Wheel upgrade - Spesh Allez

boris01

Hi All - Wheel advice please..

Bike - 2007 Spesh Allez Sport
Rider - 80kg / pretty new to the road (mtb rider for several years..)

Have really enjoyed riding te Allez for a year now, didn't think I would having come from the mtb side. I want to run the Allez for another year or two before maybe thinking of an upgrade, but am only taking part in club runs etc, never going to race etc, just love using the bike for training and enjoying myself. I am contemplating a French trip next year though.

I wondered if a wheel upgrade would be a good idea? Am running Conti GP 4000S tyres which have made a big difference but the Spesh hubs on Jalco GX460 rims seem ripe for an upgrade. Any suggestions if I spent around £300? (and would it be a good use of the cash?)

Cheers

pbt150

I've got a 2007 Allez, upgrading the wheels is the best thing you can do for the money.

I got a pair of handbuilts made up earlier this year and they've made a massive difference. I got Shimano Ultegra hubs with Mavic CXP33 rims, DT Aero spokes. From a quick search of chainreactioncycles.com I reckon you could buy the bits (or similar) for about £250, leaving a bit to pay someone to build the wheels for you (try your LBS).

markos1963

A chap at my club has got an Allez and has put some Easton EA50sl's on it. By the way he's riding it I reckon they certainly aren't holding him back.

boris01

great stuff - thanks for the replies.. both recommendations sound good, strong and light for the cash?

Cheers - got some more research to do I guess!

Mettan

Racing 5 Evos
EA50 SL's
EA70's
Handbuilts ?

Wheels and tyres make an excellent upgrade - defo upgrade.

boris01

nice one.. i'd seen the 5's and thought they looked pretty good..

interesting no-one has suggested Mavics (Ksyrium's) - are the lower end models in this series not so good?

daveclow

snap! i have an allez (2009) and am looking to do the same. ive had my eyes on fulcrum 7's. not the lightest, but certainly reasonably priced. failing that, some Halo mercury's?

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... heels-8973

very light for that price bracket.

the standards hubs have a quiet freewheel, but i know the 7's are quite loud:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqiZtU2b ... re=related

they all like this? lol

TommyEss

If you're looking at the Fulcrum 5s, you might like to know that I managed to pick up the Fulcrum 3s for 330 euros delivered from jedi-sports.de - it's a German website (but there's an english page option - I searched for them on here for reviews, and they came out positive - I was certainly impressed)

Worked out at about £286 - delivery was swift - didn't have time to fit them this weekend but should do this coming weekend...

Mettan

boris01 wrote:

nice one.. i'd seen the 5's and thought they looked pretty good..

interesting no-one has suggested Mavics (Ksyrium's) - are the lower end models in this series not so good?

Lower end models (Cosmics/Equipes) - nothing special - if you can strectch to £350-£400 you could get the 2009 Kysrium Elites, RS80's etc which are competent all-rounders. As said by previous poster (Tom) , Fulcrum 3's are nice if you can get them for the money. And there are some "left-field" choices like the Halo Mercury's and Xero's etc - some poeple rate them as great value for the money, others say they're not so well made relative to the more mainstream brands - plenty of threads on this forum on all of these wheels. Planet X Model B's a re a nice cheap alternative aswell.

richa

I have a Specialized Allez 07. Upgraded to Fulcrum 3's and made a big difference. Worthy upgrade.

[I am going to be selling them soon as I have recently bought a new bike (TCR Advanced). PM if interested.]

James_London

TommyEss wrote:

If you're looking at the Fulcrum 5s, you might like to know that I managed to pick up the Fulcrum 3s for 330 euros delivered from jedi-sports.de - it's a German website (but there's an english page option - I searched for them on here for reviews, and they came out positive - I was certainly impressed)

Worked out at about £286 - delivery was swift - didn't have time to fit them this weekend but should do this coming weekend...

That would be my suggestion - get some Racing 3s from Symen at Jedi and you should be in on budget with an excellent set of wheels... Might be worth waiting a few weeks in case 2009 stock is reduced. They're doing a 2-way fit version and changing graphics on the Racing 3s for 2010.

boris01

if you can strectch to £350-£400 you could get the 2009 Kysrium Elites, RS80's etc which are competent all-rounders

Based on everyones advice and more research, I'm now down to a choice of three..

1. Easton EA90 SL

2. Kysrium Elite (2009)

3. Fulcrum 3

Any final thoughts from this list? Last, newbie question - are all these going to be compatible with my current 9sp tiagra set up

Thanks again

Mettan

Think the EA90SL are 10 spoeed Only for Shimano? - have a quick check on this though. Regards the other 2 choices - both are good competent wheels:

Couple of reviews:

2009 Kysrium Elites

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/road- ... 267.0.html

Fulcrum 3 review

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... elset-9775

marcthehammer

There are some reviews on the eastons (wiggle i think) and they say they are hard to fit tyres onto.

boris01

right, finally made a decision to go with the Fulcrums.. everywhere I look people seem to be very satisifed with them and they look pretty cool too..

thanks for all the advice

Courage Monsieur

Don't forget Planet X.

I had similar questions when I upgraded a Giant OCR1 this year (not dissimilar spec to Allez).

Many folk said they had a mare fitting tyres to Fulcrum 5s I was considering, but you can get the knack.

Shimano another option.

Kore Gradient II interesting but couldn't get any views.

I got Planet X model Bs on special.