Single wheel upgrades?

pbassred

I frequently see questions about wheel upgrades. Very often the poster wants to pay very little for a set only to be told that what they can afford isn't much better that what they have. Why not upgrade ( say) just the front. Use all the money for an absolutely scintillating lightweight areo wheel which may enhance performance and follow with a second later?

fenix

Pretty sure its cheaper to buy a pair together than separate ? So its false economy for probably very little difference ?

poptart242

If you look at aero...sure, spend all your money on the front wheel, and run a box section alu rim on the back.

But then that's not the real reason 95% of us upgrade, is it!

burnthesheep

Sometimes you'll find a used front for really cheap because someone busted the rear somehow. Then they didn't want a mismatched replacement and sold the front.

If you're doing TT on a low low budget, it's a legitimate option. It's not pretty, but it's cheaper.

Having to sell just a front often plunges the used price since nobody wants it.

If you direct email companies that sell them, you can often get a quote on a single. Albeit it is 75% the cost of a pair.

ben@31

I thought it was the weight of the wheels that made most of the difference.
Any aero benefit only occurs if you can maintain over a certain speed.
But deep carbon rims do look nice.

simon_masterson

ben@31 wrote:

I thought it was the weight of the wheels that made most of the difference.
Any aero benefit only occurs if you can maintain over a certain speed.
But deep carbon rims do look nice.

Who told you that? It may have been the thing that racers were obsessed with 30-40 years ago (hence <300g aluminium rims and just putting up with flexiness and broken spokes), but weight is weight, no matter where it is on the bike (though very light wheels are nice to ride), and all riders will benefit from more aerodynamic wheels - even if at lower speeds it's very little.

Grill

ben@31 wrote:

I thought it was the weight of the wheels that made most of the difference.
Any aero benefit only occurs if you can maintain over a certain speed.
But deep carbon rims do look nice.

This is a common fallacy. CdA doesn't change at speed (except when wind is taken into account as a slower rider will see higher yaw). Aero improvements benefit all riders.

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/aero-for-slower-riders.html?m=1