Dura ace c24 v RS 80s

Lifeboy123

What's the difference between these two clincher wheels, both carbon rim, aluminium braking service
Other than £300 less and just over a 100g more for the RS 80s ?

How durable are the hubs/ bearings on the C24s compared to sealed hub / bearings on mavic kysrium elites ?

Im told the C24s are premier league to the Elites but Still can't decide on whether C24s are worth upgrade over Mavics , or will give me just maintenance issues , now RS80s at under £300 set have given me another dilemma , I expect their hubs will be reason they are even cheaper than the Mavics Even without tyres

Appreciate some great hand builds but for my first upgrade I will stick to factory wheels, not fussed about deep aero

Bozman

I couldn't feel any difference between the C24s and RS80s, I doubt there's £30 worth of difference let alone £300. The Elites were bullet proof and stiffer than both of the Shimano wheels, those wheels took a side impact from a Peugeot and survived, they're a cracking set of wheels and I wouldn't hesitate going back to them when my current wheels expire.

imposter2.0

The DA C24 gets you a ti freehub which the RS80 doesn't have. I've been using a set of C24s for a couple of years now with no issues at all. I doubt if there is much practical difference between the two wheel sets in reality...

Lifeboy123

Bozman wrote:

I couldn't feel any difference between the C24s and RS80s, I doubt there's £30 worth of difference let alone £300. The Elites were bullet proof and stiffer than both of the Shimano wheels, those wheels took a side impact from a Peugeot and survived, they're a cracking set of wheels and I wouldn't hesitate going back to them when my current wheels expire.

The dura ace have the bling factor being used by Sky but they also get very good reviews. The Mavics seem to be popular choice on the sportif circuit but some feeddback is they are a very harsh ride and the free hub doesn't rotate as freely as other wheelsets

cole C24s seem a robust wheel but weight is pushing up over 1600g for those and not much better than my bontrager race or richey ds pros on my spare bike

nolight

Yet another dilemma. For a similar price as DA C24, you can probably get RS80 50mm wheels? Are the RS80 50mm any good?

ugo.santalucia

nolight wrote:

Yet another dilemma. For a similar price as DA C24, you can probably get RS80 50mm wheels? Are the RS80 50mm any good?

They certainly look terrible... a guy had them on a recent sunday ride... they truly look awful...

imposter2.0

nolight wrote:

Yet another dilemma. For a similar price as DA C24, you can probably get RS80 50mm wheels? Are the RS80 50mm any good?

If the aim is to make your bike weigh more, they are perfect.

EPO Delivery Man

Dont listen to these spanner monkeys, ive been using RS 80 50mm for 6 months, they are a superb wheel.

Bleat all you want about a few more 'grams' i bet your life the gels and water you consume, swirling around in your stomach probably weigh more.

Great wheel and a great price.

smidsy

Lifeboy123 wrote:

What's the difference between these two clincher wheels, both carbon rim, aluminium braking service
Other than £300 less and just over a 100g more for the RS 80s ?

Neither are carbon rim. They both use an aluminium bed, bonded to a carbon fibre mid section.

In English they are aluminium clincher rims with carbon stuck onto them.

The carbon is not structural, but does add to the stiffness (i.e. you could remove it and the wheel could still function).

As long as you accept this truth and buy them accordingly I am sure there is not £300 difference on performance between them.

Also the low spoke count will probably give quite a harsh ride and could be problematic if you are a heavy or very powerful rider.

dodgy

IME, they don't give a harsh ride. They're fine wheels for the cash, I personally don't believe the C24 Dura Ace wheels are worth the extra.

duckson

I've been around the boy looking into wheels and i'm getting sick of it really, i'm on the verge of just ordering some 9000 C24's for £600 from Merlin.

acidstrato

I have a front Dura ace and a rear RS80

believe me there is hardly any difference but the claimed weight difference and the finish of the hubs.

I also have some Dura ace C50mm wheels which I chop and change for

stueys

What's the view on the C34 out of interest? Seems like a good balance between aero and light-ish weight,you don't gain much addition weight over the 24.

duckson

Hmm more digging and it appears the 9000 C24 rim width isnt 24mm (dont believe everything Wiggle says!), more like 22mm....anyone with them confirm?

Lifeboy123

duckson wrote:

I've been around the boy looking into wheels and i'm getting sick of it really, i'm on the verge of just ordering some 9000 C24's for £600 from Merlin.

Thanks guys, at £600 i think I'll just bite the bullet and get some 7900 c24s for my summer bike and put a set of mavic elites on my second bike

mfin

I had c24s and sold them, didn't like them, for the same-ish money Racing Zeros and Campag Shamal Ultras (cheaper and still available for shitmano as well as campag) are much smoother riding wheels and stiff as heck.

duckson

Smoother as in over the road surface or purely the hubs themselves or ?

ugo.santalucia

Lifeboy123 wrote:

duckson wrote:

I've been around the boy looking into wheels and i'm getting sick of it really, i'm on the verge of just ordering some 9000 C24's for £600 from Merlin.

Thanks guys, at £600 i think I'll just bite the bullet and get some 7900 c24s for my summer bike and put a set of mavic elites on my second bike

A lot of money for what they are... read here... it is valid for Shimano too

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/con ... ding-wheel

Bluegnu

For what it's worth...

