Cyclo cross wheels.

mentalalex

have around £400 to spend.

really not sure what to get, Deeps or not. but they have to be tubular wheels. anybody got any suggestions ?

Cheers Alex

cougie

Is there much point in deep rims on cross ? Spose they would be a bit stronger ?

mentalalex

Cut through mud, etc look cool

softlad

mentalalex wrote:

Cut through mud, etc look cool

how would a deep rim 'cut through mud'..? unless you don't plan on fitting any tyres....

cougie

I did think of that - guess the resistance thru mud of a deep rim would be less than one with spokes that could be under the mud ? But if its that deep - is it not quicker to run ?

I've not done cross yet - so this is all hypothetical.

I've seen the PX50's in use for cross though.

100%

Yep exactly, if the spokes are in the mud/sand/grass, it's hard going. The 'aero' features effectively allow you cut through deep mud with less resistance.

I'm trying to find a good picture to illustrate it, I'll try this one

Hopefully you can see how the spokes are more or less out of the mud, reducing drag. These guys I'll go across a ploughed field at 20 mph in the big ring tho..

As for recommendations, I think avoid deep rims - at this price my feeling is they will be too heavy. Best bet may be some hand built wheels, decent tub rims (maybe some ambrosio?) laced to Shimano/Campag hubs depending what you run.

There are articles on gluing tubs for cross on the Cyclocross World website.

On another note, have you asked the guys who you train and race with what they're using, rather than random people on the internet?

Cheers,
Steve

Monty Dog

If you're looking for performance, it has to be tubs - you can run them at lower pressures safely and hence get more grip. if you're just racing the local league, then regular road wheels are fine. As well as 'cutting through' deep mud, deep rims also don't hold the mud. I use the now obsolete Mavic CXP30 tubular rim - heavy but bombproof