Advice on wheels

johanalexander

Hi! I'm new here, and I'm relatively new to cycling.

I've been riding road bikes for around two years, but I never upgraded the components. Up til now I just ride whatever came with the bike. Late winter I bought a Trek emonda ALR5, and I like it alot. I'm thinking about upgrading the wheels though. This is a jungle for me. I don't have many people to consult this with except the people at my LBS. Since they only sell a limited amount of brands, I would like some advice on other brands. The bike came with Bontrager TLR wheels, good, but still the cheapest offer from Trek. This is where it gets tricky. I'm a guy who likes to ride rolling hills, and do some climbing. I suck at riding fast on the flat, and to be honest, I don't really enjoy it. My budget is about 350£. Not very much, but I hope to be able to find a good set of aluminium clinchers for that.

The wheels that I' thinking about so far are:
Fulcrum racing quattros
Mavic Ksyrium
Shimano Ultegra 6800
Pro Lite Bracciano A27

I did read a lot of nice words about the Spin Koppenberg wheels, but they seem to be out of stock and I have no idea when they restock them.

Sorry if this became a long thread, but please chime in with thoughts or other suggestions.

sloppyschleckonds

If buying alloy clinchers then the preference is to get a wider rim, the Fulcrum LG range for example.

mfin

I think a wider rim is something you have to decide for yourself, popular since appearing and the trend but not essential by any means.

I'd consider Zondas, and some good tyres like GP4000S2 to go on them. You should get that lot within budget.

johanalexander

Well, I'm running 23c tyres now but will go up to 25. The zondas also seems like a good option. Lightweight and within budget. The only concern is mixing shimano components with campagnolo wheels, but that is just fussy thoughts I guess.

mrb123

johanalexander wrote:

Well, I'm running 23c tyres now but will go up to 25. The zondas also seems like a good option. Lightweight and within budget. The only concern is mixing shimano components with campagnolo wheels, but that is just fussy thoughts I guess.

It it's too much of a cause for concern for you, Fulcrum Racing 3 are essentially the same wheels as the Zondas, just a bit more expensive but they don't say Campagnolo on them.

Anonymous

Zondas can be had for around £250 which plus tyres (I rate Michelin Pro4 Service Course) would put you at 300. Plus a cassette and inner tubes is bang on £350.

dannbodge

I changed the wheels on my Cube from the standard alexrims to fulcrum racing Quattro LGs and it was a massive upgrade.
They look great and are pretty light.

I picked mine up brand new off eBay for a ridiculous price

philclubman

At that budget I can't see past the Zonda/Racing 3 or some Kinlin 31T with reasonable hubs like these http://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-rim-brake-wheelsets/products/borg31-wheelset

Hunt re-badge the kinlin rims and they look nice, but must be more expensive hubs than the ones Cycleclinic do.

cycleclinic

the difference between the hunt wheels and the ones I do is the spokes and hubs. Hunt use a pillar aero spokes not too disimilar in dimensions to the CX-ray. I use and thicker aero spoke the CX-Force spoke which is stiffer. From Hunts description of the pillar spoke they have a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head where as the CX force has a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head and through the elbow and up into toward the bladed part of the spokes. Consequently the CX-force is a heavier but stiffer spoke. I suspect the Pillar spoke will be 4.6g per spoke where as the CX-force is ~6g per spoke.

the hubs Hunt use I think are the Novatec FS522SB-11S (rear) 219g and the AS511SB (front) 77g. the Miche hubs I use are quite different. 435g/pair and instead of a 15mm alloy axle in the back a very small one in the front for the Novatec hubs the Miche hubs use a 12mm diameter steel axle and big 6001C3 bearings in the main shell front and rear. The novatec hubs use smaller bearings a lighter axle and s smaller hub shell, therefore they are much lighter.

I get the average weight of the hunt wheels using the parts they have selected to be 1490g which is pretty close to what they claim.

No magic to what they have done or what I have done. read the wheel spec it is all there.

mfin

johanalexander wrote:

Well, I'm running 23c tyres now but will go up to 25. The zondas also seems like a good option. Lightweight and within budget. The only concern is mixing shimano components with campagnolo wheels, but that is just fussy thoughts I guess.

Peel the stickers off them, job done.

balthazar

thecycleclinic wrote:

the difference between the hunt wheels and the ones I do is the spokes and hubs. Hunt use a pillar aero spokes not too disimilar in dimensions to the CX-ray. I use and thicker aero spoke the CX-Force spoke which is stiffer. From Hunts description of the pillar spoke they have a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head where as the CX force has a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head and through the elbow and up into toward the bladed part of the spokes. Consequently the CX-force is a heavier but stiffer spoke. I suspect the Pillar spoke will be 4.6g per spoke where as the CX-force is ~6g per spoke.

the hubs Hunt use I think are the Novatec FS522SB-11S (rear) 219g and the AS511SB (front) 77g. the Miche hubs I use are quite different. 435g/pair and instead of a 15mm alloy axle in the back a very small one in the front for the Novatec hubs the Miche hubs use a 12mm diameter steel axle and big 6001C3 bearings in the main shell front and rear. The novatec hubs use smaller bearings a lighter axle and s smaller hub shell, therefore they are much lighter.

I get the average weight of the hunt wheels using the parts they have selected to be 1490g which is pretty close to what they claim.

