Planet X wheels

mentalalex

are the 50mm carbon deep section wheels any good ?


They look a good price.


http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/info_WPPX50MPB.html

incog24

I've picked some up second hand, but haven't ridden them enough to comment yet. First impressions are good though. Stiffer than my RS80s, although perhaps that's not a massive achievement. Bearings seem good too. I'll try and post a more informed review after a while, as I couldn't find anything on them either...

markos1963

Use the same Gigantex rims as these
http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/index.htm
I have a set of these built up with the Novatec hubs. Big advantage of buying from here is I could get them built up with spokes to suit my weight.

cougie

Yes - good wheels - I'm pleased with mine.

griff99

Which width tyres work well with the P-Xs? I am looking to get some Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tubs, not sure whether to get the 21 or 23 mm version. I heard some wheels are "optimised" for certain widths.

Will be using for racing but not necessarily on 100% smooth roads...

cougie

I have the 23mm on mine - dont think I'd go narrower than this. Roads are awful at the moment.

wildmoustache

They have a 50mm rim which will be fairly aerodynamic. And they are relatively cheap. To that end they are a good budget TT / Time Trial wheel.

Against that ..

- robustness is poor
- stiffness is poor
- rim weight is high for carbon wheels
- braking surface poor compared to other carbon wheels ive used
- hub issues (possibly better now with Joytech rear)

Some p-x equipment is great value (stems and bottlecages come to mind), but you get what you pay for with these. Save your pennies and buy Corima/Bora One etc.

moonshine

A set of Zipp 404 tubs are 1278g -
http://www.zipp.com/wheels/404-tubular


A 404 (58mm) rim is 396g- http://www.wheelbuilder.com/store/zipp- ... p-360.html

A set of handbuilt gigantex 50mm tubs with cx-ray spokes on novatec hub (20/24) are - 1380g

Gigantex rim - 420g
Gigantex ultralite lite rim - 360g

The Gigantex rims aren't that heavy....

I think the benefit of handbuilt giganex rims over PX wheels is better (stronger / lighter & more spokes and better hubs) for a little extra cost

wildmoustache

You need to look at actual weights. Zipp wheels come in typically very close to claimed (which for a 404 tub is 1232g BTW). Planet X IME come in c.50g overweight from a few sets i've seen.

Comparing Bora Ones to Planet X wheels was interesting ... here's some actual weights from the sets I own ...

Bora Ones : 1345g

Planet X: 1450g

But ... the P-X hubs in total are c.80g lighter and the spoke count is only 1 higher on the P-X. The ACTUAL weight of p-x rims is a good 70g -80g heavier each ... not so good. The main point here is that people buy carbon tubulars in part for the light rims but actually the P-X tubulars are little lighter than some clinchers.

More to the point though the finish, stiffness and robustness of the Campagnolo is so far ahead of the gigantex it isn't funny.

Lots of people are on a budget and having bought a pair of these in the past I can understand the appeal. But to avoid upgrading in a year or two I'd strongly recommend buying a better quality wheelset first time round.

moonshine

the weight i quoted for the Zipp 404 came direct from teh Zipp website.

The gigantex ultralight rims are closer to the Bora rim weight i believe, which ties in to the 60ish g per rim difference that you identify.

I don't know of many (any ) spokes that are stronger / lighter than the sipam cx-rays (4.5g each) , and the PX wheel doesn't use them -, but the even a 2 g differnce in spoke weight would be near 100g on a finished wheelset.

Due to costs, im getting a set of handbuilts from Derek @ wheelsmith - they seemed a better bet than the PX wheels. Time will tell i guess

wildmoustache

moonshine wrote:

the weight i quoted for the Zipp 404 came direct from teh Zipp website.

The gigantex ultralight rims are closer to the Bora rim weight i believe, which ties in to the 60ish g per rim difference that you identify.

I don't know of many (any ) spokes that are stronger / lighter than the sipam cx-rays (4.5g each) , and the PX wheel doesn't use them -, but the even a 2 g differnce in spoke weight would be near 100g on a finished wheelset.

Due to costs, im getting a set of handbuilts from Derek @ wheelsmith - they seemed a better bet than the PX wheels. Time will tell i guess

Yep, handbuilt sounds better.

Possibly there are different models of gigantex rims etc. Either way, P-X wheels don't come out anyplace near claimed weight IME.

My biggest issues with the P-X are actually not the weight which in truth makes only a marginal difference (though is a major factor for buying decisions) but the stiffness of the rear, the quality of the rear hub (worst I've ever used bar one), and the robustness of a 16 spoke front wheel built on the micro 58 front hub. not disastrous but you can ride Boras through a f***ing minefield and they never flinch, whereas P-X kept going out of true.

BTW my P-X wheels did have Sapim CXs on them and were built and re-built by their master wheelbuilder... goes to show ...