1st upgrade

merpb

Hi, I need some advice, my bike is a Battaglin C11 it came with Miche Reflex wheels shod with Vittoria Zaffiro Slices.
My question is: Will I get a noticable improvement in ride quality if I change my wheels and if so should I upgrade my complete wheels or maybe just the tyres?
My riding is limited to 20 miles per day with maybe a 50 miles on Sunday (if I'm lucky) I average around 18 mph and I'm 6'3 weighing just on 95kg.
My budget would be about £200 so the wheels available at that price don't seem much better (read lighter) than the ones I've got.
Any advice would be appreciated.

ALaPlage

Wheels upgrade will undoubtedly give you a lighter ride and better roll and would be my first upgrade choice. You are right however as your budget will probably not return you a wheelset that will be significantly better than the wheels you already have. A guy at work solved his upgrade budget by searching out and buying a second hand Trek 1400 on EBay. He paid £360 for a full bike but it had Bontrager Race lite x wheels which he took off it and put on his Trek 1.9. The wheels off his original bike went back on the EBay purchase and he resold it for £330 on EBay a fortnight later. Net outlay including fees was about £50 for a wheels et that would have cost him £600.

DorsetKnob

At last - someone else with a Battaglin C11!
I changed the wheels on mine late last year for a set of Fuerte Bici 60mm carbons with Schwalbe Ultremo tyres and it made a huge difference to the bike. About 1kg lighter, so average speed increased, but its the climbing and acceleration where the biggest improvements were had.
The bike is more lively, and just handles better. I have no regrets with the upgrade, although it
was a few hundred £'s more than your budget. The bike looks better too - which is nice!
I see it like this - its a long term investment, so buy the best you can afford.
Cheers.

zn533

Hi!

Unless your wheels are truly awful (heavy and bendy), get some new tyres. Cheaper than new wheels, and most of the time make a much more tangible difference in terms of grip, comfort and speed. Going from some hard 'durable' el cheapo tyres to some racy numbers can transform a bike. I have Conti GP4000s tyres and rate them very highly. Also, they don't puncture much, unlike a few other racy tyres, which can end up looking like swiss cheese after a ride.

I reckon you have to spend mega money on wheels to get much out of them. Say double your budget. Shimano do some nice cheap wheels, as do Mavic, but for the money you're spending I doubt they'd feel any different to your current wheels, which I admittedly am not familiar with.

Good luck