Wheel honesty!

speshsteve

i've been considering a wheel upgrade the last few months however I'm not convinced I'll notice any difference.

I have an 09 roubaix elite with the standard wheels (Mavic cxp22) and I don't race just want to improve ride and performance over sportive events. I'm 5' 10 and about 75kgs and I guess I'm thinking do I get another bike in a year or so, or buy wheels which are usually the weak point on any new bike spec and ride off into the sunset!

Has anyone done this (I'm looking at RS80's) and have any honest thoughts?

Anonymous

Nope, keep your bike and wheels until they break, then replace.

mrushton

Unless you see a good deal new or s/h then replace and keep the old set for eg winter.

speshsteve

i like those replies....direct and straight to the point

cheers guys

Berk Bonebonce

Okay, the RS80's are better wheels. But not much better. Certainly not-worth-shelling-out-the-money better.

If you are looking for slightly better performance, I suggest you try a pair of top notch tyres. You could go the whole hog and get some latex inner tubes as well.

And it's amazing what a bit of weight loss can do for your performances and general 'feeling' on a bike.

fossyant

Look at good performance tyres / tubes first. I.e. Mich Pro Race 3, Conti GP4000, Schwalbe Ultremo - these make a huge difference to feel from heavy tyres.

BenWatson89

Adding on to FossyAnts comment...

Go for some lightweight "race" inner tubes either butyl or my favourite inner tube Michelin Aircomp Latex (even thought they are a bit of a bugger as they lose pressure but they do roll better!)

EKIMIKE

Supposedly the ultrathin butyl tubes run the latex ones close on rolling better (according to that Finnish company that does loads of testing) and they're lighter than the latex tubes.

Go for the RS80's if you've got the money to do so and you really like them. Don't expect 'performance' gains i.e. "wow i'm going 2mph faster than usual" - it won't work like that. They'll feel different that's for sure. For me, the main thing is having a cheap pair to take the brunt of winter weather.

I have a winter only set and after 3 winters they're pretty trashed now. Bearings are pretty bad condition and there's a significant bit of play in the rear. The summer ones are fine by contrast, yet ridden more miles. You don't want to trash a nice set of wheels IMO.

Have a look at Pro-Lite Bracciano's, Reynolds Solitude and Soul 3.0 for competition. Good tyres first though. Vittoria for me. Michelin inner tubes (reliable vavles).

unixnerd

Have a look at Pro-Lite Bracciano's

Got a set and noticed a big difference. But that was going from a 2kg wheelset to 1500g. I'll get your current set aren't nearly as heavy as my old ones so you'll notice less of an upgrade.

carrock

speshsteve wrote:

i've been considering a wheel upgrade the last few months however I'm not convinced I'll notice any difference.

I have an 09 roubaix elite with the standard wheels (Mavic cxp22) and I don't race just want to improve ride and performance over sportive events. I'm 5' 10 and about 75kgs and I guess I'm thinking do I get another bike in a year or so, or buy wheels which are usually the weak point on any new bike spec and ride off into the sunset!

Has anyone done this (I'm looking at RS80's) and have any honest thoughts?

I ditched my cxp22s (2200g) on my elite for rovals (1500g ) on my roubaix elite and the difference was very noticeable.

Although I changed the tyres to schwalbe ultremos before changing the wheels and that was noticeable as well

For the biggest difference, change wheels and tyres at the same time. It will feel like a different bike.

The cxp22s shouldnt be anywhere near a roubaix. They are fitted to the secteurs and allez and that's where they belong.

unixnerd

The cxp22s shouldnt be anywhere near a roubaix. They are fitted to the secteurs and allez and that's where they belong.

Interesting. When you look at Specialized spec's it's hard to find out the wheel weights as they often use a custom combination of rim and hub. 2.2kg is a joke on a nice bike like that! I'm shocked.

bisoner

I was running RS80's with PR3's and they were great. I wasn't so impressed with the durability of the tyres though so have settled with GP4000s and Krylions. However, I may throw another set of PR3's in the summer because they did feel fast.

My RS80's were an upgrade on my my Boardman Team Carbon. They are nice wheels but I can't really say they make a noticable improvement over the stock wheels. It's all small %age gains really. I do like the subtle whooshing sound you get from the wheels though and they look fantastic - and at £300ish they aren't silly money compared to some other wheels.

luv2ride

I've just fallen into the same trap (?!). Wasn't happy with the Mavic CXP22s on my Roubaix so swapped them for the Ritchey's off my Boardman - definately felt better but wanted to improve still further. Bought some Ksyrium Equipes at what seemed to be a killer deal but haven't had chance to try them out yet. Will post again to see if any difference was noticeable. Given the various postings on the Pro-Lite Bracciano's I wished I'd gone for them, especially since Ribble are listing them at @ £190 (although currently out of stock), and CRC price match! :shock:

Gonna try some Schwalbe Ultremo's though and see what difference the tyre and wheel combo makes..

pianoman

I think you also need to consider this; what if you drop £300 on a new set of wheels "to reduce weight" and then get into TT'ing? Once you get into sportives and see your name come up on a shiny leaderboard you most definitely will.

Of the options written above I'd go for the Reynolds wheels - then use the tyres you've got until they are shot and replace them with something like Panaracer Race Type L's or Schwalbe Ultremo's. Of course, having something uber-light like a Supersonic tyre is no good once it's been punctured by a stone and you've lost all those minutes at the roadside. Risk vs reward as they say.

But the CXP-22's aren't half bad to begin with - you'll want them back if you sell them and then decide to do some touring. Ultimately it comes down to what you want to do with the bike, and then how much you are prepared to spend. It becomes addictive, buying all these special shiny parts........