£1500 to spend on race wheels

JesseD

Now my wedding is out of the way, I have managed to negotiate with the boss (read wife) that I can spend my bonus this year on bike stuff which is music to my ears, and as I dare say this will be the one and only time I will (be allowed to) do this I want to go for broke (within the specified budget I have been given (always a catch)).

I am buying a new bike so that's sorted (Cube Agree C:62 SL or a self build Genesis Zero with Ultegra), I am also looking at a power meter (probably a stages) and have also lined up coaching from a guy I used to race against when I was younger who has his own coaching company and is well reguarded and am starting this when I come back from honeymoon in October.

So this leaves race wheels which I figure I will have around £1200 - £1500 to spend on them.

I want something that is around 40/60mm deep, all carbon rims and would prefer clinchers but would also ride tubs as well if the deal was right. Would prefer a wider rim as is trendy at the moment and want something that is going to be stiff under sprinting.

All the races I do are mainly undulating or crits/circuit races, we do have some hilly races but all the climbs around here are short so you can power up them (with the exception of 2 or 3 climbs which are killers and I generally avoid those races). I am a big lad and weigh around 13 stone 10lbs and imagine with some focus and a coach I will drop to below 13 stone for next season, that said I can sprint a bit so need a robust stiff wheel.

So what would you recommend, I like Zipps but they are expensive and I have heard they are made of cheese, the likes of Enve are out of my price range I think, maybe Reynolds?

Thanks

trek_dan

Just get some cheap wide tubs like Planet X CT45, Farsport, Carbonzone etc and spend the money saved on some coaching as that'll actually make a difference.
You'd have to be mental to spend that much money on a set of race wheels. Fair enough perhaps for Sunday best. My entire race bike is worth about £600. All it takes is one incident and your pride and joy is a shiny pile of scrap.

JesseD

trek_dan wrote:

Just get some cheap wide tubs like Planet X CT45, Farsport, Carbonzone etc and spend the money saved on some coaching as that'll actually make a difference.
You'd have to be mental to spend that much money on a set of race wheels. Fair enough perhaps for Sunday best. My entire race bike is worth about £600. All it takes is one incident and your pride and joy is a shiny pile of scrap.

Hi trek-dan,

Got coaching sorted as per my post, starting in October I have a guy who I used to race against years ago lined up, he now has his own coaching company and is well regarded so he is going to set me programmes/plans to follow throughout the winter and into next season, it will be adjusted weekly/monthly depending on other commitments and seems to be structured enough for me to progress well, but also flexible enough that it doesn't end in divorce as I never go to any functions etc with my wife.

The reason I want to spend that amount is purely because It will be the only time in my life I will be able to get a decent pair of wheels, they wont be used for crits (neither will the carbon bike) and I will continue with my alu Felt for those duties for the very reason you have pointed out, these wheels will be used for road races, sportives and sunny summer days (but mainly road racing).

My Felt is worth no more than £800 and is fine for what I use it for and I get some good results (couple of wins so far this year and currently leading the summer circuit race series), but I am never going to be able to justify spending a large amount of money of bike stuff again especially when she decides she wants kids, so whilst I have the green light I am going to do it!

ugo.santalucia

I find this wife-dominated couple life disturbing, if I have to be honest

Get the Planet X CT 45 and start saving for the pram... the good ones cost a fortune

JesseD

Single Ugo?

Tongue in cheek really but as with most cyclists we can have a tendancy to be selfish and only think about the bike/training/new kit etc which is unfair on our long suffering partners.

We do have other things we want to buy (new house etc) but before my priorities change away from cycling if and when I am lucky enough to be a dad, I am going to chuck a load of money at something I want which is exactly what I am doing.

JesseD

Can you get carbon prams?

andcp

JesseD wrote:

Can you get carbon prams?

http://www.luxuo.com/children/porsche-s ... dawod.html

imposter2.0

You don't even need to spend half that amount on race wheels. I would go down the PX route, or the Carbonzone/Farsports route and save the rest for a training camp.

zoomer42

I'm currently a bit heavier than you and ride with Reynolds Attacks and I love them. Plenty stiff enough for racing. Maybe the deeper Assault versions would be worth considering. There is a set on here for sale for under 400 bucks. That will leave you then with £1,100 to p*ss away on something else you don't really need

pilot_pete

Go handbuilt. For half that money you could get some decent hubs, rims and spokes and have a configuration that suits your racing and personal weight/ style.

coops1967

Pilot Pete wrote:

Go handbuilt. For half that money you could get some decent hubs, rims and spokes and have a configuration that suits your racing and personal weight/ style.

as above....

