Ok another one sorry - 'WHEELS'

Anonymous

Campag Eurus? About 600 quid, light, stuff, a tough aero. Seem well made from a friend who bought some recently.

pkripper

gotwood25 wrote:

So back to the original question, would I see a worthwhile benefit ditching the Syncros for a lighter set for the sportives and a cheap tub set for the nicer flat stuff? Or are they not bad wheels and its pointless spending the extra money?

No, you probably won't see anything meaningful in benefit, apart from a bit of weight saving - mostly in your wallet.

They're good enough for all round riding and (I think certainly from a quick look at the 2014 wheels) have a 23mm semi-aero profile that looks similar-ish to the like that Flo and others are now offering.

Plus, ignore all the guff around aero wheels only kicking in at a certain speed - they do offer a benefit and simple physics will confirm that this applies at all speeds (the nature of air resistance being what it is), just that the benefits become marginally greater at higher speeds. There's usually a weight trade-off in these wheels as well, and some handling trade-off unless you start investing a decent sum.

Personally I'd ride with what you've got unless you've got a burning desire to spend money. If that's the case, I'd look at getting either a decent bike fit to look at your position (again, air resistance is your enemy to gaining and maintaining speed), or maybe a nice winter jacket / gloves (I like the mavic inferno kit) to keep you riding throughout the winter which will give you decent spring legs compared with most.

Still, your cash, your choice.

gotwood25

Again thanks all for your replies, much appreciated... I'm still none the clearer though ;-)

This is the first Winter where I am trying to do as much 'proper' (in the loosest possible sense) training as I can. Have invested in Winter bike/kit and a turbo and aiming to do 150 miles a week so hopefully this will stand me in good stead once I get the Foil out of hibernation in the Spring.

Think I will go with the majority and keep the wheels I have and possibly look at tyres/tubes. Then once I start with the club runs see about upgrading then if required for the conditions.

pkripper

If it's all about getting faster, don't aim to do 150 miles a week, look to structure your rides in a way that provides most bang for the time spent. That may still be 150 miles, but it may be substantially less but a lot more painful!

Ernesider

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Have to say that I have a set of RS80 C24 wheels

I am definitely quicker uphill since I replaced the wheels supplied with these on my Roubaix Expert and they feel better all round. I will buy a set of Dura Ace C24 come Spring. £600 from Planet X or Merlin.

gotwood25

pkripper wrote:

If it's all about getting faster, don't aim to do 150 miles a week, look to structure your rides in a way that provides most bang for the time spent. That may still be 150 miles, but it may be substantially less but a lot more painful!

I commute to work so hard not to do the miles. Last year I had problems with my overall endurance when compared to my mates so set out to work on that over the Winter. I doubled the distance of my route to work so I tend to do 30 miles per day, intended to do 6-8 weeks on predominantly HR Zone 2 runs (3 x commute + 1 longer at weekend) with 2 more interval/sweetspot rides and a rest day.

Don't know if that is the thing to do (probably another topic in another section) but was advice from a friend who races at quite a decent level so who am I to argue. Anyway I have definitely noticed a difference and lost quite a bit of weight so I'm happy with that.

Then looking to swap out some of the Z2 runs with more fun stuff, got a few Sufferfest videos and possibly some KOM shooting on the way to work... who doesn't love that!