BONTRAGER AEOLUS 5.0

fraz167
fraz167 Posts: 142
edited April 2009 in Road buying advice
Has anyone used those wheels? Any feedback

Cheers
Fraser

Comments

  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Yes - I believe the entire Astana team has used them. Including Lance.

    Contador has won many stages/races on them.

    Do you need to know more!?


    :)
  • fraz167
    fraz167 Posts: 142
    Er yes...i was aware of that.

    I was motre interested in talking to someone who pays for their own wheels :D
  • spanielsson
    spanielsson Posts: 776
    They are DT Swiss hubs on HED rims. I have the race x lites with same hubs (the freehub is like a Chris King) and think they are fantastic.

    On the weight weenies forum people have very little bad to say about them.

    I'd buy a pair over any other brand if the choice was mine. People who slag off the more expensive Bontrager stuff have obviously never used it....
  • hmradcliffe
    hmradcliffe Posts: 2
    I have a set for about 18 months. I bought them to replace a set of Race X Lite Carbon Aero wheels. I've found them to be excellent race wheels, they spin up easy, they are nice and light and they seem to handle my weight and power pretty wheel with no real flexing issues when sprinting, despite my 6ft + size and 82kg weight. Also the ride quality is excellent for a stiff, deep section wheel. Not sure how they compare against something like a Campag Bora, but I've no complaints with them. The bike always seems to climb faster and overall speed seems to increase by around 2mph whenever I have these wheels on 8)
  • fraz167
    fraz167 Posts: 142
    Thanks for the responses.

    What are these like in windy conditions? Heard varying reports about deep section rims in cross winds etc.

    Thanks
    Fraser
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Someone I know uses them and rates them v.highly. I should say he had them last year in Majorca and he has access to Zipp,Boras etc. Not mad money for the quality offered. I was looking at the clincher version but those Cole rims look nice
    M.Rushton
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    fraz167 wrote:
    Thanks for the responses.

    What are these like in windy conditions? Heard varying reports about deep section rims in cross winds etc.

    Thanks
    Fraser

    This one I CAN answer!

    You will always have problems with deep section wheels in cross winds. How much of a problem depends on how strong the wind is, how deep the rims are, and what angle it hits you at.

    I have a set of Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels that are the same depth as the Aeolus wheels - and have had to hang on pretty tight to the handlebars a few times in really stiff crosswinds - especially when a gust comes up out of nowhere and pull the wheel hard to one side.

    However - most of the time it's not a problem and the aero benefit of the wheel outweighs the drawback of dealing with crosswinds.

    The 5.0 wheel isn't as deep as the 8.5 wheel (or some deeper section aero wheels) so the negative effect of crosswinds is kept fairly low. Depends what you want the wheels for - where you will ride them, etc - and the likelihood of dealing with strong winds.

    If you're THAT worried about it - look at something like a Zipp 303 which only has a 40mm profile - still giving you an aero benefit without having to deal with the crosswind issue.

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