I'm treating myself to a new set of wheels from DCR wheels, and with Tune King/Kong hubs, cx ray spokes, 40mm rims etc etc - they are well within your price range ( even including the disc rotors and tubeless schwalbe pro ones in my order...).
Plus you can be more confident the strength/spoke etc will be sufficient for your weight and riding preferences...

Go to his website and there's plenty of information of what options he has - and send him an email with all your info ideas as in your post and he can give any other advice - his rims are wider, and you ma want to give tubeless a go?

FishFish

JesseD wrote:

Single Ugo?

Tongue in cheek really but as with most cyclists we can have a tendancy to be selfish and only think about the bike/training/new kit etc which is unfair on our long suffering partners.

We do have other things we want to buy (new house etc) but before my priorities change away from cycling if and when I am lucky enough to be a dad, I am going to chuck a load of money at something I want which is exactly what I am doing.

Is this post for real? Your bike before your family home? And am I, as a cyclist, tending to selfishness as you generically brand all of us.I think you have a very special marriage.

mamba80

Whatever you get, make sure they can be rebuilt, a mate had some Bora's cracked a rim on a pot hole, a new rim makes repair uneconomical.

Why not look at Cycleclinic wheels, then ebay some Zipp/Campag stickers and your sorted.

singleton

I've heard good things about Reynolds.
I'd also suggest looking at walker brothers, wheelsmith & hunt.

meesterbond

OP asks perfectly reasonable question incorporating a few light-hearted quips...

Forum responds with marriage guidance counselling.

I do love this place sometimes.

For what it's worth I use 303s as everyday (summer) wheels and they haven't fallen apart yet. Still have some (older, narrower) Bora One Tubs which currently don't have a bike and they're great too. Braking is probably a fraction better on the Boras (the red Campag pads are really good), handling maybe a bit better on the (wider) Zipps. Both would come in well under £1500. There are so many other options though...

trek_dan

Cooky relationship and marriage advice aside, how about a set of Assault Clinchers for Sunday best, and set of Carbonzone 60x25 wide tubs for racing then JesseD?

gratziani

Canyon have a sale on a lot of different wheels at the moment , Reynolds and Mavics to name a few .

worth a look if you ask me and you have the funds , spend and enjoy mate.

mrb123

Selfish bugger. You should be investing every spare penny you have in a trust fund to pay for your not yet conceived child's future educational needs.

PTestTeam

Take a look at something different. Miche SWR RC clinchers. Available in 38mm or 50mm depth. Smooth, strong and brake really well. They can be had for £999, so you'll have money left over for a pram!

http://road.cc/content/review/122172-mi ... her-wheels

http://www.northernride.com/Miche-SWR-F ... he-swr.htm

matt_n-2

gratziani wrote:

Canyon have a sale on a lot of different wheels at the moment , Reynolds and Mavics to name a few .

worth a look if you ask me and you have the funds , spend and enjoy mate.

Strike 66 tubulars or clinchers at £724 and Assualt tubulars at £732, good price!

JesseD

Meesterbond, trek-dan, gratziani, Imposter, zoomer42, Pilot Pete, coops1967, mamba80, singleton, PTestTeam, Matt_N - Thanks for your input and suggestions, I am considering the handbuilt option as well as factory wheels, I suppose the biketart in me wanted a brand name as such as I know this will be the last time for a long time that I will be able to spend a large amount of money on cycling kit, that said it should be function over form, especially when racing so maybe handbuilts are the best option? I do like the look of the Reynolds and will defiantly consider the Miche wheels as well.

FishFish – Thank you for your post, I do have a very special marriage, she is fantastic and definitely a keeper which is why I married her! I did start to write a post around justifying my decisions around what I was spending and why but then thought hey this is the internet, take the good with the bad and don’t rise to it!

Andcp – ha, love it, I see Aston Martin make one for $3000.

imposter2.0

Just as an observation - I've seen some of the GB junior squad racing midweek crits on their training bikes with training wheels, which are typically something like Ksyriums fitted with Gatorskins. It doesn't stop them winning.

DanTe1977

Can't beat an Internet bike forum to draw the prats out..
I've a set of Enve 4.5's and they're brilliant wheels. If you could find another few hundred quid or get creative with price matching, promo codes etc you may be able to get em.
I'm around your weight and have had no problems whatsoever..

JesseD

Imposter wrote:

Just as an observation - I've seen some of the GB junior squad racing midweek crits on their training bikes with training wheels, which are typically something like Ksyriums fitted with Gatorskins. It doesn't stop them winning.

Lets face facts, it isn't about the bike, its the engine on the bike that matters!

