Factory vs Custom Wheels

wpmgs2005

My apologies for yet another Wheel Upgrade post.

I'm currently looking to upgrade my current wheel set (Bontrage Race Lite) and looking for advice as to which wheel set will give me the most benefit/noticeable difference/performance increase.

Factory vs Custom (Rim/Spoke/Hub)???

I would be grateful for any suggestions any of you may have.

Thanks

ride_whenever

how many monies?

wpmgs2005

I guess somewhere between £500 - £700

wpmgs2005

Have been looking at the following:-

Fulcrum R3 / R1 / Zero

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / SL / Comic Carbone

Easton EA90 SLX

Now looking at some of the custom options but better I get some opinions before confusing myself further..

Anonymous

wpmgs2005 wrote:

Have been looking at the following:-

Fulcrum R3 / R1 / Zero

Mavic Ksyrium Elite / SL / Comic Carbone

Easton EA90 SLX

Now looking at some of the custom options but better I get some opinions before confusing myself further..

The last Mavics listed are useless in the wet. Turn to papery mush.

I can highly recommend the Shimano Dura ace WH7850 C24 CL wheels.

I can also recommend some handbuilt wheels, you can get 1320 gram ones for about 300 quid...

Bling = Factory

Price/weight/exactly what you need = Custom

wpmgs2005

Thanks for the heads up on the Dura Ace 7850.

What custom's would you recommend??

The customsrims that I have looked at so far are the :-

Mavic CXP33 Rims
Mavic Open Pro Rims
DT Swiss RR1.1 Rims

giant_man

As far as custom goes the world's your oyster really.

Rims include Mavic, DT Swiss (as you have mentioned), but don't forget Ambrosio. Hubs include PMP, Novatec, Royce, Tune as well as Record and DA of course. Various spokes eg Sapim, CX-Ray, ACI etc.

You need to speak to a decent wheel builder ie Harry Rowland, Paul Hewitt etc. to determine exactly what you want/need.

For your kind of budget you could have them built with the right components as bling as you can afford quite honestly. And much more individual than any factory wheel.

bobpzero

NapoleonD wrote:

wpmgs2005 wrote:

/ Comic Carbone..

The last Mavics listed are useless in the wet. Turn to papery mush.

yep NapD you must have been laughing inside

what about american classics 420?
http://www.eurobike.uk.com/list.aspx?CAT=59
but thats just bling
or major bling HED ardennes
anyways ill let NapD & giantmancp tell you all about the great custom wheel builders.

Anonymous

Have a look at this site -

http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/

Some interesting and light weight options available at great prices.

The wheels they do that are 1320g for 400 quid look like a very good buy.

Give them a bell and see what they say!

wpmgs2005

Many thanks for the posts.

I'll try giving Harry Rowland a ring tomorrow and have a chat. Cheers giant mancp

giant_man

Let us know how you get on wpmgs2005.

dmb101

The da wheel set is superb, fanastic smooth hubs, also really tough

maddog 2

my best handbuilts are:

Open Pro 32h ceramics
A mixture of DT rev, DB and plain guage spokes (you can tweak this to suit your weight and the ride characteristics)
Prolock nipples
Tune mig/mag hubs
Control Tech ti skewers (bolt version)

You can easily go lighter with less spokes and lighter spokes, such as CXrays or aerolites, but stiffness is also important so don't dismiss it.

Other rims I've used are Ambrosio Excellights which are good but I prefer the ceramics.

Other hubs you could have a look at are DT 240S, PMP, Dura Ace...

Important variable is the builder though.

APIII

maddog 2 wrote:

my best handbuilts are:


You can easily go lighter with less spokes and lighter spokes, such as CXrays or aerolites, but stiffness is also important so don't dismiss it.

I'm new to handbuilts - just waiting for my first set to arrive. I had always assumed stiffness was due to spoke count and tension. Does the actual spoke itself make much of a difference?

ride_whenever

yes, a bladed spoke tends to be a bit more laterally flexible, particularly when measuring the tension (confused the hell out of me with the first set i built) but my mate loves them so it's all okay.

Oh an never use plain guage spoke, it is useless extra weight ie for a given wieght the db spoke will be stronger, or at the same strength the db spoke will be lighter.

maddog 2

According to my builder, the bladed lightweight spokes can struggle to get as much tension as the 'heavier' spokes, such as a standard DT Comp. Same applies to alu nipples. It's not a deal-breaker though. Just a subtle difference.

If you want superlight and can afford it then go for the CXrays and aerolights. If you want something a bit stiffer and tougher and cheaper and can accept the weight penalty then go for a more standard spoke setup.

Builders sometimes use plain guage to even out the tension in a rear wheel, by running them on the driveside, and butted spokes on the non-driveside, due to the dishing.

APIII

That's useful info, thanks. I ended up going for DT comps, as that seemed the sensible option at the time.

Monty Dog

On the suject of lightweight spokes, DT Revs are very 'stretchy' and getting even tension is critical. Wouldn't recommend them for rear, drive side for anyone - I'm 63kg and they were too flexy. If you plan on using the wheels in winter, I'd also steer clear of aluminium nipples - they corrode too easily.

chriskempton

NapoleonD wrote:

Have a look at this site -

http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/

Some interesting and light weight options available at great prices.

The wheels they do that are 1320g for 400 quid look like a very good buy.

Give them a bell and see what they say!

he's all out of the rims, so these wheels unavailable

ride_whenever

maddog 2 wrote:

According to my builder, the bladed lightweight spokes can struggle to get as much tension as the 'heavier' spokes, such as a standard DT Comp. Same applies to alu nipples. It's not a deal-breaker though. Just a subtle difference.

If you want superlight and can afford it then go for the CXrays and aerolights. If you want something a bit stiffer and tougher and cheaper and can accept the weight penalty then go for a more standard spoke setup.

Builders sometimes use plain guage to even out the tension in a rear wheel, by running them on the driveside, and butted spokes on the non-driveside, due to the dishing.

That's pretty interesting. I found when i built up a set that the tension was (kinda obviously) massively dependant on measuring the width or breadth of the blade, but they kinda averaged to that of a regular spoke. It was certainly an interesting exercise though, and i'd really recommend building with blades to any first time builder, they really help you to see when the spoke is twisted rather than the nipple turning so you can keep the tension really really even.