Wheel Hire / Will this kill me?

meesterbond

At last count I think I own 10 different sets of bike wheels and whilst preparing for my trip to the Alps at the end of month I've realised that none of them are idea (they're either carbon clinchers, TT wheels, not 11-speed compatible, disc rather than rim, 26" etc etc).

Anyway, I'd rather not buy another pair if I can help it so was wondering whether anyone knows of somewhere that'll hire me a decent pair of alloy clinchers (or tubs for that matter). There are a few places that'll hire deep section race wheels but I haven't seen anywhere they'll do me a set of C24s or similar.

Alternatively, I've got two options with my current collection:
- Zipp303s FC Clinchers. Pros - they're on the bike already and work. Cons - Carbon clinchers, in the Alps... death is almost certain.

Or

- Campag Bora One Tubs - Pros - Tubulars, so safer than clinchers, also really light. Cons - currently campag so new cassette / freewheel needed to be fitted, change of pads, set up etc

Any thoughts...

ugo.santalucia

Campg 11 cassette is compatible with Shimano 11 drivetrain, so problem solved

meesterbond

Hmmm. Might be possible, although it doesn't look like Campag do a cassette with a 28 tooth gear and eTap's theoretical maximum is 28T so might need a bit of experimentation...

Probably a better option than the Zipps, although will need to dig through the brakes box to see if I've got any Campag pads that'll fit the ee pad holders.

ugo.santalucia

is it a case of too much, but not enough stuff?

svetty

meesterbond wrote:

Hmmm. Might be possible, although it doesn't look like Campag do a cassette with a 28 tooth gear and eTap's theoretical maximum is 28T so might need a bit of experimentation...

Probably a better option than the Zipps, although will need to dig through the brakes box to see if I've got any Campag pads that'll fit the ee pad holders.

I doubt that a 29 tooth sprocket would be a problem....

964cup

Bora Ones with a 12-29 cassette would be a good choice, IMO. Will shift fine with eTap, and they're light enough. Haven't ridden a set, so don't know what the crosswind performance is like, which would be my only concern.

'course what you're supposed to do is use it as an excuse to buy a set of *really* light wheels. AX Lightness Ultra 24Ts come in at 784g the set. How can you resist?

meesterbond

ugo.santalucia wrote:

is it a case of too much, but not enough stuff?

Isn't it always?

meesterbond

964Cup wrote:

Bora Ones with a 12-29 cassette would be a good choice, IMO. Will shift fine with eTap, and they're light enough. Haven't ridden a set, so don't know what the crosswind performance is like, which would be my only concern.

'course what you're supposed to do is use it as an excuse to buy a set of *really* light wheels. AX Lightness Ultra 24Ts come in at 784g the set. How can you resist?

I think for a week or so a year, a new cassette for the Boras would probably be slightly more cost effective (particularly when I've got a new frame on the way that I haven't yet exactly mentioned to the missus).

mugensi

Do you know anyone that would loan you a set of wheels for the duration of your trip? You could give them a set of your wheels in exchange?

scott_w1987

Running tubs on holiday sounds a bit risky and could cause possible annoyance...

DanTe1

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Campg 11 cassette is compatible with Shimano 11 drivetrain, so problem solved

Well, I never knew that. So you can just pop a set of campag 11's wheels onto a shimano 11 drivetrain and ride off into the sunset no problems?

meesterbond

DanTe1 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Campg 11 cassette is compatible with Shimano 11 drivetrain, so problem solved

Well, I never knew that. So you can just pop a set of campag 11's wheels onto a shimano 11 drivetrain and ride off into the sunset no problems?

Well, having tried, the cassettes are as near as damnit the same - didn't even need to reindex when I swapped.

Unfortunately I've had more trouble getting the brake callipers to fit the narrower rims so given up on that idea and I'm going to go with the Zipps.

DanTe1

That's actually really useful to know! I've a set of old campag zondas, bought on a whim with the idea of replacing the freehub without realizing a shimano freehub is 50/60£, couldn't be bothered to eBay em as a buyer would no doubt complain about wear - this means I can now use them as winter hacks without further £'s.. Nice..

Good luck with your trip. Not sure I'd fancy the Zipps myself as I'm 82kg and would be concerned about the rims when braking.
For my last trip with a similar problem I went mental and bought a set of Mavic rsys's, fantastic wheels but perhaps not for someone who's 82kg they bend like buggery.

