Best wheelset for climbing ~£1K

wheely123

I'm buying a Bianchi CV but torn between the Mavic Ksyrium SLR Wheelset and the Shimano Dura-Ace WH-9000 C35 CL. The groupset it Dura-Ace, I ride long distances mainly in Scotland and enjoy the hills, what are the best climbing wheels for around £1k?

paul1000

Save some cash and get some fulcrum zeros.

Anonymous

Or add some cash and get Fulcrum Zero Carbons :P

northpole

DA C24 would make for a better climbing wheel than the C35s. I do like Fulcrum Zero's which I think provide greater stiffness than DA. If you are out on long rides, depending on your bike frame, etc., that stiffness may not provide as smooth a ride - if that is a consideration for the OP.

Peter

79543dean

I've got Fulcrum Racing Zeros and I have had C24's. The Zeros are a much better wheel in I.M.H.O

paxington

Last time i looked ProBikeKit had Ksyrium SLS 1399gram claimed weight, for circa £550

markyone

Another one here fulcrum racing zero

FatTed

Fulcrum racing zeros are great until you break a spoke, walk home, expensive to fix. You also have to go downhill with your climbing wheels, what about a custom wheel with a wider rim such as HED C2, H+Son Archetype, Pacenti SL23, Velocity A23 with what ever hubs take your fancy https://fairwheelbikes.com/c/reviews-an ... ub-review/.

letap73

paxington wrote:

Last time i looked ProBikeKit had Ksyrium SLS 1399gram claimed weight, for circa £550

They are very good, but heaven forbid if you break a spoke - this is a very expensive job from personal experience.
You could go hand built - Hed Belguim plus rims, White industries hubs, CX ray spokes for much less than a grand.

cycleclinic

If you go with hand built you can have light stiff reliable and all for less than many of the wheels above cost. If you are seriously looking at factory wheels have a stiff when is more important than saving 100. Sadly a campagnolo zonda is a similar stiffness to a DA C24 and only weighs 150g more. I can assure you that 150g won't slow you down. The one thing the C24 wheels et has go in for it apart from weight and ease of repair (spoke replacement is easy but forget about replacing rims too expensive) is the rims have 17mm internal width which I like a lot.

Still the Belgium + rims are very nice. So are pacenti sl23 rims and they can be built to suit your weight.

I personally love riding long distance and ride very hilly routes, yes even in Suffolk, and I do it all on wheel sets weighing 1600g to 1900g. The tyres make a difference and so does how aero the wheel set is to a point but the weight of the wheels is almost irrelevant. I took out a set of wheels with cxp14 rims out on Sunday (575g rims) and I was as quick on them as I am on lighter wheels.

What I am trying to get at is aero wins over weight every time. Also consider wheels with a wide internal width (17mm minimum). The fulcrum racing zero fits all of the above but it is expensive.

I personally think there is no such thing a climbing wheels et as changing the wheels alone will not make you climb faster. More weight has to be saved than that. So buy light wheels if your entire bike has been on a proper diet and it may help for rider to do that too.

One last thing stiff wheels are no more uncomfortable than less stiff ones why because when we take of stiffness we me lateral stiffness but it turns out that all wheels are very stiff in the radial direction so stiff that they deflect by anything noticeable. Tyre width, tyre casing and pressure makes a bigger difference so if you have ride quality issues address the tyres first.

DeVlaeminck

A truly aero wheel is going to be heavy though unless you go all carbon which is an acquired taste especially descending mountains. Personally I wouldn't want the faff of tubulars either (yes I have owned several sets) and while a few hundred grams wont make much difference if you are spending a grand on wheels anyway then you have to accept you are spending quite a lot of money for small marginal gains and while I might not notice 200g it has to make some difference. That said I do agree it's probably not worth pushing the boat out for small weight savings but it depends how much disposable income you have.

cycleclinic

Tubulars are not hassle and the U.K does not have mountains that can challange a good carbon clincher.

I think I rambled a bit above.

The wheels on your bike currently will be fairly aerodynamic. Replacing with DA C24's or cheaper Zonda's will not change that much. A deeper section wheel like the DA C35 will give a marginal aero gain which is not offset by the weight penelty as your route are not a upward escher nightmare. So if you have the cash then try something but don't expect it to transform your riding. the biggest factor is your fitness and how you feel on the day.