No magic to what they have done or what I have done. read the wheel spec it is all there.

Thank you for the straightforward account, without bias or opinion. Refreshing.

philclubman

thecycleclinic wrote:

the difference between the hunt wheels and the ones I do is the spokes and hubs. Hunt use a pillar aero spokes not too disimilar in dimensions to the CX-ray. I use and thicker aero spoke the CX-Force spoke which is stiffer. From Hunts description of the pillar spoke they have a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head where as the CX force has a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head and through the elbow and up into toward the bladed part of the spokes. Consequently the CX-force is a heavier but stiffer spoke. I suspect the Pillar spoke will be 4.6g per spoke where as the CX-force is ~6g per spoke.

the hubs Hunt use I think are the Novatec FS522SB-11S (rear) 219g and the AS511SB (front) 77g. the Miche hubs I use are quite different. 435g/pair and instead of a 15mm alloy axle in the back a very small one in the front for the Novatec hubs the Miche hubs use a 12mm diameter steel axle and big 6001C3 bearings in the main shell front and rear. The novatec hubs use smaller bearings a lighter axle and s smaller hub shell, therefore they are much lighter.

I get the average weight of the hunt wheels using the parts they have selected to be 1490g which is pretty close to what they claim.

No magic to what they have done or what I have done. read the wheel spec it is all there.

Was mentioning the ones from your site as an example of a wheel build with Kinlin 31t.

OP - DCR wheels and others will build similar within your budget

Or to make it easier, the Zonda's are great too!

mfin

balthazar wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

the difference between the hunt wheels and the ones I do is the spokes and hubs. Hunt use a pillar aero spokes not too disimilar in dimensions to the CX-ray. I use and thicker aero spoke the CX-Force spoke which is stiffer. From Hunts description of the pillar spoke they have a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head where as the CX force has a 2.2mm diameter at the spoke head and through the elbow and up into toward the bladed part of the spokes. Consequently the CX-force is a heavier but stiffer spoke. I suspect the Pillar spoke will be 4.6g per spoke where as the CX-force is ~6g per spoke.

the hubs Hunt use I think are the Novatec FS522SB-11S (rear) 219g and the AS511SB (front) 77g. the Miche hubs I use are quite different. 435g/pair and instead of a 15mm alloy axle in the back a very small one in the front for the Novatec hubs the Miche hubs use a 12mm diameter steel axle and big 6001C3 bearings in the main shell front and rear. The novatec hubs use smaller bearings a lighter axle and s smaller hub shell, therefore they are much lighter.

I get the average weight of the hunt wheels using the parts they have selected to be 1490g which is pretty close to what they claim.

No magic to what they have done or what I have done. read the wheel spec it is all there.

Thank you for the straightforward account, without bias or opinion. Refreshing.

Yes, a good post, he always provides great information and takes the time to do it. I always read with interest.

PTestTeam

I can recommend the Miche Syntium's. Great wheels for the money. 1580 gr, smooth as silk and bomb proof

http://www.miche.it/en/products/wheels/ ... m-axy.html

http://road.cc/content/review/170567-mi ... y-wheelset

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/1772603/produ ... AlTT8P8HAQ

mfin

PTestTeam wrote:

I can recommend the Miche Syntium's. Great wheels for the money. 1580 gr, smooth as silk and bomb proof

http://www.miche.it/en/products/wheels/ ... m-axy.html

http://road.cc/content/review/170567-mi ... y-wheelset

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/1772603/produ ... AlTT8P8HAQ

Most wheels aren't even massive pot hole proof let alone bomb proof, so that's impressive.

PTestTeam

mfin wrote:

PTestTeam wrote:

I can recommend the Miche Syntium's. Great wheels for the money. 1580 gr, smooth as silk and bomb proof

http://www.miche.it/en/products/wheels/ ... m-axy.html

http://road.cc/content/review/170567-mi ... y-wheelset

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/1772603/produ ... AlTT8P8HAQ

Most wheels aren't even massive pot hole proof let alone bomb proof, so that's impressive.

yes I suppose it's a figure of speech. However living in West Yorkshire I've hit a fair few pot holes with these wheels and they haven't needed trueing so they are a dependable set

johanalexander

PTestTeam wrote:

I can recommend the Miche Syntium's. Great wheels for the money. 1580 gr, smooth as silk and bomb proof

http://www.miche.it/en/products/wheels/ ... m-axy.html

http://road.cc/content/review/170567-mi ... y-wheelset

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/1772603/produ ... AlTT8P8HAQ

The Miche's seems to be a great wheelset aswell and good reviews. However, they seem to be out of stock on the places I have looked, at least with shimano compability

johanalexander

A set of Zondas arrived today

Anonymous

photos please!

johanalexander

coriordan wrote:

photos please!

Will post when the tyres/tubes have been mounted! For some reason the shipment got split into two parcels and the small one is being a bit late.

johanalexander

So, I just came in from a quick and soaked maiden spin with the new wheels, and the difference was a big one. The wheels spin really well, acceleration was faster, it was easier to maintain the speed, and they climb really well. Unfortunately on my way home the rain started pouring heavily, so I was a bit cautious. The ride is somewhat smoother, but I guess this has more to do with a new set of 25 instead of 23mm tyres. Here is a picture of the bike.


And here is the Strava file, if that's interesting:
https://www.strava.com/activities/691962288