New wheels - A worthwhile upgrade? What to go for?

dannyjames1

I'm in the market for a new set of wheels. I'm currently running heavy cheapo box rim Fulcrum Racing sport. They do they job but I know they are heavy, probably not very aerodynamic at all and I get the impression that the seals on them are crap and they get little bits of grime in resulting in an annoying grind even though the still turn smooth.

One wheelset that caught my eye is the Novatec Jetfly. It's marketed as an alloy training wheel but has 32mm deep rims and a very respectable weight of just under 1450 grams for a pair presumably without skewers which seems to offer a little bit of both aero/lightweight. I guess the hubs would probably be better than the fulcrums meaning more efficient power transfer of power to the wheels?

I've been looking at 40mm deep carbon wheels, poss. second hand to save a bit of cash but I'm just not sure due to braking performance and some of the roads I ride on are aboslutely horrendous and I wouldn't want to risk messing them up going over a pothole or poorly paved roads that feel like going over rumble strips.

So would an upgrade to my wheels actually improve my riding experience or performance?
Any wheel recommendations or anyone who's used the jetflys?

tonysj

I upgraded my stock wheels earlier this year and found it made quite a big difference.
I swapped my magic rimmed wheels from my boardman team carbon and bought the CERO AR24 wheels from Cycledivision. Light weight and look and ride well. No problems at all so far and for less that £200 I think a good but.
I've put a review of fisrst impressions on here somewhere if you want to search.
I couldn't justify spending a lot on a sub £1000 bike to be honest but glad I got these.
Regards.
Tony.

dannyjames1

TonySJ wrote:

I upgraded my stock wheels earlier this year and found it made quite a big difference.
I swapped my magic rimmed wheels from my boardman team carbon and bought the CERO AR24 wheels from Cycledivision. Light weight and look and ride well. No problems at all so far and for less that £200 I think a good but.
I've put a review of fisrst impressions on here somewhere if you want to search.
I couldn't justify spending a lot on a sub £1000 bike to be honest but glad I got these.
Regards.
Tony.

Yeah I agree it wouldn't be worth it if it was a more entry level bike. around £600-700 seems to be where you start getting something rather good if you know where to look.

My bike was an absolute steal at £1500. It's a Planet X RT80 (really a dengfu fm066 frame) but it's comfortable and pretty responsive along with Dura Ace 9000 minus the ultegra casette/chain. Wouldn't expect that level of bike for £1500 but the wheels really let it down. They seem pretty flexy too and I feel like the bike needs some new, better ones to bring them in line with the rest of the spec.