Campag Zonda wheels

snipsnap

lawrences wrote:

I've been looking at Fulcrum 3's for £300, similiar if not same specs as the Zondas but the narrow width seems a bit old fashioned to me considering everything is moving towards 23mm +

I then looked at Flo 30 but the 25% duty fees, long lead time and £50 ish shipping has put me off those.

What else is there in the price bracket with a roughly 30mm deep rim, 1700 grams and sub 400 pounds? Mavics all seem a bit heavy and the C24 RS81's are a bit shallow for my liking.

Also looked at he fulcrum 3s but not convinced on the white hub on a black / fluro frame! That aside, where have you seen them for 300 squid?

I've been informed on this ere t'internet that the fulcrum a are much the same as the zondas in any case.
And they are now back in stock at wiggle........

Ooh my!

lawrences

http://www.starbike.com/en/fulcrum-racing-3/

^£300 racing 3's plus 7 postage ish. I'm not a fan of the white hub either. It will get filthy so quickly and then look even worse.

Found a pair of Easton EA90 RT for £300 on chainreaction now. Wider rim and tubeless ready same weight as the racing 3. Only 10 speed compatible but that works for me.

widge34

Question about the Zondas.

My brother and myself have these wheels. Both with the Shimano freehub. Now the wheels arrive with a freehub spacer, that according to instructions should be used with 9 & 10 speed cassettes, as freehub is 11 speed.
Now I fitted my own wheels so swapped existing 10speed cassette over and used spacer as per instructions.
My brother took his bike to Evans cycles, as it needed a full service. They put his new wheels on along with a new 10 speed cassette, but they didn't use the spacer.

Any of you guys running a 10 speed cassette with the shimano hub? Do you have the spacer on the freehub? This slides on the hub before the cassette goes on.

bendertherobot

I clean the white hubs on 3's about every month or so. They don't get very dirty. Mind, it is my good weather bike. Comes off very easily and quickly.

arlowood

widge34 wrote:

Question about the Zondas.

My brother and myself have these wheels. Both with the Shimano freehub. Now the wheels arrive with a freehub spacer, that according to instructions should be used with 9 & 10 speed cassettes, as freehub is 11 speed.
Now I fitted my own wheels so swapped existing 10speed cassette over and used spacer as per instructions.
My brother took his bike to Evans cycles, as it needed a full service. They put his new wheels on along with a new 10 speed cassette, but they didn't use the spacer.

Any of you guys running a 10 speed cassette with the shimano hub? Do you have the spacer on the freehub? This slides on the hub before the cassette goes on.

Yes I have fitted my 10 speed Tiagra cassette to a new set of Zondas and , yes, I did fit the spacer provided to allow 10-speed cassettes to run on the 11-speed freehub. All went together with no problems and shifting was smooth and problem-free straight away - no need to tweak anything.

Note that some Shimano 10-speed cassettes require a 1mm (I think) spacer to run on 10-speed freehubs so if yours is one of these then this extra spacer must be used with the one provided with the Zondas to run that cassette on the 11-speed Zonda hubs. The 10-speed Tiagra cassette does not need that extra 1mm spacer

adamfo

widge34 wrote:

Question about the Zondas.

Any of you guys running a 10 speed cassette with the shimano hub? Do you have the spacer on the freehub? This slides on the hub before the cassette goes on.

Yes, I have a ultegra 10 speed cassette on 11 speed Zonda. The spacer is needed.

widge34

Cheers Guys

bigmul

My zonda's are due to arrive tomorrow! Hopefully my teenage son can manage to get out of bed to make sure the delivery happens...

arlowood

arlowood wrote:

arlowood wrote:

Shimano fit Zonda's now back in stock at Wiggle.*

Just ordered a set for my build project but likely to be a month or so before I can test them on the Genesis Equilibrium frameset.

Will definitely have a go with them on my Trek 5200 build which I completed earlier in the year

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12958886&hilit=Trek

although it might be seen as sacrilegious to swap out a set of Ugo's excellent handbuilts (Open Pro/Novatec) in the process.

* EDIT: Just checked and they are out of stock again. Got the stock alert email on Tuesday and swithered about ordering. Glad I did as they don't seem to hang around. A steal at the Wiggle price IMHO

Quick update from this old post.

Zondas arrived last Friday from Wiggle. Strangely the outer packaging had a large "Chicken Cycles" label on it so I guess Wiggle must use them as wholesalers.

Everything very well packaged and wheels look great out of the box. Fitted them up with some Michelin Pro 4 SC 25mm tyres I've had since buying them at some irresistible price a few months back. Tyre fitting not noticeably more difficult than with my existing Open Pro rims.

Swapped them onto my Trek 5200 yesterday and went for a brief ride today (15 miles)

Main observation was the sound of the wheels when running. I can only describe it as whooshing/ringing sound, maybe a bit like wind blowing through some telegraph wires. Guess that's the product of the bladed spokes and the slightly deeper hollow section rims compared to my Open Pro wheels.

Didn't notice any major differences on that short ride but will plan a longer ride later with a bit more climbing involved. They are excellent wheels but I did not experience any sudden Damascene wow moment when compared to my existing handbuilts.

What I did notice was a definite reduction in road buzz through the bars. Whether that was due to the wheels or the tyres or a combination of both , I don't know. My Open Pro's have Schwalbe Ultremo ZX 25mm tyres fitted.

Further update following my previous post.

Have now managed to put a further 300miles onto the new Zondas since my last brief review. Still fitted to the Trek as my Genesis build has slowed due to other commitments.