I've been racing a Felt Z75 alu bike with Shimano 5800 105 groupset and Fulcrum Racing Quattro wheels this year as its all I have, so far I have won 1 road race, had a couple of top 3's and am currently leading the summer crit series after 2 races (out of 5, next race tonight), so am not doing too badly.

That said I do want a nice bike, have waited years to be in a position to buy one and wont be in this position again for a number of years so thought why the hell not? All I have to do now is find the right deals etc.

I will still race the Felt in crits though as I don't want to risk smashing up my new bike on tight technical courses where the likelihood of crashes is much higher, a chap crashed his Canyon Aeroad with ENVE wheels in the Easter series and wrote it off with a cracked frame, snapped both legs on the forks and his front wheel was in 2 pieces - expensive race that one!

mugensi

I was in a similar position to you last week but set myself a slightly lesser budget of €1000 (ish)

After looking at numerous wheels it came down to Reynold Assaults and Fulcrum Quattro Carbons. Like you mine would be sunday best/sportive wheels to be used on my 'best' bike. I considered handbuilt wheels but nothing took my fancy so after much consideration I settled on the Fulcrum Quattro Carbons for a few different reasons.

(1) Price (I got them from PBK for €960 (£805) inc a £25 TDF promotion/discount. Cheapest Reynolds I could find were €1250 from Bike24
(2) They're clinchers
(3) They're full carbon and do not require rim tape. Reynolds require rim tape which adds to the weight of them.
(4) They're 17mm wide and so work well with 25mm tyres.
(5) They're 1495g (not inc QR's) and so lighter than my current Zondas by 100g. Reynold Assaults are 1568g not including rim tape.
(6) They're 40mm profile and so shouldn't be too difficult in cross winds and hopefully offer some aero advantage. Reynolds are 46mm profile.
(7) They look bloody fantastic in the flesh! Reynolds are a bit dull looking.

antfly

How are you getting on with those Quattro wheels, have you noticeed any aero advantage and what's the braking like in the wet ? I was going to get them but read a review on road.cc that put me off because of the wet weather braking.

mamba80

Imposter wrote:

Just as an observation - I've seen some of the GB junior squad racing midweek crits on their training bikes with training wheels, which are typically something like Ksyriums fitted with Gatorskins. It doesn't stop them winning.

Rebadged Boras and FMB made those "Gatorskins" you know that as well as i do

JesseD

antfly wrote:

How are you getting on with those Quattro wheels, have you noticeed any aero advantage and what's the braking like in the wet ? I was going to get them but read a review on road.cc that put me off because of the wet weather braking.

Aero advantage, no not really though they look nice!

However I am a big lad and I find them stiff enough when sprinting which is what I was looking for, I rate them to be honest, they are not the lightest but for the money they are great.

Not noticed any issues with wet weather braking to be honest. 8)

paul2718

I don't know where you are based, or what rules your races run under, but if they are organised under a UCI umbrella (for example all BC racing in the UK) then their rules apply and that means either 'standard' wheels or wheels on the approved list. Standard wheels are less than 1 inch rim depth, more than 16 spokes (IIRC) and spokes not too bladey.

This rule is probably not enforced often until you reach higher levels of racing. But I would be uncomfortable being outside the rules regardless.

I solved the problem with a pair of cheap as chips Chinese carbon tubulars. 25mm rims, Novatec hubs, £258 delivered. If they get trashed, darn it, I still have a decent hub. In your case, if you want to spend money, to be 'legal', make sure they are listed at http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rule ... nglish.pdf

Paul

cycleclinic

Dont spend that much on wheels for racing. There are too many crashes. Again tonight 3 riders took a lie down. no one hurt but I had to take the slow line into the grass to get round it all. I have one set in the shop at the moment for repair as in a race the owner went down (no fault of his own) and his wheels where ridden over by more than one rider. This is the second re rimming as another crash killed the first rear wheel. this chap appear to be quite unluckly. The point is buy something that is cheaply fixed. Plenty of options out there from various folk and brands but many unfortunatley are write off if damaged.

You can race effectively on wheels cost less than half your budget. tubs are good but tubeless tyres are better as they are less puncture prone and if they do pick one up they sort themselves out. I ride on both but I prefer to race on tubeless tyres sorry not race but avoid crashes and cars that stop at the end of blind bend......

Spending more does not equal more performance. Renoyld wheels at a bit over £700 is not a bad buy but can you get rims easily at a sensible price. I dont know it is worth asking before you buy so at least your eyes are open.

Anonymous

Did you read the whole thread?

He wants a pair of 1500 wheels for special occasions and the odd open road race where he may be in a breakaway. He has shallow clinchers for crits.

I'd suggest the title is misleading.