Weight of Alex DA22 wheels on my SCR?

don2wonder

I've had a search through the numerous topics on wheel weight and looked on the net and can't seem to find out how much the wheels on my SCR3 weigh. Does anybody know?

I am tempted to upgrade in the future and was wondering how great the weight reduction would be if switching to something like Fulcrum 5s or 7s for exampe. Just looking for a comparison really.

I haven't as yet had any problems with my current wheels in terms of reliability or build quality, but wouldn't mind the added performance of better wheels. Will upgrade the tyres also....

Cheers for any help anyone can give.

Stevo

giant_man

You are going to have a helluva job, just as I did when asking the same questions. I contacted Alex who supplied the RIMS for the DA22, but was told that Giant make up the wheels that go on their bikes. So the hubs and spokes are from Giant presumably and the rims are the only components Alex supply.

I still don't know the weight but I guess a weighing scale (sans tyres of course) is the only way you will get the answer you want.

SDP

buy a digital fishing scale off fleabay ( mine was a tenner from china )

excellent for weighing bikes/wheels etc...

& a pair of good kitchen scales for weighing small parts...

deal

i have an scr2 which seems to have the same wheels and couldn't tell you what they weigh but they were noticeably heavier than fulcrum 5's (which i recently bought) with one wheel in each hand, not very scientific so don't take my word for it.

ps. i bought the fulcrum 5's from here

http://www.primera-bournemouth.co.uk/Te ... prodID=802

had never heard of them before but was very impressed with there customer service, they answered an email very quickly postage was very quick too, plus was the cheapest price I could find

ps. upgrade the tires asap the cheap heavy 25mm tires that came with my giant scr are useless.

azzerb

Cycling Plus May 2007 (first ever C+ i bought to read reviews for which bike to buy), states they weigh 1.8kg (r) and 1.3kg (f) but i have a feeling that's including tires, and not sure if it includes cassette.

deal

that must surely include tires which are 280g each i believe - Michelin Dynamic 25mm ??

don2wonder

Cheers for all the replies,
mancp it sounds like you went to greater lenghts than me to find the answer, it's intersting to know that the complete wheelset is not supplied by Alex.
May have to weigh them next time I have them off as suggested.
Well it is good to know that the weight difference is easily noticeable deal. How big a difference have you found when riding the fulcrum 5's then? I would like to put some pro race 3's on, I heard that this might make the ride more solid and less forgiving. Is this an issue with these tyres over say the GP4000s's?
Azzerb if that is indeed the weight of the wheels, with tyres or not, that is a fair old weight!
Think the standard tyres I have at the mo are 26mm Kenda or something.
Just got back from the cycle shop having ordered some shoes and pedals, now I have talked myself into getting wheels and tyres - this was supposed to be a cheap way to commute and has now turned into a bit of an obsession. I haven't even worn the knobbly bits off the new tyres on the new bike yet and I'm already looking forward to the day when I can upgrade to a super-fast bike.

blorg

As far as I can figure out C+ weights when reviewing a bike are always for the complete wheel with tyres, tubes, cassette, skewers.

Bear in mind you can save a fair of weight by going for lighter tyres (and tubes.) Many suggest going for the mid-weight tubes though rather than the ultra-light ones like Conti Supersonics.

Tyre-wise a tyre like the Schwalbe Ultremo gets good reviews for performance and longevity and comes in under 200g for the 700x23c. I have just bought a pair myself and am waiting on wheels to put them on.

don2wonder

I had also heard good things about the Ultremo so it will be a toss-up between that and the other two I mentioned. I am guessing that any of them would be an improvement and I'm not sure I would be able to tell a great deal of difference amongst them.

What would be most noticeable when switching to a better tyre?

don2wonder

So I got a puncture today which gave me the opportunity to weigh my rear wheel, tyre and tube (separately). Weights are as follows:

Rear DA22 (with cassette and QR) - 1440g
Rear tyre (Kenda) - 380g
Rear tube (Kenda) - 107g

I'm pretty sure that the weights are close enough but the tyre weight particularly seems very heavy! Am I right in thinking you can get a 'set' of upgrades at around 200g?

If this is so the tyre is a good place to lose pounds!

Don't know what the cassette is likely to weigh so not sure how the wheel compares to others.

I am really confused as to the cause of the puncture. Just before I noticed the flat I heard quite a loud 'ping' sound which I reckon was a spoke but not 100% on that. I checked the rim tape and it was all in tact and could not find anything prodruding through the tyre wall. Anyway I guess I will have to see if the new (Halfords) tube holds out.

