Ksyrium elite or 50mm Chinese Carbon

petemadoc

I'm torn between getting some Ksyrium Elites or 50mm Chinese carbon clinchers

I'm thinking

Ksyriums = light, stiff, quality

Chinese = aero, stiff, bling

I do the odd club run, sportive, and occasionally get involved in a time trial or hill climb

nferrar

Ksyriums would seem the better choice unless your main criteria is the look...

rvokes

ksyriums any day.. bombproof...! and depending on the type of cheapo carbon they could even be lighter

amaferanga

For everyday wheels the carbon clinchers aren't really a great choice. Having said that though I rode the whole summer on carbon clinchers - racing, commuting and training (since my PowerTap was built into a carbon clincher rim). But now that the weather has turned I've swapped over to some IRD Cadence Aero rims.

Given your intended use I'd probably go for some IRD Cadence Aero built onto Novatec Superlight hubs with CX-rays from Derek @ Wheelsmith - will cost and weigh about the same as the Ksyriums, but with the added advantage that when the rims wear out you can replace them for about £50 a go instead of having to bin the wheels.

petemadoc

BTW the wheels will be on the best bike so they won't be used in the winter.

I'm thinking the Mavics are the sensible choice because most of my riding involves a lot of climbing which I'm guessing the Elites are more suited to. Am I correct? I guess that the 50mm carbons are better on the flat?

nferrar

Elites are fine for climbing, obviously you can spend more and get lighter (they're around 1550g) but if you do that on a limited budget you'll probably end up with something more flexible and be worse off as a result.

hulla the hulla

CRC today have a 10% off and if you order the single front Elite and single rear Elite rather than the set they pricing looks a lot better ! I'll leave it to you to "discover" the benefits of that but I've been in the market for some new wheels for a while and the deal I got on new 2012 Elites was the best by a loooong way over anyone else.

Chip \'oyler

amaferanga wrote:

For everyday wheels the carbon clinchers aren't really a great choice. Having said that though I rode the whole summer on carbon clinchers - racing, commuting and training (since my PowerTap was built into a carbon clincher rim). But now that the weather has turned I've swapped over to some IRD Cadence Aero rims.

Given your intended use I'd probably go for some IRD Cadence Aero built onto Novatec Superlight hubs with CX-rays from Derek @ Wheelsmith - will cost and weigh about the same as the Ksyriums, but with the added advantage that when the rims wear out you can replace them for about £50 a go instead of having to bin the wheels.

What he said.

+ getting a pair of these means you can easily get hold of spokes in case you need to repair.

Sammyw23

hulla the hulla you legend! Been waiting for a winter deal on the Ksyrium Elite's and I'd checked their site today but only looked at the wheelset price. £350 done!

Monty Dog

For all round use, I'd opt for an alloy-rimmed wheel, but not Ksyriums as they aren't very aero. AM Classic AC420s would be my choice - light enough, spin-up quick and better at high speeds than a Ksyrium IME.
I was under the impression that some of the Chinese carbon clincher rims had been withdrawn due to reliability problems too.

hulla the hulla

Sammyw23 wrote:

hulla the hulla you legend! Been waiting for a winter deal on the Ksyrium Elite's and I'd checked their site today but only looked at the wheelset price. £350 done!

You are very welcome. Better still is that the pricing is for 2012 Elites (if that makes a difference as I don't know if they are a better spec or not) but it doesn't hurt knowing they are the latest version..... well.... it makes me feel better anyhow..

Happy Damn Friday !!

hulla the hulla

Monty Dog wrote:

For all round use, I'd opt for an alloy-rimmed wheel, but not Ksyriums as they aren't very aero. AM Classic AC420s would be my choice - light enough, spin-up quick and better at high speeds than a Ksyrium IME.
I was under the impression that some of the Chinese carbon clincher rims had been withdrawn due to reliability problems too.

that was another wheel I was lusting after but I couldn't find them for less than £500 which was £150 north of what I was able to pay and therfore out of my reach.....for now :twisted:

Sammyw23

The money saved will start my aero wheel fund......just need to work out how to tell the wife my best bike needs 4 wheels...... :?

kfinlay

Been considering these options as well, the chinese carbon clinchers I've been considering are http://www.farsports.cn/ViewProduct.aspx?id=645 but as some have said - there could be reliability issues as well as comfort/stiffness - only 1360g though so light enough for climbing!
I like the IRD aeros but then I'm considering Campag and Mavic options too - I take ages at these things - took me nearly 2 years to sort out my EPS now just to get the right wheels for it - I do have time on my side though as I'm not planning on buying until early next year.

good luck deciding, I'll keep an eye on this thread with interest

petemadoc

kfinlay wrote:

Been considering these options as well, the chinese carbon clinchers I've been considering are http://www.farsports.cn/ViewProduct.aspx?id=645 but as some have said - there could be reliability issues as well as comfort/stiffness - only 1360g though so light enough for climbing!
I like the IRD aeros but then I'm considering Campag and Mavic options too - I take ages at these things - took me nearly 2 years to sort out my EPS now just to get the right wheels for it - I do have time on my side though as I'm not planning on buying until early next year.

good luck deciding, I'll keep an eye on this thread with interest

Good find Finlay

What do you know about these wheels? Do you know if anyone else has them? The weight seems very low compared to other options. I think carbonzone claim a weight of 1600 + ish.

I've not heard of the reliability issues with Chinese clinchers . . .

Sammyw23

The 50mm carbon clinchers from wheelsmith come in about 1350g I believe.

kfinlay

PeteMadoc wrote:

Good find Finlay

What do you know about these wheels? Do you know if anyone else has them? The weight seems very low compared to other options. I think carbonzone claim a weight of 1600 + ish.

I've not heard of the reliability issues with Chinese clinchers . . .

Someone on one of the chinese wheel threads linked to them and IIRC they bought them and were very impressed. I enquired a while back and they will do a 'sample' set to avoid minimum order of 5 pairs at about £440 inc delivery. A bit more than Carbonzone but they do use CX-Ray spokes and are pretty light for the money!
(but I still have a yearning for Campag Shamals - totally different but fantastic wheels :? )

kfinlay

Sammyw23 wrote:

The 50mm carbon clinchers from wheelsmith come in about 1350g I believe.

maybe the tubular ones but clinchers are more like 1500-1600g (475g per rim, about 250g for spokes =1200g plus hubs at 3-400g) - still a good set of wheels that you know will be properly built and reliable as I understand he only uses stuff he can trust.