Wheel set recommendation

Barteos

ugo.santalucia wrote:

homers double wrote:

I've recently downgraded my regular wheelset, Mavic XM719's on Hope Pro2s with 2.1" kevlar Maxis Advantage rubbers to some Fulcrum 5's with GP4000s and found them much quicker.

Road tyres are faster than big knobbly MTB tyres, I think we do agree on that. As the tyre gets closer to a road tyre, then differences become subtle. Or in other words

This is slow



This is fast

This one is fast 8)
A sub 350g shaven, paper thin 26x2.00" Furious Fred with 120TPI casing, run tubeless at 25/35PSI


I'm not surprised by UGO's findings regardin CX tyres.
What makes a fast rolling tyre is not narrow width and high pressure but thin and flexible casing preferably with no puncture protection. Many high end CX or MTB tyres with smooth treads have lower rolling resistance than a road clinchers, especially when run tubeless.
On smooth roads and at higher speeds they'll be usually slower due to increased air drag but on certain surfaces they're going to be just as fast or marginally faster.

I've spent thousands of miles riding a pair of (shaven) 26x2.00 Furious Freds at 25/35PSI on my drop bar franken road bike and they are usually slower than GP4000s (same bike, no other changes) by no more than 0.5mph. On one particular 15m route through some rough country roads GP4000s are actually marginally slower!

Going back to wheels and performance gains... this always makes me laugh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMCkuqL9IcM
The title says it all

CXrider

Interesting read. Only on an enthusiasts forum, in any niche, can you get people at opposite ends in equal vehemence.
Same down the cafe after the club ride - half of the riders around me will say get a Carbon frame, half say they are a waste, same for wheels, same for spending money on lighter components.

I guess its up to the individual who he sides with.
I am on the side of spending money on 90% of upgrades is pointless if not into 'marginal gains'.

I was first reading posts basically saying that all stock wheels and tyres are crap and are the first thing you should do, to reading that its pretty much pointless.

I have Aksiums on my road bike so I will stick with them BUT the tyres that came with it are Vittoria Saffiros and I have read far more negative comments on them.

So in conclusion I am doing the following:

Not upgrading to a carbon frame - ever.
Not upgrading wheels - unless mine get trashed somehow.
Not upgrading my brakes ever - they stop me fine...
Not upgrading the groupset which is 105s - ever.

I will be getting some better tyres erring on wet grip.
Total spend, probably £30 to £55 and I can live with that and will still enjoy my lovely bike (to me) massively.

Just had a thought.. I actually think a lot of these 'should I buy'/'what do you think of' threads is not so much to do with looking for marginal gains in the hope of adding 0.25MPH on the average speed over 30 miles. I reckon its to do with just loving cycling. I go into Evans or Halfords... I know the bottle cage, expensive garmin, flashy top, sexy pedals and shoes are going to make bugger all difference to my ability as a cyclist and overall speed but it just makes me feel good to spend the money on something I love.

I had a lovely, rare and expensive Italian sports car back in my City days. Bloody pointless car compared to the average Ford Focus and it cost about 6 grand a year to run it not including insurance. It was bloody lethal to boot.
Still, i was in love with it and spending endless money on newer components, new belts and special grills and exhaust bits made me feel great.

So I think looking for upgrades in any department is absolutely fine if it makes you feel good.
The idea of spending 5 grand on a full carbon DI2 superlight bike does excite me and I know I would feel a million dollars cycling around on it and propping it up at the Cafe, but like having an Agusta or Ducati.
The fact I would spending 4 times the cost of my lovely current bike just to make perhaps 1MPH difference on a hilly route is nothing to do with it really.