Wheel upgrade on Ribble Carbon

mjw1234

Hi,

I've had a Ribble Carbon Sportive (105 Groupset) for 2 years now and was thinking about possible upgrades. Reviews say the wheels are the weak point on the bike due to their weight (Rodi airline clinchers)

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... odiwhfr200

They weigh about 2100 grams :-

1) Are these wheels comparatively heavy ?
2) Does weight make a huge difference ie if i go down to 1700 grams am i really going to notice a huge difference ?

Anything worth considering around the £150 mark ? or is it pointless unless i spend decent money ?

tia,
Mike.

Camcycle1974

For £150 I wouldn't bother. Just ride those into the ground and then replace with Ultegra or something else mid range. How much difference do you think 400g is going to make? Upgradeitis is a disease, just get out there and ride your bike!

When you finally change to a lighter set (<1500g) you will really feel a difference.

drlodge

If you want a decent upgrade, look at the Zondas (and the multiple other threads on this topic)

mjw1234

Camcycle1974 wrote:

How much difference do you think 400g is going to make?

I'm no physicist but i would have thought the weight saving on the wheel is more noticeable than the same saving on the frame due to the rotational forces ?

mjw1234

drlodge wrote:

If you want a decent upgrade, look at the Zondas (and the multiple other threads on this topic)

They look amazing at a great price, are they only available to Campag cassette as i have Shimano ?

drlodge

They're available in both, Wiggle are out of stock on the Shimano freehub though. CRC have them but are more £££

mjw1234

Thanks - Ribble out of stock as well and doing a 10% discount atm :-(

mjw1234

drlodge wrote:

They're available in both, Wiggle are out of stock on the Shimano freehub though. CRC have them but are more £££

Does the price tend to stay around the £250 mark for these wheels or have people seen it cheaper ?

Camcycle1974

mjw1234 wrote:

Camcycle1974 wrote:

How much difference do you think 400g is going to make?

I'm no physicist but i would have thought the weight saving on the wheel is more noticeable than the same saving on the frame due to the rotational forces ?

Maybe but the "gains" you make will be marginal at best. Do you race crits? If so then go for it as the minor increases in acceleration may help but in real terms for a leisure rider (myself included) what are you hoping to gain?

ugo.santalucia

The thing to consider is not your bike, which is irrelevant, whether is a Cervelo, a Chinarello or a Ribble, but you. Wheels should be matched to the rider (weight, rider habits etc.) not to the bike... then of course people do the exact opposite, but that's not to say they are being clever.

imposter2.0

mjw1234 wrote:

Camcycle1974 wrote:

How much difference do you think 400g is going to make?

I'm no physicist but i would have thought the weight saving on the wheel is more noticeable than the same saving on the frame due to the rotational forces ?

Marginal at best - to the point where you probably wouldn't notice it. Rotational force effects are generally over-stated. Overall weight is key and unless your current wheels are damaged in some way, you would probably be better off fitting some higher performance tyres.

mjw1234

Camcycle1974 wrote:

mjw1234 wrote:

Camcycle1974 wrote:

How much difference do you think 400g is going to make?

I'm no physicist but i would have thought the weight saving on the wheel is more noticeable than the same saving on the frame due to the rotational forces ?

Maybe but the "gains" you make will be marginal at best. Do you race crits? If so then go for it as the minor increases in acceleration may help but in real terms for a leisure rider (myself included) what are you hoping to gain?

I'm a leisure rider but enjoy hitting those strava top 10's.

I've read a lot of review about these wheels and the feedback is very positive.

It's where do you take the bike in terms of components ? - arguing the reverse why did i not just buy a £200 sale bike in Halfords ?...there has to be a sweet spot somewhere in terms of price vs benefit.

It it increases my average speed by 1mph then i'd say that's good investment for the outlay.

imposter2.0

mjw1234 wrote:

It it increases my average speed by 1mph then i'd say that's good investment for the outlay.

