Wheel upgrade

londonbloke
londonbloke Posts: 14
edited October 2011 in Road buying advice
Hi all,

I ride a Condor Leggero SRAM RED currently with Shimano RS80 wheels.

And i'm looking to upgrade - and am looking for a bit of advice (which is where you come in)... i've read countless forums and reviews and still can't decide....

I'm mainly riding in the Surrey hills, so would feel the greatest benefit from some weight saving clinchers...

My shortlist is:

a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
c) Fulcrum racing zero's

I'm also open to suggestions....

Thanks in advance!
2010 Condor Leggero SRAM RED
2010 CAAD 9 105

Comments

  • quite a few people on here have things for sale i put in a request for lightparts in the "WANTED" section and was offered things like topolino CX2.0's for £450 in very good nick the weigh i think 1350 grams . cheers
    Britannia waives the rules
  • Zoomer37
    Zoomer37 Posts: 725
    a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
    b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
    c) Fulcrum racing zero's
    !

    Never ridden the DA's or Mavics mentioned, but ive got Zeros and they are superb. Light, super quick to whip up to speed, no flex when putting the power down (im 13st) and if you dont go for the horrendous red spoke version, they look the dogs balls too. Check out the Dark Labels.
  • Zoomer37 wrote:
    a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
    b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
    c) Fulcrum racing zero's
    !

    Never ridden the DA's or Mavics mentioned, but ive got Zeros and they are superb. Light, super quick to whip up to speed, no flex when putting the power down (im 13st) and if you dont go for the horrendous red spoke version, they look the dogs balls too. Check out the Dark Labels.

    I have Zeros on my Cento. Amazing wheels. I have a pair in 'horrendous red' and IMO they're not 'horrendous' in the slightest http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12801965
  • Zoomer37
    Zoomer37 Posts: 725
    Zoomer37 wrote:
    a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
    b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
    c) Fulcrum racing zero's
    !

    Never ridden the DA's or Mavics mentioned, but ive got Zeros and they are superb. Light, super quick to whip up to speed, no flex when putting the power down (im 13st) and if you dont go for the horrendous red spoke version, they look the dogs balls too. Check out the Dark Labels.

    I have Zeros on my Cento. Amazing wheels. I have a pair in 'horrendous red' and IMO they're not 'horrendous' in the slightest http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12801965

    Just dont like them. Be a bit boring if we all liked the same thing a
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Hi all,

    I ride a Condor Leggero SRAM RED currently with Shimano RS80 wheels.

    And i'm looking to upgrade - and am looking for a bit of advice (which is where you come in)... i've read countless forums and reviews and still can't decide....

    I'm mainly riding in the Surrey hills, so would feel the greatest benefit from some weight saving clinchers...

    My shortlist is:

    a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
    b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
    c) Fulcrum racing zero's

    I'm also open to suggestions....

    Thanks in advance!


    I think you're over thinking the whole thing. You're talking 3 TOP LINE wheelsets. I doubt that there are too many people who would FEEL any great benefit or difference between any of them, including pro's. I base this on the fact that pros use all kinds of different wheels depending on what team they are on and don't seem to have any problems with whatever they use. Will a lighter wheel FEEL a bit easier? Maybe, but you're comparing apples and oranges. Or maybe even apples and apples. All nice light wheels. The important thing is which one do YOU like the looks of(and can afford). If any one of those wheels was even 5% better(whatever that means) than one of the others then everyone would be using them.
  • akcc05
    akcc05 Posts: 336
    I agree with Dennis above, but we haven't factored in ride comfort. I have a mate who has a pair of Racing Zero and a pair of Shimano RS80 50mm carbon clincher and he says the RS80s are smoother and slightly more comfortable despite the deep section rims. I suspect it may be the oversize aluminium spokes of the Fulcrums that give a harsher ride.

    And me? I upgraded from a pair of Racing 5 (not so relevant) to Dura Ace C24, the difference is noticeable by feel but only if you concentrate on it. The time difference in an up hill time trial is more significant though. About 2-4 mins faster per hour I'd say.
  • Zipp 303s or Enve/Smart 3.4 tubs.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    akcc05 wrote:
    I agree with Dennis above, but we haven't factored in ride comfort. I have a mate who has a pair of Racing Zero and a pair of Shimano RS80 50mm carbon clincher and he says the RS80s are smoother and slightly more comfortable despite the deep section rims. I suspect it may be the oversize aluminium spokes of the Fulcrums that give a harsher ride.

