Wheels upgrade

the_duke_of_hazard

Hi all,

I've had my first road bike for 18 months, done a few sportives and am generally loving life on the bike. I am thinking about upgrading the wheelset however, as they are a little heavy (2.2kg). I was wondering what people would recommend (bearing in mind I weigh 85kg) - I know superstar wheels got a great write-up in cycling plus recently, but am a bit unsure whether they'd last any reasonable time and whether the more traditional brands (mavic, fulcrum etc) would be a better bet.

Also - I was wondering why shimano wheels seem to be always a touch heavier than other brands at equivalent price points. Is this because of the rim or the hub? And if its the hub, would this mean the wheel would not 'feel' its full weight as its balance would favour the turning point?

Cheers

Ross

Darkeeboy1

I upgraded my stock wheels to Zonda's this week. They felt much better and whether placebo affect or not, I am sure I was riding along at a faster pace than previously..

big lewy

I am in a similar position and looking for my first wheel upgrade from the Fulcrum R7's that came with my Time Speeder.

A survey around the £300-500 price point, which to me would be the minimum amount that you would need to spend to begin to notice an improvement, the Campag Zondas look pretty difficult to beat, and as I understand, are almost identical to the more expensive Fulcrum R3's.(or perhaps consider the Neutrons/Eurus if the money can stretch)

Recent reviews of the Novatec Jetfly's make them highly attractive but more difficult to source. Mavic make a couple of decent looking wheel sets at this price point so are worth a mention, but in terms of outright weight (though I know there is more to a decent wheel than this) and what reviews are available, they look to be eclipsed by those mentioned above.

This is all based on what I can find by looking around on the net rather than personal experience, so if anyone has been through this buying process and has tried these wheel sets, I would be grateful for your comments.

markhewitt1978

RS81 are about 1.6kg so would be a big improvement.

oldbazza

Again another Zonda fan here.

norvernrob

markhewitt1978 wrote:

RS81 are about 1.6kg so would be a big improvement.

1500g for the C24's, I have a set and really like them. I can't compare the difference to cheap wheels as my bike came with a set of £500 Planet X aero wheels, but they were terrible in crosswinds so I sold them and bought the Shimanos which are also 300grams lighter.