Wheel Help!

domdom1980

I'm looking to upgrade the PR2 Wheelset on my giant tcr advanced 2 disc, and am absolutely flummoxed as to what to buy!

I don't race, more weekend rides of up to 50 miles, a few hills but nothing to serious.

I've read about a thousand reviews, everything from Borgs to Zondas, and still have no idea what to go with!

I definitely want tubeless, and if they are 6 Bolt, it's handy as it would be a straight swap (but I can always convert to centre lock), I'm just looking for something that rolls well, will last, and comes in around £700 to £800 for the pair.

All suggestions appreciated! 

lemonenema

I must say I dont like these HELP! posts, what youre after is advice, then ask for such

imposter2.0

'Rolls well'. Most wheels will.

Is there anything actually wrong with the wheels you already have? If not, what are you expecting from a new set?

lesfirth

lemonenema wrote:

I must say I dont like these HELP! posts, what youre after is advice, then ask for such

Are you having a bad day ? The guy just wants some help in making a decision. If you don't like his post just ignore it.

I recently had the same decision to make. I bought some Cero ARD23. My first tubeless set up. Dead easy . I have done about 200 miles and I am really pleased with them. I don't know if they " roll well " or "spin up quick" all that is lost on me
and they are below you budget.

cycleclinic

The question imposter asks is the one you should be asking. What wrong with the wheels you have. What do you want from new ones.

Is it lower weight, better warranty, serviceability, longer bearing life, better looking rims, a brand that make you feel like you have the best... Or perhaps you just want new wheels.

If you want better wheels as many do you really have to define better first.

Reviews are only so good.

What the hell am I saying of course you need new wheels and they should be borgs. Of course that also not true. Define what's better to you that will narrow down choices.

domdom1980

Thanks, sort of, for the replies.

I can't really see how putting 'help' instead of 'advice' really matters, but apparently the wording is really important on here.

As for my original post, I'm just asking for some upgrade 'advice' for some wheels. As I said, I'm pretty new to cycling, I like my bike, I understand a wheel upgrade is a good way to improve it, for example, holding speed better, improved response, more reactive climbing

A few suggestions for decent wheels around the £600 mark, fairly light, durable, that others have found good. Doesn't seem so hard a question to me, but then I'm new and don't know what I'm on about!

lemonenema

As a more helpful reply from me then, Id suggest using DCR wheels
https://dcrwheels.co.uk/
They are an established wheelbuilder, you can tell them what you are looking for / would like to achieve and what your budget is and they can advise you on the best wheelset they can build for you. Ive bought 3 wheels from them and they have all been excellent

domdom1980

lemonenema wrote:

As a more helpful reply from me then, Id suggest using DCR wheels
https://dcrwheels.co.uk/
They are an established wheelbuilder, you can tell them what you are looking for / would like to achieve and what your budget is and they can advise you on the best wheelset they can build for you. Ive bought 3 wheels from them and they have all been excellent

Many thanks!

imposter2.0

Domdom1980 wrote:

As for my original post, I'm just asking for some upgrade 'advice' for some wheels. As I said, I'm pretty new to cycling, I like my bike, I understand a wheel upgrade is a good way to improve it, for example, holding speed better, improved response, more reactive climbing

Generally speaking, you cannot 'buy' performance improvements, especially if you are new to cycling. And if you are new to cycling - and on the basis that your current wheelset is still perfectly functional - then just keep riding and the improvements will come.

cycleclinic

The question you are asking is too broad. you are asking for opinions and we for once are not willing to give them.

If you were getting spoke failures or relialability issues the advise could be tailored to that. If you want more aero wheel then that could be answered too.

What you are asking is what best. Define best and it can be answered otherwise you are asking what best for us when you dont know how we are defining best. Clear - I hope so because thats why we have not answered you. I get lots of these email at the shop. People wanting advise, reading reveiews and they cant make there mind up because they dont know what they are trying to improve about there bike. That = no sale and they probably dont need new wheels anyway so that fine. If you want new wheels because you new wheels you them need to decide what you want from them. do you want to be faster then they need to be more aero which means deep. If you want reliability then that influences hub, spoke and rim choice. Spares availability is a factor too. Are they available and are they affordable.