Not sure why you think a saving of 400g will increase your av speed by 1mph. If it was that straightforward, we would all be doing it.

ugo.santalucia

The best way to increase your average speed by 1 mph is to switch from a normal speed sensor computer to a garmin. Because Garmins automatically zero at speeds close to zero, the average comes up always higher.

What I am trying to say is that average speed is meaningless. You are better off measuring your top speed over a certain stretch that you know is reliable and traffic free. If you can go 1 mph faster over 1 mile of said stretch, then you are doing well

cycleclinic

You can turn of the auto stop in garmin as well. Reducing wheel weight is noticeable but to make any difference to how fast you go the difference needs to be very big. 400g will be noticable but it will not change radially how fast you go.

More aerodynamic wheels (and all factory wheels are reasonably aero some are very good at this) help a bit (but the wheels you have are low spoke count so they are probably reasonably aero already) as do wider rims as you will be able to corner at higher speeds if you are brave (or perhaps foolish enough) Unfortunatley most factory wheelset are 15mm internal width so that is not on offer from campagnolo, fulcrum, shimano, mavic et.al.

Race tyres (conti GP4000s vittoria open corsa.....) will help as do latex tubes but these are more expensive.

Tyres first if you want more speed wheels second. No point in buying Zonda's and them putting gator skin hardshells on is there.

Average speed is meaningless as traffic slows you down. If you want to know how fast you can go you can always start time trialing. There is one chap in the club who rides a cheap old steel frame with 36 spoke wheels on chrina rims. He does have a aero bar set up but his times are something I cannot come close to on my standard road bike (no aero setup). The reason why he is 1 minute faster over a 10 mile TT is simply his position as he is more aero dynamic on his bike than I can ever be on the drops. So If you want to go faster do the tyres (and latex tubes if you can be bothered) but ignore the wheels and ensure your position is aerodynamic and you wear clothing that does not flap. That will make a difference than will be noticed to your speed.

rolf_f

Actually, average speed is far from meaningless. Like all data, you just need to know what to do with it and how much of it you need for it to be informative and what it can and cannot tell you. Trouble is, most people don't really understand data and how to use it. Things like Garmin settings and traffic lights don't need to have any significance whatsoever (apart from anything else, if you want a reason why average speed can be misleading, Garmin settings and traffic lights are insignificant compared to weather conditions - but even that doesn't render average speed meaningless).

Of course, in this case, average journey speed is not going to determine whether one set of wheels is worth buying over another though maybe Strava segment times might. But you'll need a lot of comparative runs to find out.

cycleclinic

average speed on most rides is meaningless as you rarely put full effort in for the whole ride. Average speed on a TT is meaningfull as that should be full effort for the distance. However as wind conditions always vary meaningful comparisons are always difficult. Power data is really needed as how do you tell if its the wheels or if you are getting fitter for example.

rolf_f

thecycleclinic wrote:

average speed on most rides is meaningless as you rarely put full effort in for the whole ride.

It's not that simple. Quite apart from the fact that we now have Strava so we can get an average speed for any part of a ride, this isn't actually what the OP was getting at. Power data is irrelevant (presumably, you are not going to suddenly leap forward in fitness the day you buy your new wheels).

What he is looking for is a measurable increase in speed resulting from a new pair of wheels. It doesn't matter if it is an average for the whole ride, or part of the ride, or whether or not he is putting in maximum effort or not. What he wants is to go faster for the same effort. The point here is that the wheels won't give him his sought after 1mph. But he might finish the ride a few seconds quicker feeling a bit fresher than otherwise.

mjw1234

Just revisiting this - Shimano WH-RS80's worth a look or are the Zonda's the best choice <£300 ?

carrock

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-racing- ... 5360554368

matt-h

£230 on some Shimano Ultegra wheels.
Great hubs and you can go tubelesss

Matt

MrLion

I'm a big fan of the rs80s ran them on my Planet X until a couple of weeks ago when I trashed them...

Made a big diff to my speed (actually and psychologically).

I have a sense that the hubs make as much difference as the weight of the rims.