These additional miles have included a variety of routes, some mainly rolling and others with long steady climbs or short sharp digs.

As stated above, there was no immediate wow moment when compared to my Open Pro handbuilts but these additional miles have lead me to conclude that the Zondas are superior climbing wheels. I just seem to need less effort than previously to get up the hills. Probably partly due to the weight difference which is between 3-400gms

I tend to do most of my climbing seated but on the odd occasion that I do get out of the saddle I have noted a little bit of flex in the front wheel. Not surprising as the 16 spokes try to absorb my not inconsiderable 85kg.

Delighted with my purchase so far and can't wait to try them out on the Genesis when the build is finished.

Lance9109

Another one with Zondas. Replaced the Reparto Corse wheels on my Bianchi with them last October and felt a massive difference straight away (RCs were like liquorice on a hot day, Zondas a lot lighter and stiffer). For what it's worth I think they're an excellent first upgrade wheel and great value for money (bought from Wiggle like others have mentioned). Enjoy!

jamin100

Are these an upgrade to giants. P-r2 wheels ?
Thinking about upgrading the ones on my defy composite

arlowood

jamin100 wrote:

Are these an upgrade to giants. P-r2 wheels ?
Thinking about upgrading the ones on my defy composite

I've seen wieghts for the P-R2's quoted at 1890g

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/giant/ ... 63876.html

The Zonda's are reported to be 1550g so my guess is that you should expect to gain some benefit over the Giant wheels.

johngti

jamin100 wrote:

Are these an upgrade to giants. P-r2 wheels ?
Thinking about upgrading the ones on my defy composite

They are from my point of view - exactly the upgrade I've just done, fitted mine with michelin Pro 4 SC and an ultegra cassette. Very nice they are too!

jamin100

johngti wrote:

jamin100 wrote:

Are these an upgrade to giants. P-r2 wheels ?
Thinking about upgrading the ones on my defy composite

They are from my point of view - exactly the upgrade I've just done, fitted mine with michelin Pro 4 SC and an ultegra cassette. Very nice they are too!

Thanks both,
@johngti - what have you found better with them? I'm hoping they will make a difference in climbing

birdie23

I ordered a set today. Should be here tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what the fuss is about!

johngti

jamin100 wrote:

johngti wrote:

jamin100 wrote:

Are these an upgrade to giants. P-r2 wheels ?
Thinking about upgrading the ones on my defy composite

They are from my point of view - exactly the upgrade I've just done, fitted mine with michelin Pro 4 SC and an ultegra cassette. Very nice they are too!

Thanks both,
@johngti - what have you found better with them? I'm hoping they will make a difference in climbing

All in, I've managed to shave off 500-700g so weight weenie wise, that's quite nice. In terms of what I can actually get from riding the bike, they're definitely stiffer and they accelerate so much more smoothly and quickly. Extra effort on the pedals gives an instant boost - with the pr2s, there always seemed to be a bit of a lag. Climbing is a little easier but it's on the straight that I notice it most. And they sound lovely! They purr

Final thing for me is that losing the pr2s got rid of a very annoying rattle under effort. Giant have since swapped them for a pair of R500s so they'll be my new winter wheel set.

londoncommuter

Have Wiggle put the price up? Showing as £262 now. You're all talking up demand too much!

birdie23

Did my (very short) commute on mine this morning. Definitely pick up a lot nicer than my EA50s. And I like the propeller like sound the rear spokes put out. Kind of therapeutic.

ugo.santalucia

birdie23 wrote:

And I like the propeller like sound the rear spokes put out. Kind of therapeutic.

Sound is turbulence... turbulence is what makes you unstable ans slows you down... in essence sound is slow and silence is fast. If your wheel sounds like a propeller surely something is not right

birdie23

ugo.santalucia wrote:

birdie23 wrote:

And I like the propeller like sound the rear spokes put out. Kind of therapeutic.

Sound is turbulence... turbulence is what makes you unstable ans slows you down... in essence sound is slow and silence is fast. If your wheel sounds like a propeller surely something is not right

Speed isn't that important to me.

All spokes make a noise. The noise of Zondas is noticeable because it is not constant like a normally laced wheel. It's also very quiet.

mugensi

Slightly OT, I have a set of Quattros on my good bike but am considering changing wheels and wondering if there would be a noticeable difference in the quattros and Zondas? Theyre approx 240g lighter but is that enough to make a difference? I have a budget of approx £260 and not interested in handbuilts or chinese carbon wheels and so the zondas fit the bill perfectly. I plan on putting the quattros on my winter bike as the aksiums i have on it are past their sell by date.

ugo.santalucia

MugenSi wrote:

Slightly OT, I have a set of Quattros on my good bike but am considering changing wheels and wondering if there would be a noticeable difference in the quattros and Zondas? Theyre approx 240g lighter but is that enough to make a difference? I have a budget of approx £260 and not interested in handbuilts or chinese carbon wheels and so the zondas fit the bill perfectly. I plan on putting the quattros on my winter bike as the aksiums i have on it are past their sell by date.

They are wheels in the same price bracket virtually made by the same manufacturer on very similar hubs, so I wouldn't expect massive differences. The Quattros have a more aerodynamic rim and the Zonda are marginally lighter, but you are really talking millimetres here and grams there... not sure you get your money worth of "improvements"

mugensi

Yeah I think your right Ugo, splitting 240g between both wheels means probably less than 140g difference in the rear wheel of a quattro and zonda and I dont think even the most sensitive rider would notice much difference. I'd get more probably benefit more by fitting latex tubes.