Ask the right questions and you get a good answer. Ask a vauge question.....

cougie

£800 for a set of wheels sounds pretty serious to me. I have raced on far cheaper sets than you're getting for the weekly 50 miles.

For that cash you could have a week cycling in Mallorca - that would give you a better improvement for your cash.

yiannism

I ride for 4 years, and ive bought 4 bikes. My toughest decision it was the wheels, so i can understand you. I cant really suggest you wheels, but i can tell you what to check. 1st its the budget, 2nd is the profile and the 3rd is the functionality, are they suitable for your weight? if you want tubeless, are wide enough? what about the spare parts? what about the quality of the hubs? What about the weight?

zeee

I too am relatively new to cycling and I would advise you to just ride your bike and enjoy it unless there is something wrong with your current set of wheels. I know once you get the bug you are keen to upgrade especially when you see all these lightweight carbon or aero wheels online. Once you gain experience you will eventually know exactly what you want out of a new set of wheels. It is easy at this point to spend 6/700 on a nice shiny new set only to be disappointed when they feel no different to the set they replaced.

domdom1980

Thanks for the replies folks, I guess I'm just looking to find out what people have bought, and what and what they have been impressed with.

There are so many options out there, it's kinda hard to see how to make sense of it all! As I said at the start, I'm pretty new to all this and all advice is good advice!

cougie

I binned my deep rim wheels for lower profile ultegra. I think they were £200 or so and seem fine. Much better in the wind.

Mate has some expensive carbon FFWD wheels and mine seem to go round at the same speed

shewy

hunt wheels get a good write up and not that expensive (in wheel terms)

cycleclinic

Exactly op you asking for other people's opinions. They will be conflicting. For example I find my deep carbon wheels very stable in crossword winds.

Deep rims are more aero generally that does not mean you can't ride at the same pace with shallower wheels but it should require more effort. I know at 39kph there is a 10w difference between my borg50C wheels and a set of Mavic ksyriums (alloy rims). In a group though you could be on either wheel and ride happily at 30kph without difficulty. You see both statements are true.

As to another poster who had difficulty picking wheels I remember email exchange with him. I have many such email exchanges and there are some people who agonise over wheel choice, I can't work out why. I don't find it difficult to choose the choices are simple.

I built a new set yesterday to start testing. It has a new hub that's my own design. The wheels feel exactly how I expected them to feel. It's all quite predicable.

Spending more won't improve his a wheel feels by it self. There are plenty of £800 wheels I would not want to ride.

As for your giant wheels, to get something that's going to feel like you have bought a better wheelset you will need something stiffer, radially, laterally and torsionally. Personally I can spot wheels that are by knowing the rim profile, spokes and hub geometry. It's a book to me. You can ignore the marketing blurb. That's tells you almost nothing. Brand names are not a good guide either.

That's why your confused. That's what I mean by your asking the wrong questions.

Start with what you don't like about your current wheels. For example, weigh them bare. Then find out if you can get replacement freehubs. Without being able to buy a replacement freehub your wheels are on borrowed time.

Then buy something stiffer, more aero and perhaps a bit lighter than what you have. I put weight last as it's the least important that thing in how a wheelset feels.

neilkav1

I’ve had these for 2 years - been bombproof. £500 for the set, Taiwanese components, built in UK, and 2 year warranty. Benefits for me have been as follows;

1) they look good - lol pretty sure that’s at the top of many peoples list for deep carbon wheels, they just won’t admit it!
2) they are very comfortable compared to the askiums that they replaced - wider rims and have been able to fit 25mm tyres, I personally find them much comfier
3) they are stiffer and IMO (I stress this is all my own humble opinion) they accelerate and climb better.

