First upgraded wheelset

gregwari

Advice on wheels please!!

I've got a pair of DT Swiss RA1's (their cube specific offering) on my Cube Litening. I'm looking to upgrade in the spring, budget somewhere in the £600 - £700 region for the pair. Riding style, I live and ride mainly in the Chilterns and typically do anything from 30 miles to 60 miles per ride, twice a week... I'm 11st 4 so hopefully weight won't be a consideration.

Any advice on type or model would be appreciated.

Ta

blackpoolkev

I bought a pair of Campagnolo Shamal Ultra clinchers from Ribble Cycles recently for £596. http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/wheels-factory-built-wheels-factory-road-tri-campagnolo-shamal-ultra-black-dark-label-clincher-wheels-pair/campwhfr343
I'm slightly miffed that they can now be had for £576 when the stock13 code is applied.

I liked the ceramic bearing spec and good online feedback. If you need a Shimano spec freehub the Fulcrum racing zero seems to be an identical wheel at similar money.
So do ceramic bearings run smoother than others? On a recent sportive I was riding along with a rider running Mavic Ksyrium Elites and was constantly pulling away from him when we were on long free wheeling descents, even when he tried to hold my slipstream. The difference in speed was so noticeable that he asked me my weight because he thought that may be the reason that my bike rolled downhill better than his. He was 2kg heavier than me.
Okay, it's not a scientific test but enough to convince me that my wheels rolled well.

Bobbinogs

I know this may sound cynical but just google "Wheels" and pick the pair you like the look of that cost around £600.

The above poster may be accurately relaying his experience but there are a number of factors that will come into play...it would have been interesting if he and his pal had swapped the wheelsets and see if the performance went across with the wheels, etc.

Most decent wheels roll well and we will all just pick our own favourites based on limited personal experience or by quoting from the most recent mag review/advert we have read. It is probably more important to pick the right type, as in factory or handbuilt (plenty of threads on that) and then the right rim depth (deep for flattish routes, mid for variable and riders who can avg 20+, or shallow for lumpy route riders, maybe mid for those who are a bit slower and won't benefit from the aero of a deep/mid but want something more sturdy, etc.). OK, so I have generalised to a great degree but in clubrides there is a massive variety of wheel types and values...and yet the best riders always seem to go the fastest no matter what they turn up on.

imposter2.0

blackpoolkev wrote:

So do ceramic bearings run smoother than others? On a recent sportive I was riding along with a rider running Mavic Ksyrium Elites and was constantly pulling away from him when we were on long free wheeling descents, even when he tried to hold my slipstream. The difference in speed was so noticeable that he asked me my weight because he thought that may be the reason that my bike rolled downhill better than his. He was 2kg heavier than me.
Okay, it's not a scientific test but enough to convince me that my wheels rolled well.

Gotta love science.... :roll:

john1967

Gotta love science.... :roll:

Brian Cox does 8)

imposter2.0

john1967 wrote:

Gotta love science.... :roll:

Brian Cox does 8)

He wouldn't love that though - he would mock it...

sloppyschleckonds

My money is on the ceramic bearings

keezx

blackpoolkev wrote:

So do ceramic bearings run smoother than others? On a recent sportive I was riding along with a rider running Mavic Ksyrium Elites and was constantly pulling away from him when we were on long free wheeling descents, even when he tried to hold my slipstream. The difference in speed was so noticeable that he asked me my weight because he thought that may be the reason that my bike rolled downhill better than his. He was 2kg heavier than me.
Okay, it's not a scientific test but enough to convince me that my wheels rolled well.

Yeah , must be the bearings.....like a Chinese philosofer said: belief moves mountains.

DKay

Keezx wrote:

Yeah , must be the bearings.....like a Chinese philosofer said: belief moves mountains.

I thought it was more due to plate tectonics, but let's not let science get in the way....