Definately going to invest in some better tyres now to try and prevent flats. Very tempted to get some new wheels too as I'm a bit paranoid about them failing now (I'm probs over reacting.....)

Anyway hope the weights will be of interest to some.

doktorsteve

I found the Kendas on my SCR LTD weighed 350g. I thought that they were not very grippy and I got a puncture from a bit of flint. The Kenda innertubes were also a bit flaky. I popped the valves off the tubes when I was pumping them up. Bit careless of me I admit. I have been thinking about upgrading the wheels, tossing up between Aksiums and Racing 5s, but first I bought some tyres to see if they made a difference. I got a pair of Vittoria Rubino Pros. These saved 100g a tyre and have puncture protection. Did they make a difference? The ride is a little more supple for the same pressure and the extra grip gives a lot of confidence. They are not as light as they could be, but as they are around £15 each they were a relatively low cost experiment. The difference is subtle, I am not travelling hugely faster, but I think that the tyre change is well worth the investment.

There is still the question of what the difference the wheel change makes. Do they make more difference thah teh tyres?

speedstersimon

I weighed my DA22s off my SCR 3.0 (same wheels as the SCR 2.0 I believe) before I upgraded and they came in at 896g for the front and 1121g for the rear, both weights for completely bare wheels.

Hope this helps

Simon

don2wonder

Its good to hear some first hand experience with upgrading the tyres alone doktorsteve. I like the sound of having a tyre that is more supple for the same pressures as I am quite light and when I pumped the tyres up a bit more to say 115 at the rear and 100+ at the front I felt like I was bouncing over all the bumps and going much slower over the rough sections. I havent really noticed a great lack of grip yet but I have probs not been riding anywhere near to the limits. Just skid on occasion with the rear tyre when braking sharply, to avoid rear-ending a car!

Did you change the width of the tyre when upgrading?

Nice one Simon! The answer I have been looking for. I think I might save a bit more and get a slightly lighter wheel than you would get with the entry level ones. So if the Alex's are around 2000g, in order to make a significant weight saving I will probs try to get some <1700g wheels. Then it will be about half a kg less including tyres.
Just seems a bit crazy spending too much on wheels to go on a bike that cost £370.

doktorsteve

Yes I went from the 26mm to 23mm. If I am truthful I just wanted thinner looking tyres!like my mates.
I did not mention it before but one of the best upgrades to the wheels was removing the reflectors! I reckon they probably had the biggest effect on my attempt to reach 40mph (descending of course) - I chickened out because the bike did not feel stable. The ride is smoother since I took tthem off.

Speedstersimon - did you weigh the wheels with the skewars removed?

Deal - will you come back and tell us about your effect your wheel change made?

Don2wonder- OK so you bought your bike for £370. You could have paid £700+ for the SCR1 and got just the same frame but with a nicer groupset. How much would you spend on wheels then?

I reckon that the most popular options are the Aksiums and the Racing 5s or 7s. I cannot justify going above £150 - I saved £150 when I bought the bike at the end of the season so they are effectively a bonus. Lateral stiffness is probably the biggest factor. I have to admit that I have yet to notice any brake rub with the DA22s when climbing out of the saddle.

I discuss equipment with my mates as we cruise around our training circuit. We talk about faster wheels and lighter frames etc. In the end we have to agree that what we need is faster legs! I have only done 950 miles since I got the SCR last September so any effect of changing equipment has to be balanced against my slowly increasing strength. There is always that question - was it faster gear or faster legs?

XTCRider

I had to replace my Alex rims on my SCR3 after a bit of an unplanned off road excursion on a fast road bend last year , riding the bike like a bucking bronco, staying on till i got back on road avoiding the oncoming cars just. The wheels were a bit knackered but i still managed to ride 4 miles home with it. I now have Shimano 105s and have continental tyres 700x25

doktorsteve

Would you still have changed the wheels if you had not knackered the old ones? Can you tell the difference (apart from riding straight)

No-one has yet said - yes changing the wheels made a great improvement to the ride.

XTCRider

Hard to tell if the wheels are lighter when i am putting the weight on myself. THey certainly look a lot better as they are red and black same as the bike. The have less spokes and a nicer spoke pattern and were only about 100 quid for the pair if i remember correctly

blorg

At £150 it might be worth considering the Planet X Model B 20/24 spoke wheelset. £150, 1570g per pair.

Or the Model C 32/32 which are maybe more reliable at 1685g and only £125.

Also see this thread or do a search.

speedstersimon

did you weigh the wheels with the skewars removed?

Yep Doktorsteve, weights are for the wheels only.