Would I benefit from upgrading wheels

buttons129

Im currently riding a standard Trek Domane 4.5 for leisure and general fitness. I'm considering upgrading the standard wheels to a set of Dura Ace 7850 C24 or c35 and wondered if it would be a worthwhile spend and would I experience a more enjoyable ride?
Riding consists of mainly weekend 30-50 milers with friends but in sept I'm doing a 3 day London to Paris

sloppyschleckonds

Tubs or clinchers?

wills1880

All I can say is if you can afford it...do it! You won't look back as I have said in another post it improves your ride quality and will lighten your bike especially if you go for the C24's. Putting it very basically the lighter your bike the faster you go....the same applies to you by the way

imposter2.0

buttons129 wrote:

and would I experience a more enjoyable ride?

Unlikey that the ride would be noticably better. The C24s may save you some weight, if that's important (although the C35s would probably add weight). I would spend on some decent tyres in the first instance and see how that helps - those are your contact points with the road.

buttons129

I was looking at the continental 4000 tyres as a first change as even a second hand set of wheels would have to be a major improvement to justify the cost.

Alitogata

The best and the most important IMO upgrade that someone can do on a bike is on its wheels. A bike is as good as its wheels can roll, so a good pair of wheels can change completely the feel that a bike has.

buttons129

Sod it! Think I might just treat myself

imposter2.0

Alitogata wrote:

A bike is as good as its wheels can roll, so a good pair of wheels can change completely the feel that a bike has.

tyres roll - wheels just rotate inside the tyres.

Alitogata

Imposter wrote:

Alitogata wrote:

A bike is as good as its wheels can roll, so a good pair of wheels can change completely the feel that a bike has.

tyres roll - wheels just rotate inside the tyres.

Thank you for correcting my writing mistakes..I really appreciate your efforts to improve my skills in English language. You are very kind..

drlodge

Upgrade the tyres and tubes first, that will make a big difference

smidsy

If you have to ask I would say not.

If you do wish to change wheels there are much better options out there.

sloppyschleckonds

Marginal gains i'd say, rather than a big difference

Bwgan

drlodge wrote:

Upgrade the tyres and tubes first, that will make a big difference

Upgrade tubes? What to? (Excuse my ignorance)

smidsy

To latex tubes presumably.

drlodge

Bwgan wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Upgrade the tyres and tubes first, that will make a big difference

Upgrade tubes? What to? (Excuse my ignorance)

Latex or a thin butyl tube - I use Conti Supersonics.

housemunkey

I've just taken a big downgrade in wheels, adding some 300g I would say. Today I went out and PB'd a bunch of my local hills on my second time out on the older heavy wheelset.

I don't mean don't get new wheels, I still want another lightweight set, but just don't expect the earth.

I think the biggest change would be to the ride if you went for some 23mm wide rims. As others have said as well, get some nice rubber as that is the cheap and fast way to weight and comfort gains.

Bwgan

Popped into my LBS today to get some latex tubes with some birthday money I got over the weekend, £20 for some Michelin ones. Come home and thought I'd compare them for weight Vs the Specialized ones I'm currently using:

Specialized standard with a long valve were 104g
Michelin latex were 82g

Will that 22g really make a difference?

drlodge

Bwgan wrote:

Popped into my LBS today to get some latex tubes with some birthday money I got over the weekend, £20 for some Michelin ones. Come home and thought I'd compare them for weight Vs the Specialized ones I'm currently using:

Specialized standard with a long valve were 104g
Michelin latex were 82g

Will that 22g really make a difference?

Sounds heavy, think my Conti Supersonics (butyl) are 50g

smidsy

Bwgan wrote:

Popped into my LBS today to get some latex tubes with some birthday money I got over the weekend, £20 for some Michelin ones. Will that 22g really make a difference?

It can not hurt.

Latex tubes lose pressure quickly too so you will likely need to top up the pressure before each rude.

IME they do make for a nicer ride (in conjunction with Vittoria CX tyres in my case)

sloppyschleckonds

smidsy wrote:

Latex tubes lose pressure quickly too so you will likely need to top up the pressure before each rude.

Not sure what you do on your bike, but I pump up my tyres before each ride.

Wirral_paul

Bwgan wrote:

Popped into my LBS today to get some latex tubes with some birthday money I got over the weekend, £20 for some Michelin ones. Come home and thought I'd compare them for weight Vs the Specialized ones I'm currently using:

Specialized standard with a long valve were 104g
Michelin latex were 82g

Will that 22g really make a difference?

Its not the weight but the flexibility that makes the difference. Ride quality seems notably improved with latex tubes. I have some lightweight butyl tubes that weigh less than my latex tubes - but still prefer the latex

Bwgan

@drlodge

This is in no way to say "you are lying" or anything like that, but thought I'd check them in wiggle and it says they are 100g


Top Features of the Continental Supersonic Road Inner Tube
Ultra light weight inner tube. The Continental Supersonic road inner tube is a must have cycling essential for 700c bike wheels.

Please be aware the length of valve may vary (36 or 42)
Use: All purpose inner tube and excellent replacement inner tube for your road bike
Material: Butyl tubes with renowned Continental quality
Durability: Each and every inner tube passes a stringent 100% quality control inspection
Design: Seamless construction, with a mould-cured vulcanisation, to ensure uniform roundness and give a smooth ride and handling
Road
Weight (g): 100
Materials: Butyl
Self Healing
Use: Race days

Bwgan

50g on chain reaction

pitchshifter

HouseMunkey wrote:

I think the biggest change would be to the ride if you went for some 23mm wide rims. As others have said as well, get some nice rubber as that is the cheap and fast way to weight and comfort gains.

+1

springtide9

To answer the original question, probably not much difference.

Not sure what the original wheels are like; if they were £150 a pair, a £300 will make a bit of a difference; the difference between a £300 and £600 pair will be unnoticeable by most people; the difference between a £600 to £1200 pair would be unnoticeable by the majority etc.

I have a pair of Fulcrum Racing 3's. I also have a rear Powertap wheel with a Velocity A23 rim. I cannot tell the difference between the two wheels, apart from the A23 rim seems slightly stiffer which I presume by the higher spoke count (but not noticeable on weekend rides)

But I must say the R3 rims look lovely with the bladed spokes and I wouldn't mind a pair of 50mm tubs. The DA rims look lovely, although I prefer Fulcrum R1's I (like a bit of Compag, even if I don't want the label)

drlodge

springtide9 wrote:

But I must say the R3 rims look lovely with the bladed spokes and I wouldn't mind a pair of 50mm tubs.

You should read my thread on the 50mm carbon tubs wheels I just had made up...all for under £500 including spare tub!

AndyT79

wheel upgrade is the only real performance upgrade imo, at least from a standard rs10 / aksium type wheelset to something in the £300 + range

drlodge

Bwgan wrote:

50g on chain reaction

I've also seen them quoted as 80g :shock: I should weigh one, and compare it to the standard "Race" tube..!

graemeho

last night i removed my summer only C24' s and replaced them with my winter open pro's on Ultegra hubs which are decent wheels. Used the same tyres and tubes to make it a fair compare. I am not by any means an expert cyclist, but there was a very noticable impact on acceleration and ride quality.

The bike ( roubaix) felt leaden in comparison to having the C24's on. Not sure it really makes much difference on average speed, but certainly on ride enjoyment. All that said, after an hour, i had forgotten about the wheels and was enjoying just beiing out.