New light wheels for the Mrs. (help!)

martino53

As suggested, I'm looking for some new lightweight wheels for my wife's new commuter (between 15-20 km daily) for the good flat roads around Munich. So first a little info about her. 51 yrs old, 52kg, completely non sporty, and trying vainly to recover from illness, so somewhat week. The bike in question is an alu trapez frame with Sram via mali gearing for touring, aprox. 12 kg.
What I'm hoping to do is help her along with some lighter wheels that will give her the sensation of easier crusing, of course they have to be wider rims as well, without being your tipical touring led hoops.
So wide and light. I'm kind of hung up on DT Swiss R23, http://www.bike24.com/p252827.html , or the offer from Superstar components, http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/s ... ad-wheels/ , although with superstar I'm not sure whether the icon ultra hubs or the volta evo hubs are better ?
Any suggestions for wide & light rims that I've missed, and I'm sure there are some, would be greatly appreciated.
Also I know from following this forum that there has been a lot of discusion about superstar wheels, but my thinking is, it's not racing wheels I'm looking for but light comuters and for that purpose that they may fulfil the requirements. At least with Pacenti sl23 rims I'm on the right track. Also I'ld like to stay around the +-€400 range.
Ugo I would especially like to hear your thoughts on this one, my wife comes from Monteccatini Terme and from April 1 - April 12 we'll be there, so if you're anywhere near Florence she's promised to buy you an espresso for your advice. I hope you're allowed to take bribes ?

londoncommuter

It's partly my fault for scattering this around various threads but is the issue some of us have with fitting tyres to the SL23s critical? If you're going to run clinchers and expect your wife to repair punctures then you might be heading for a quick divorce. I appreciate though that some people with great technique and careful choice of rim tape and tyres don't have issues. They are lovely rims though so it's tempting to go ahead anyway and just cross your fingers (or those you have left after fitting new tyres....).

ugo.santalucia

Montecatini like this, one C only... No, I'll be further north, towards Valle D'Aosta

I think you are looking at the wrong products... the bike is a touring beast, it's pointless to fit race wheels on it. Maybe you can look at better/lighter spokes that the ones normally fitted on those bikes, maybe you can even look at road rims rather than touring ones, but to be honest I have cycled in Germany along those beautiful dedicated lanes by the rivers and wheels don't really make a great deal of difference. Look at tyres instead... normally these bikes come with things that are designed to go to war and most of the times it is totally un=necessary. A pair of Panaracer Pasela folding TG 28 mm are light, fast and comfortable and punctureproof as you need

martino53

"Montecatini like this, one C only... No, I'll be further north, towards Valle D'Aosta"

I thought I was spelling it wrong, thats what you get when you pair a Canadian with an Italien :?
Anyway thanks right away for the prompt replys. I understand what you're saying about the light tires helping, but in the end isn't it about the weight of the rotating mass = rims & tires & tubes. So my thought was with the lighter rims approx. 460 gr. that she would just feel things are running smoother, hence inspire her perhaps to an occasional weekend ride just for fun. Hear is another alternative,
http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections ... -grey-rims
As far as the tire change on the Pacentis, ya I've heard all the horror stories, but cooking and bike maintanence is my gig. If only I could fix things as well as I cook

ugo.santalucia

Rotating mass only matters when you accelerate... the harder you accelerate the more it matters... I can't see your wife jumping on the pedals like a spring when the light goes green to leave the traffic stunned behind. It's also helpful to accelerate out of a hairpin if you climb in the Alps, or overtake a bus as it leaves the stop inevitably ignoring you... or even to win a sprint in the Roubaix Velodrome after 265 Km of gruelling roads. For pleasure riding it makes no difference at all, as the speed is almost constant. A light tyre "feels" better... as a high TPI thread coated with a small layer of rubber behaves better than half a Kg of rubber on a coarse thread on the road.

martino53

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Rotating mass only matters when you accelerate... the harder you accelerate the more it matters... I can't see your wife jumping on the pedals like a spring when the light goes green to leave the traffic stunned behind. It's also helpful to accelerate out of a hairpin if you climb in the Alps, or overtake a bus as it leaves the stop inevitably ignoring you... or even to win a sprint in the Roubaix Velodrome after 265 Km of gruelling roads. For pleasure riding it makes no difference at all, as the speed is almost constant. A light tyre "feels" better... as a high TPI thread coated with a small layer of rubber behaves better than half a Kg of rubber on a coarse thread on the road.

I can see now that I've never really considered the "rotating mass" concept from that angle, and I have to admit it makes a lot of sense. I don't see my wife any time in the near future rolling into the Roubaix Velodrome, not to mention the stunned traffic, now there's a thought that got me chuckling.
I'm going to re-direct my endevours to light tires and tubes and who knows perhaps in the end it'll be a realistc combo of all the above.
Thanks for your time and the insights,
Martin

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