Alexrims RA20

dab_32

I've had my road bike since about June '12 now and I'm loving it. It's a Norco Valance A2 (from Evans on the R2W).

The stock wheels it came with are Alexrims RA20's. Does anyone know anything about these?

I asked a chap in Evans the other day and he said they'd weight about 3kg and tried to sell me some Aksiums. The chap in my LBS reckoned I should get some Fulcrum 5's and the chap in Sigma said I'd need to spend about £500 to make any difference to the bike (alu frame/tiagra drivetrain ~ £800.)

I've read loads about the factory vs hand built debate and I'm not interested is that info at the mo. I just want some info about these wheels if anyone has any and if any wheel upgrade would make a difference (I'm runnign Michelin Pro 4 tyres). The Alexrims website is not that useful.

ugo.santalucia

Maybe not 3 Kg... Probably just over 2 Kg

Show the guy at Sigma your middle finger...

dab_32

Cheers, I wasn't too sure about the Sigma advice!!

Would wheels around the £200 mark (factory or hand built) make any difference over my stock ones or is it better to save the cash towards a better bike?

ugo.santalucia

dab_32 wrote:

Cheers, I wasn't too sure about the Sigma advice!!

Would wheels around the £200 mark (factory or hand built) make any difference over my stock ones or is it better to save the cash towards a better bike?

For 200 you can buy reliability at a small weight saving or a light set, but not meant to last 20,000 miles.
I would go for the first option, you will probably go for the second

tomhowells

Are your wheels really holding you back? Why not ride what you have until Spring/Summer & then make a choice with a bit more time in the saddle behind you?
You don't mention what you use the bike for so I'm guessing it's more commuting (hence the r2w scheme) than anything else, & if your commute is anything like mine, there are potholes galore to deal with, so I would err on the side of bombproof over weight?

dab_32

I don't know if they're holding me back, that's was one of the points of the question, would I feel a difference. I commute and go riding on my days off (I work shifts), longest ride is 40 miles so far.

I not definitely going to get some new wheels, just wondered how bad (or good) my current stock ones are and if I would notice a difference for ~£200.

Cheers for all the advice. I think I'll stick with what I've got and save the cash for a better bike in the future (or some other shiny stuff the catches my eye...)

ugo.santalucia

dab_32 wrote:

I don't know if they're holding me back, that's was one of the points of the question, would I feel a difference. I commute and go riding on my days off (I work shifts), longest ride is 40 miles so far.

I not definitely going to get some new wheels, just wondered how bad (or good) my current stock ones are and if I would notice a difference for ~£200.

Cheers for all the advice. I think I'll stick with what I've got and save the cash for a better bike in the future (or some other shiny stuff the catches my eye...)

Yes, but bear in mind these days even high end bikes come with bottom end wheels. Retailers assume you will upgrade them anyway, so they prefer to concentrate their efforts on other bits.

thescouselander

ugo.santalucia wrote:

dab_32 wrote:

I don't know if they're holding me back, that's was one of the points of the question, would I feel a difference. I commute and go riding on my days off (I work shifts), longest ride is 40 miles so far.

I not definitely going to get some new wheels, just wondered how bad (or good) my current stock ones are and if I would notice a difference for ~£200.

Cheers for all the advice. I think I'll stick with what I've got and save the cash for a better bike in the future (or some other shiny stuff the catches my eye...)

Yes, but bear in mind these days even high end bikes come with bottom end wheels. Retailers assume you will upgrade them anyway, so they prefer to concentrate their efforts on other bits.

Spoken like a true wheel salesman!

ugo.santalucia

thescouselander wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

dab_32 wrote:

I don't know if they're holding me back, that's was one of the points of the question, would I feel a difference. I commute and go riding on my days off (I work shifts), longest ride is 40 miles so far.

I not definitely going to get some new wheels, just wondered how bad (or good) my current stock ones are and if I would notice a difference for ~£200.

Cheers for all the advice. I think I'll stick with what I've got and save the cash for a better bike in the future (or some other shiny stuff the catches my eye...)

Yes, but bear in mind these days even high end bikes come with bottom end wheels. Retailers assume you will upgrade them anyway, so they prefer to concentrate their efforts on other bits.

Spoken like a true wheel salesman!

He lives locally, so it could be a cunning plan... But no, you know yourself that even you spend 3 K you probably get basic Shimano or Mavic Aksium

thescouselander

That's as maybe but I would only describe a £3k bike as being mid range at best so I wouldn't expect top of the range wheels anyway. For a high end bike, probably costing in excess of £8k, I'd expect a decent wheelset as standard.

2Phat4Rapha

Don’t forget tyres and pressure can noticeably affect how the ride feels. New tyres a lot cheaper than new wheels. Plenty of opinion on here about which ones to try.

ugo.santalucia

thescouselander wrote:

That's as maybe but I would only describe a £3k bike as being mid range at best so I wouldn't expect top of the range wheels anyway. For a high end bike, probably costing in excess of £8k, I'd expect a decent wheelset as standard.

I am less wealthy and I can't recall ever spending 3 K for a bike. Am I out of touch or 3 K buy you a branded carbon frame with Ultegra at RRP and maybe even SRAM Red in the sales?

smidsy

Yes you can get carbon with ultegra for 3k

ugo.santalucia

smidsy wrote:

Yes you can get carbon with ultegra for 3k

In my world that is high end..

thescouselander

ugo.santalucia wrote:

smidsy wrote:

Yes you can get carbon with ultegra for 3k

In my world that is high end..

There's no way a £3k bike can be considered high end just because it has some Ultegra kit strapped to it. It's already been stated on here these sort of bikes have "bottom end wheels" so how can they be considered top end? Just look at how many bikes there are featured on this site costing well over the £3k figure:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... mit=Search

ugo.santalucia

thescouselander wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

smidsy wrote:

Yes you can get carbon with ultegra for 3k

In my world that is high end..

There's no way a £3k bike can be considered high end just because it has some Ultegra kit strapped to it. It's already been stated on here these sort of bikes have "bottom end wheels" so how can they be considered top end? Just look at how many bikes there are featured on this site costing well over the £3k figure:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... mit=Search

I'm out of touch then... 5 K are car money in my world, not bike money... Basically, like our new friend on the forum says "we need to set up our own business and stop being slackers"

I think I'll stick to the low end and use more Brasso...

thescouselander

Now there's an idea. The margins of this expensive bike stuff must be astronomical!