Advice on new graphene wheels
SmithAndEastern
Posts: 7
Hi guys long story short i'm planning a long trip to france using only my camping gear and bike but one of my biggest concerns is obviously the weight issues, i can do without a lot of things but the easier i can make it on myself the better, one such thing i come across is vittoria qurano 46 (does anyone know about these wheels?) they are super light and feel i may benefit from them, is this something i should look into or are there other more important things i should be concerned about regarding weight? i read a promising review of the wheels which can be found here http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/vittoria ... ne-wheels/ with the hefty price tag convincing the wife might be harder than the up hills 
whats your take on this? worth it or not?
whats your take on this? worth it or not? 0
Posts
If touring then you want some reliable wheels with readily serviceable parts /replaceable spokes
ABCC Cycling Coach
1. They won't take the weight even if you are light the kit wont be once added
2. French roads will destroy them. You never wayched Paris Roubaix? Those are very typical northen france roads. If you want to stick to smooth tarmac then you defeat the whole purpose of your initial challenge
3. Carbon braking surface rims in anything other than dry weather are deadly.
Wjy not just get some very sturdy hand built wheels with the widest tyres your frame will allow
Any stats to back this up?
they are very strong, the spokes are not unique to Vitt so u could take a few with you just in case and the wet weather braking is great BUT why? touring isnt about going fast and any marginal gains will be wiped out by the camping kit and clothing you ll be carrying - they are also tubular rims, so you ll need to take spare tubs and know how to glue/repair them.
Get some HB alloy clincher wheels and a few spare spokes.
the roads throughout france are very good.
There are all sorts of sites (blogs and forums) out there offering advice on touring. Start there. But don't mention graphene wheels; you'll get laughed off the page.
Weight issues, when it comes to the wheels, should be the least of your concerns. When you spec wheels for touring, you think about the spoke count and rim sturdiness and reputation. Weight does matter a little - no need for extra tough rims if you are keeping to the roads and not heavy yourself - but really, this is somewhere to errr on the side of caution. Rigida rims, Shimano Deore hubs are a good option.
I spent three months in Scandinavia in 2015 - kept things lightish and shared the load a bit with a mate. I was still carrying getting on for 20kg on top of a 15kg bike. How much weight would lighter wheels save off that? But as it was a touring bike, the low gearing meant the climbs were not an issue. They just took longer.
I would start by making sure I had a proper touring bike to tour on - if you haven't got that then the wheels are neither here nor there. You can get a complete tourer for less than the price of those wheels. This would do - http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p2983 ... eel-Tourer. You probably need the rest of the money for a decent set of Carradice or Ortlieb panniers and the numerous other bits that add up to a surprisingly expensive trip.
Not sure whether you have ever toured before, but the key is reliability... you want reliable wheels, not light wheels. I don't know much about the Qurano, but one thing for sure, they are not designed with touring in mind.
Pretty sure you can save a lot more weight on your camping equipment
If you want to get literal then maybe not. But they are far from ideal
Apparently they used to split in half... there is an entertaining story about it by Hutch, who owned one