Wheel Upgrade Advice

mriley60

Hi there,

Having recently purchased my new bike (Wilier Izoard with Campag Xenon), I am thinking of keeping the current wheels for winter, and getting something better for summer. It currently has Miche Race on there at the minute. Having had a browse online it seems to be a mine field. If I had a budget of up to £500 what would people recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Martin

TakeTurns

What are you planning on doing with the bike; Commuting, sportives, racing, riding in the alps...?

mriley60

sportives, also a London paris in July. Ambition to do great wall of china following year.......

TakeTurns

Well in that case you're best to go with a lightweight/non aero wheel as supposed to a deep sectioned.

I'd recommend the Mavic Ksyrium Elite's. I use them most of the time besides racing. They're extremely robust, never had to re-tru them since purchase (2011) despite all the potholes I've hit and I weigh 85kg. Never noticed any flexing when climbing out the saddle. They're about 1500g, which is really good considering the strength and price.

Good luck with the London to Paris!

GGBiker

I put prolite braccianos on my Izoard, fantastic wheels for £250 and very light, can really feel the difference compared to the stock Fulcrum R7s it came with.

If I were you I would get these and spend the rest upgrading your saddle and perhaps the Xenon shifters and Mechs to Campag Veloce or Centaur. Also make sure you put decent tyres on as the stock tyres are poor. You'll see a big difference in how the bike rolls for a small outlay.

ugo.santalucia

Looking at your ambitious plans, I wouldn't listen to any of the above and would go for something reliable rather than light. If you pop a spoke on your Ksyrium in China you might as well come home... the London to Paris has mechanics, but I doubt they go around with unconventional spares... they might lend you a wheel, but then you might as well go with what you've got now.
Something structurally sound and conventionally built with J spokes would be appropriate, if you can bear the humiliation and peer disapproval of facing a set of wheels weighing 1.7 Kg... :twisted:
The price would be largely based on hub choice, with your budget you can afford pretty good hubs, Record, for instance.
I think factory wheels are OK to roam around a 50 miles radius from your house... if you plan trips, go hand built... any LBS around the world can fix them if anything happened (not necessarily the wheels' fault) and if you don't go too light, the chances of anything going wrong are fairly slim

Captainlip

I have just ordered some mavic 2013 sls wheels at 1400g I feel will be one of the best alu wheelsets money can buy in terms of reliablity and build.

for price you can get them from wiggle with 15% OFF, and put 15EXTRA when in the cart gives a further discount.

ugo.santalucia

Captainlip wrote:

I feel will be one of the best alu wheelsets money can buy in terms of reliablity and build.

Exactly, I don't see how your feelings can be of any help to the OP. As a matter of facts, your zicral spokes are meant to fail much sooner than the equivalent stainless steel ones. For reliability, I would not recommend anything other than stainless steel for spokes

LegendLust

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Captainlip wrote:

I feel will be one of the best alu wheelsets money can buy in terms of reliablity and build.

Exactly, I don't see how your feelings can be of any help to the OP. As a matter of facts, your zicral spokes are meant to fail much sooner than the equivalent stainless steel ones. For reliability, I would not recommend anything other than stainless steel for spokes

Well said

cooper.michael1

Yeah I love Mavic factory wheels, they are solid but I sure as hell would not take them to China.

Have a look at some handbuilts. This company has a good reputation www.wheelsmith.co.uk

Some Ambrosio Excellight Clincher rims on Campag record hubs would be a top quality wheel for £410, and serviceable globally.

pippi_langsamer-2

Check out the piccolo wheels reduced to £385 here:

http://petematthews.com/home/index.php/specials

Arguably one of the best wheel builders the UK has ever seen....

de scott

Petematthews.com would be my best choice.i bought a pair off him in the summer for audax riding and they are the best wheels I have ever bought. Really nice fella and knows his stuff! Check out the website. Hope this helps. De

TOM14S

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Exactly, I don't see how your feelings can be of any help to the OP. As a matter of facts, your zicral spokes are meant to fail much sooner than the equivalent stainless steel ones. For reliability, I would not recommend anything other than stainless steel for spokes

I disagree... but we've had this convo.
Spokes aren't "meant to fail".
I'm sure they're fit for purpose.
Yes i know all about the fatigue lives for steel vs Al etc...
But, i can't remember anyone replacing Al spokes on their SL's but i've heard about it on steel elites. I'm not going to bother going hunting though.
SLS = brilliant wheelset

cooper.michael1

TOM14S wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Exactly, I don't see how your feelings can be of any help to the OP. As a matter of facts, your zicral spokes are meant to fail much sooner than the equivalent stainless steel ones. For reliability, I would not recommend anything other than stainless steel for spokes

I disagree... but we've had this convo.
Spokes aren't "meant to fail".
I'm sure they're fit for purpose.
Yes i know all about the fatigue lives for steel vs Al etc...
But, i can't remember anyone replacing Al spokes on their SL's but i've heard about it on steel elites. I'm not going to bother going hunting though.
SLS = brilliant wheelset

Is this what the average cycling plus reader really thinks?...people do ride bikes for purposes other than racing. I'm a massive Mavic wheel fan (my 8 year old cosmos are still going strong) and I don't think anyone is saying they are not good wheels.

However the bottom line is if one high end Mavic spoke fails in the middle of no where in China you are screwed, it is pretty much the end of the trip. This is especially true with the radial front and isopulse rear wheel, as you could not even make the wheel reasonably true, until you got to a bike shop (which could be 100s miles away).

When it comes to long trips, in rural environments you should pick reliability every time. A handbuilt 32 or 36 spoke wheel will be functional even with a broken spoke, and even in china you'll be able to get the wheel repaired in a reasonably sized town. Good quality handbuilts will not weigh much (if any) more than a factory wheel, even if they don't look that flash.

Skeleton_Sharn

Hub of choice on Open pro 32h, Dt Revs. Built by a man, who knows what hes doing.

Shimano hubs work well and roll fast, but they dont look all that flash. Hopes if you want cheap/solid/rebuildable - And you dont need a bell, just stop pedaling and people jump out of the way.

Maybe won't be the sexiest wheels in the world but theyll do you good service.

Carry hub spares on your journey.

Sharn

TOM14S

I was disagreeing to the spokes failing, not that they're a good wheel for China. Never been to China, so no idea.