Pretty sure I’ll be lambasted by the experts on here, but as I say just my own personal opinion.

https://www.baxcarbon.co.uk/

I’ve got 50mm front and rear and find them absolutely fine in the wind.

cycleclinic

I would only take issue with bombproof. No wheel is bombproof. I'd demonstrate but I might get arrested.

cougie

Even my shallow rims were catching the wind going past gaps in hedges today. But it was very windy.

neilkav1

thecycleclinic wrote:

I would only take issue with bombproof. No wheel is bombproof. I'd demonstrate but I might get arrested.

Lol good point - guess I mean pretty damn hardy!

mugensi

If I had your budget I'd get a set of Fulcrum Quattro DB wheels. I cant see past Fulcrum/Campagnolo wheels and have owned several sets of them. I have carbon Quattros on my best bike and Racing 5 DB's on my winter/trainer and cant fauly either wheelset. Have previously owned Zondas, Bora's, Racing 3's and Quattro LG's, never an issue with any of them and now don't even consider any other brand when looking for wheels.

andyh01

Sorry op not sure what your current setup.is or sort of riding you're looking to do.

Tyres can have a big effect on handling too and it maybe possible to convert current wheels to tubeless.

As others say, don't expect miracles from a new set, even if on a given day, you happen to be 30 seconds quicker, who's to say that's down to the wheels/tyres

There's a post recently about feeling underwhelmed by the new wheels

photonic69

Buy ones you like the look of. You spend more time off the bike by the sounds of it so more time looking at it. If you rode it more you won't notice what they are.

If you ride a lot and in all weathers then priorities would be - Easily serviceable and replaceable hub bearings and freehub. Then secondly rims that take tyres easily i.e. you can get tyres on and off without too much effort.

keef66

I'm an old git now, so when I choose a new wheelset I'll be looking for a dynohub, wider rims (possibly tubeless), plenty of spokes, robust cartridge bearings, DIY friendly hubs and freely available spares. All of which point me towards Mr Borg who is conveniently close...

However, reading between the lines of your posts it sounds like you want to tart up your bike and you have the money burning a hole in your pocket. Nothing wrong with that.

So prioritise the 6-bolt disc wheels you like the look of first, and forget all the other considerations.

(and choose a tubeless ready rim only if you'll one day run tubeless. Some combinations of tubeless rims and clincher tyres can be a bit of a challenge at the roadside)

cycleclinic

Kinlin rims are the best for tubeless compatibility as are Mavic UST, Campagnolo/fulcrum 2way fit and shimano tubeless. all dancing round the same pinhead. Tubeless tyres should be a tight fit. That the point you should not be remvoving them to fit a tube period. A tubeless tyre should remain firmly seated when flat. You plugs the hole, yes that works every time when I do it and reinflate to a pressure the plug will tollerate and ride home. Experiement at home with what pressure that plug will hold and then decide if its a permenant repair or not. The rim brands above (kinlin rims are rebranded. my alloy rims are kinlins for example) are all properly tubeless compatible. not many other actually are even if they claim to be.

domdom1980

keef66 wrote:

I'm an old git now, so when I choose a new wheelset I'll be looking for a dynohub, wider rims (possibly tubeless), plenty of spokes, robust cartridge bearings, DIY friendly hubs and freely available spares. All of which point me towards Mr Borg who is conveniently close...

However, reading between the lines of your posts it sounds like you want to tart up your bike and you have the money burning a hole in your pocket. Nothing wrong with that.

So prioritise the 6-bolt disc wheels you like the look of first, and forget all the other considerations.

(and choose a tubeless ready rim only if you'll one day run tubeless. Some combinations of tubeless rims and clincher tyres can be a bit of a challenge at the roadside)

Thanks Keef, I suppose you are pretty much spot on, I love the bike and fancy getting something new for it, and am fortunate enough that I can right now.
In terms of disc brakes, should I only be aiming for 6 bolt, or are the centre lock adapters actually OK? The only wheels I can find in 6 bolt that I really like are Zonda C17s, Fulcrum quattro and campag shamals I like too, but can only find them in centre lock fitting

keef66

No experience of disc brakes myself*, so I can't answer that.

No doubt somebody will be along in a minute to tell you...

*not on bikes anyway. Lots of experience with cars though