964cup

scott_w1987 wrote:

Running tubs on holiday sounds a bit risky and could cause possible annoyance...

Why? I run tubs all the time and it hasn't annoyed anyone yet. Tubular wheelsets are (roughly) 3-400g lighter all in than clincher, and don't suffer from exploding rim syndrome. I'd say running clinchers was more likely to cause annoyance if you're going to the Alps - two people popped tyres from overbraking on our last trip.

DanTe1 wrote:

Mavic rsys's, fantastic wheels but perhaps not for someone who's 82kg they bend like buggery.

Not been my experience, and I wobble about between 78 and 81kg depending on cheese & beer intake. They're my go to wheel it's raining, and I'm commuting on them at the moment, so I feel I've given them a reasonable work-out. Tubs mind, so YMMV with clinchers (although I can't see why).

DanTe1

964Cup wrote:

scott_w1987 wrote:

Running tubs on holiday sounds a bit risky and could cause possible annoyance...

Why? I run tubs all the time and it hasn't annoyed anyone yet. Tubular wheelsets are (roughly) 3-400g lighter all in than clincher, and don't suffer from exploding rim syndrome. I'd say running clinchers was more likely to cause annoyance if you're going to the Alps - two people popped tyres from overbraking on our last trip.

DanTe1 wrote:

Mavic rsys's, fantastic wheels but perhaps not for someone who's 82kg they bend like buggery.

Not been my experience, and I wobble about between 78 and 81kg depending on cheese & beer intake. They're my go to wheel it's raining, and I'm commuting on them at the moment, so I feel I've given them a reasonable work-out. Tubs mind, so YMMV with clinchers (although I can't see why).

Do you get brake rub when out of the saddle? If I try and sprint on mine the flex is almost disconcerting. I've often wondered if it's just the front and if there's a problem.
A mate who works in the trade says it's a common complaint.

964cup

DanTe1 wrote:

Do you get brake rub when out of the saddle? If I try and sprint on mine the flex is almost disconcerting. I've often wondered if it's just the front and if there's a problem.
A mate who works in the trade says it's a common complaint.

Yes, but not as badly as, for instance, my Zipp 808s. Certainly not enough to be off-putting (and I run my pads very close to the wheel, so if they really flexed I'd know about it). I often play the "if I could only keep one" game in my head, and I have to say I think this would be the set I kept (from a sample of 16 sets, so reasonably representative, I suppose). Light enough to use in the mountains, stiff enough for me at any rate (80kg, 915w 5s power, so hardly Jason Kenny) and by far the best wet weather braking performance of any rim-braked wheel I've ever ridden. They're not the most aero things in the world, but then I suppose neither am I.

scott_w1987

964Cup wrote:

scott_w1987 wrote:

Running tubs on holiday sounds a bit risky and could cause possible annoyance...

Why? I run tubs all the time and it hasn't annoyed anyone yet. Tubular wheelsets are (roughly) 3-400g lighter all in than clincher, and don't suffer from exploding rim syndrome. I'd say running clinchers was more likely to cause annoyance if you're going to the Alps - two people popped tyres from overbraking on our last trip.

Horses for courses. I know the advantages of running tubs, I used to run them all the time but now just keep them on my good wheels for racing only. I wouldn't fancy riding 50 miles back to base down alpine descents on a spare tub that isn't properly glued on, then having to mess around on holiday gluing or taping a new tub on in the evening before riding the next day. How many tubs do you take with you as a precaution, one, two, ten? Obviously punctures don't happen that often but you could have a massively unlucky run... I chucked 15 tubes in my bike bag when I went away for two weeks, I didn't use any!

I'd always carry two tubes plus enough patches to fix multiple punctures in a day, the same is obviously possible with tubs, but definitely not as easy.

Heavy clinchers make for better training. Don't over brake.

964cup

I carry a spare tub and some Tufo Extreme; I also run a bit of Stans or Caffe Lattex sealant prefilled in the tub (Stans for butyl inners like Conti, Caffe Lattex for latex like Challenge or Vittoria). I've had to use my spare tub at the roadside maybe three times in 32,000km. I suppose if that happened more often, that might change my mind.

scott_w1987

That's a similar setup to what I use at the end of race season when I'm wearing down my tubs on training rides before winter sets in - but I'm not sure I would do the same if I was on holiday in the Alps. Although I did have a fairly bad run of tub punctures when I used to train/ride on them, hence me only using them on my race wheels and now running heavy clinchers for training.