be a wide body of opinion on both road and MTB forums and in general that better wheels are the best upgrade you can make. In particular, many threads on road bike forums have stressed what a big change in feel and speed a wheel upgrade has made.
Yes i could train more and do intend to do so but when someone in your LBS suggest,as they did today, that you can knock minutes off your 10 time by riding a different bike then i guess its not asking too much to knock less off buy changing bits here and there.
I could flog myself to death and bring my times down but at 46 it's going to take a lot of time and effort to knock seconds off and if the bike isn't really up to scratch in its current form then why not attack on both fronts, fitness and bike.

They may be a big chance from swopping to a tri-spoke front and disc back for TT'ing, but I wouldn't expect much of a change by swopping to Aksiums.

Fitness and position would make the biggest changes. As Big TCP says, why not try a set of clip on aero bars if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket ?

gkerr4

the guy wants a set of wheels - leave him alone!

Wheels will make a difference to the feel of your bike in my experience. Having upgraded the crappy std wheels on my trek pilot to shimano 105s. They were a lot lighter, they don't flex into the brake blocks on a climb and they look a million dollars too!

aksiums are nice, fulcrum 7's are in the same price range, but 5's aren;t a lot more. Shimano do a few the R561's are what I have and they do a 10sp only version called the R5600's Ultegra (R600) wheels are a bit more at about £180ish and they are very nice.

blackhands

Agree with Ste_S -you won't notice much difference but if you need to replace your wheels then go for something reasonably aerodynamic, strong and cheap such as Quest Como

http://www.questbikes.co.uk/acatalog/Wheels.html

with some decent tyres - personally I'd use Continental GP4000 which are also OK for everyday summer use on the road.

Also agree about ri bars.

You should be able to knock minutes off that time - in my comeback year last year I went from 32 mins for a 10 mile TT to 27 mins in a couple of months and I was 63 at the time (done on the above wheels and tyres).

daniel_b

My very yellow Felt has a pair of these fitted:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360015674

In yellow!

My wheels are Shimano WH-R500's, and was debating maybe upgrading them at some point, so this thread of high interest to me also!
Are my stock wheels any cop?

Cheers

Dan

philak

Cheers for the replies. Even those who suggest asking my LBS (cos they might know what they are talking about) made me smile. I could go to 2 or 3 LBS and get 2 or 3 different opinions(hang on a mo,i did) or i could post on here and get 20 opinions, 10 of which might match and might give a concensus. Alternatively we could close the "beginners " thread and post a sticky saying "Ask your LBS".

I'm not desperate for wheels for the sake of it nor do i have money burning a whole in my pocket but i do want to improve. I can probably live with those i have at the moment if they will hold together BUT if i'm going to change them anyway in the future (as a worthwhile upgrade) then why not check it out now.

I'll look into the wheels mentioned,aero bars and the idea of TT specific training sounds quite interesting. I'd assumed that maybe doing several 10s a week (distance wise) would be the way to go.

Thanks
Phil

daniel_b

Are these wheels any cop??

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vuelta-Chromelite ... dZViewItem

acorn_user

I now it has been said already, but some great tyres would help you out. Rolling resistance is probably more important than weight. I would try and find "open tubulars" from Gommitalia or Challenge. Aero bars make an incredible difference in a TT. I did a team time trial last year. One of us had aero bars. Whenever he got on the front, we all had to work hard! He had a couple of mph on us...

wolvesandy

I got a Giant SCR with alex rims too and upgraded to fulcrum racing 7's with conti gp 4000 tyres and noticed the difference straight away, im well pleased

philak

Interesting Andy.........did you get 23s in the Conti? Can you explain the difference you felt with the new wheels/tyres?

wolvesandy

yeah 23's and it just seems to roll alot better and im going a touch quicker, but definately feels alot better than the alex rims