    And me? I upgraded from a pair of Racing 5 (not so relevant) to Dura Ace C24, the difference is noticeable by feel but only if you concentrate on it. The time difference in an up hill time trial is more significant though. About 2-4 mins faster per hour I'd say.

    I recently switched to 700x25 tires and noticed a really nice increase in comfort, with no real apparent loss of speed. I'm sold on the 25's. Plus the fact that at 63 comfort is a big plus in keeeping me out there.
  • Thanks all, really helpful. dennisn you are right about the over thinking and good advice to match, akcc05 had a point about ride, I always read about this 'magic carpet' ride of the dura-ace, something that seems to be driven by the weight saving existing on the rim rather than on spokes and hubs.

    I'm a little clearer and will post pics when I decide... but yes 3 good wheel-sets!
    2010 Condor Leggero SRAM RED
    2010 CAAD 9 105
  • akcc05
    akcc05 Posts: 336
    Some pics would be nice, I have always like Condor bikes, and am quite interested in the Leggero. The fact that it's so rare makes it even better. How does it ride? And how does it compare to other bikes you have ridden?
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    Dennis is right...

    Get the ones that look the best to you.
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    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    I have the previous versions of dura ace wheels and a pair of fulcrum zeros (the red bladed ones which look fab with the colour of my bike's frame). I'm not sure where all the magic carpet ride comments come from - my experience of bikes is that going over a bump in the road is to be avoided if possible! My impression is that the fulcrums have bearings/ hubs which seem to spin forever - I have been most impressed by them.

    I also have r-sys premiums which whilst good, especially going up Surrey Hills, don't provide me with the same level of confidence to go full tilt down hill - I'm still not 100% convinced about the hollow carbon spokes' robustness. They are probably fine, but once a doubt exists, it's hard to get rid of... which is a shame 'cause they provide a better ride quality than either the dura ace or zeros - in my opinion.

    Because I've had all three, if I were going to market again I'd probably look at either dura ace C35's or zipp 303's - clinchers. Just for a change...

    Peter
  • Thanks all, food for thought.

    In my opinion the R-SYS WTS SLR look the the best, but am a little worried about the spokes too.

    Northpole, thanks for the comments, very helpful, one question, why the C35 over the c24's? Will I feel the extra weight on the hills, or will the ride quality even it out?

    akcc05, see bike below, the bike is fantastic, really light, incredibly smooth and responsive. I also have a CAAD9 which I love, it has all the sharpness of the CAAD9 without the bone-shaking ride, plus it climbs like a dream. Very happy with my purchase.

    condorp.jpg

    Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/img]
    2010 Condor Leggero SRAM RED
    2010 CAAD 9 105
  • londonbloke
    I have a new pair of Easton EC90SL carbon clinchers surplus and for sale - never even had rim tape on, so pristine - make me an offer
  • Zoomer37
    Zoomer37 Posts: 725
    [quote="londonbloke"

    condorp.jpg[/quote]

    Thats a lovely bike. Just purely going on looks I dont think the c24's would make the bike look much different to your current wheels. You need black spokes in your life. The Dark Label Fulcrums would look sweet on that frame.

    Mine

    45508992.jpg
  • That is a very nice bike indeed. I agree with the dark spokes too, that is definitely a must. Zero's would definitely work.

    Zero's always seem to review very well by pretty much everyone.

    MAD Roadie - EC90's are nice, not sure for me, what do you ride and why are you selling them?
    2010 Condor Leggero SRAM RED
    2010 CAAD 9 105
  • bails1310
    bails1310 Posts: 361
    Hi all,

    I ride a Condor Leggero SRAM RED currently with Shimano RS80 wheels.

    And i'm looking to upgrade - and am looking for a bit of advice (which is where you come in)... i've read countless forums and reviews and still can't decide....

    I'm mainly riding in the Surrey hills, so would feel the greatest benefit from some weight saving clinchers...

    My shortlist is:

    a) Dura-ace c24 - This seems to be universally the best rated
    b) R-SYS SLR/ SL
    c) Fulcrum racing zero's

    I'm also open to suggestions....

    Thanks in advance!

    Let me know if you decide to sell the RS80's?
    Kuota Kharma Race [Dry/Sunny]
    Raleigh Airlite 100 [Wet/Horrible]