Three years ago I went from 2008 Ksyrium Elite to DA 7850 24 CL's and thought the Shimano's were much better wheels. Noticeably stiffer and yet more comfortable. The spokes are better having a true aero section rather than the stamped flat style of the Mavics; this may make the wheels a bit more aero overall but the big improvement is that they are a lot less susceptible to cross winds. The rims are slightly wider on the Shimano's (such that you can't swap from the Mavics to the Shimano's without adjusting the brakes), and the hub flanges are much wider. I'd imagine that both these things add to the wheels stiffness.

I opened up the hubs recently after them going untouched through 3 winters and was surprised to see the grease in the bearings was still bright green. As I'm sure you know, the difference between the RS80's and the DA 24CL is the hub, but also Dura Ace wheels are hand built. As has been mentioned I really don't think you'd notice that much difference between the Ultegra and DA, you pays your money, you makes your choice :-)

To be fair Mavic may have improved the Elites since I bought mine but overall I just think that the 24CL's are just great all round wheels and I'd be happy to buy them again, and if I was a bit strapped for cash I'd definitely give the RS80's a go.

mfin

duckson wrote:

Smoother as in over the road surface or purely the hubs themselves or ?

Smoother over the road surface, and confirmed this on two bikes, same tyres, same pressures. Hubs are great in either. Shamal Ultras sell cheaper than Zeros and are available for Shimano too, and both Shamal Ultras and Zeros are (or were) available in dark label versions which look less loud.

Smoothness noteable on anything less than pavement style tarmac.

Plus of course you can swap the freehub body on the Zeros and Shamals should you want to change to Campag at a later date rather than Shimano or Sram

Lifeboy123

Some really great feedback guys
I'd read the elites were more susceptible than in the wind than even entry level cosmics, new mavic tyres are lethal and wheel ride bit harsh, I do like that they incorporate hub technology of more expensive kysrium models and seem in general to be bulletproof and last for years...however very common on sportive circuit but I guess that's testament to their quality.
My maintenance fears over the longevity on the open hubs 7900 c24s has been eased and the mileage I cover should last for years as a summer wheel and should be a more noticeable upgrade from bontrager race than elites would be
fulcrum and campag equivalents im sure are excellent but just out of my price league...you have to draw line somewhere !

FransJacques

This has been done to death so I'd advise a seach. There have been 2-3 long threads, in one of them I compared 3 sets of wheels: DA24s, RS80s and Ultegra 6700s which I've owned and ridden/raced back to back. Briefly,

I love the DA24s most b/c they're the stiffest, smoothest and lightest of the 3. They ride the best but all 3 are on the harsh side. When standing out of the saddle and exaggerating side-to-side bike lean, the CL24s are as stiff as something Fred Flinstone would be used to.

Someone said CL24s are hand-built - I'm not sure about that but they're the only pair not to have a loose spoke issue. I had to loc-tite 1 pesky spoke on the 6700 rear.

Weighwise the RS80s have a lot to answer for to the 6700s: despite the cash and construction differences the RS80 front is 15 grams lighter and the rear 20 grams lighter but at 929grams is no light weight. Am Classic 420s are lighter. The DA front is sub 650 but I can't remember exactly now.

Why not split the cash between the Ultegra 6700s and some other upgrades? OR go whole hog and buy the 7950s or 7850s or whatever the last non-11speed version was, assuming you're on 10 speed.

Evil Laugh

Personally I found the dura ace to be the nicest riding clinchers I've ridden, not at all harsh at normal pressures. That has been the impression of everyone I know who has ridden them too, that they can transform an ok riding frame to something really refined.

I've had the rs80 and to me they didn't feel the same so I sold them. Pretty much solely ride clinchers with open pave tyres.

duckson

I bought the DA 9000 C24's last week as i mentioned i might be doing earlier in the thread.
Gone from American Classic Victory 30 with GP4000S 23c to the C24's with Conti Force/Attack.

The ride quality is markedly much better, really smooth over the rough stuff and they obviously spin up really well. Not sure how the poster above considers them harsh?
No brake rub and they seem stiff, i am using the supplied DA skewers, which arent light but solid and well made....think i'd rather not skimp in this area!

Overall I am hugely impressed and i'm glad i went for these rather than the 50mm carbon rims i had been considering.

They weighed in at 601g front and 833g rear which is higher than Shimano quote but i think most/all factory rims are like that.
Front skewer is 61g and rear 65g.

nolight

Imposter wrote:

nolight wrote:

Yet another dilemma. For a similar price as DA C24, you can probably get RS80 50mm wheels? Are the RS80 50mm any good?

If the aim is to make your bike weigh more, they are perfect.

Aren't they perfect if the aim is to be aerodynamic ? Or is the aerodynamics negated by the less than stellar hub?

Let's make it simple: RS80 24mm vs RS80 50mm. Will the RS80 50mm be significantly faster on the flats at least, has anyone compared? Are there any cheaper high profile rims?

FransJacques

Nice weight on the front!

As Ugo will tell you 601 grams for any front wheel is mighty good, much less one with no weight limit. Considering any clincher rim worth riding is north of 400 grams + 16 spokes and nips x 5 grams (80) + front hub of approx 100 and you're there. In fact, are you sure it's that light?

I've done cross races on my 2011 CL24s with no ill effects whatsoever. They're rock hard and steady.

WRT the rear my Hed Ardennes rear ('09 model) is 768 grams with 20 spokes, but I would not race cross on it. That said, this 83 kger has ridden a few 1000 kms on it and it's never seen a spoke key.

duckson

Yes 100% sure it was 601g (i have it recorded on a spreadsheet), weighed them on digital kitchen scales and did it a couple of times to make sure.
For reference the Conti Race Light tubes advertised as 75g came out at 76g and 79g (42mm valve).