Can anyone help me decide on some road wheels.

Looking at some shimano rs80 or some 52mm planet x carbon clinchers.

Live in switzerland, do a lot of hills (1000m +) so a lot of up with a bit of flat.

The 52mm clinchers are 1796g vs Rs80 1521g which is about 300g difference.

Am I going to notice 300g? are these aero wheels just going to piss me off on the climbs or is there an advantage to be had.

Going on a nanolight if that makes any difference.

Planing for the Etape !

My RS80’s are still true after my lardy ass has done 3500 miles on them. Very good wheels.

If you are fast enough then aero is faster, he that matters. Lighter will prob feel faster.

You can get £1500 handbuilts cheaper.

I run tubeless and heartily recommend it.

Aren’t RS80s supposed to be a bit flexy?

oh yeah its the 24mm Rs80s not the fancy pants 50mm ones

Uphill nothing beats a light weight wheel with a light tyre.

Dull looking wheels with a proper spoke count can be lighter and cheaper than a factory wheel
See the extra lite web site or stans notube ready build road wheels

Weight makes little difference to times, even on climbs, even at the rim.

See the tests.

But it makes me feel better and that’s all that matters to me

Weight makes little difference to times, even on climbs, even at the rim. See the tests.

That may be true, but road riding, particularly for those who don’t race, is about much more than just times: I know from my Dh bike that putting lighter wheels on the bike makes a noticeable difference to the handling and the feel of the bike. This can lead to a greater enjoyment of riding the bike, which can then lead to you riding more and maybe also improving your times, if that concerns you.

I do also feel that lighter wheels are faster to accelerate, again resulting in a more spritely and enjoyable ride.

I agree! Just pointing it out…

Interesting test:

How much time does extra weight cost on Alpe d’Huez?

I’ve discovered that my planet x model b wheels are actually pretty light !

1653grms vs the rs80 1521gms so we’re talking about 132grms… am I going to notice that !

I guess for all this bloody climbing the weight is going to be the thing so the aeros are probably out almost 1800g..

Didn’t Planet X stop selling their carbon clinchers? Warranty issues?! Or am I making that up!

Saying that, I had a set of their carbon clinchers about 3 years back. Braking was a bit sketchy in the wet (with decent pads – Swissstops). Might want to think about that braking in the wet!

go for a handbiult set…..were do start telling you why?

Weight makes little difference to times, even on climbs, even at the rim. See the tests.

Which tests might these be? I’d be interested to read.
I didn’t know cycling defied the laws of physics.

Climbing speed afaik is all about power-to-weight. I don’t know any road cyclists who would like to drag unnecessary weight upwards on a climb either.

maybe i should just go down to 1 water bottle and save 500g !

mudsux see link above.

I do think weighting the tires with water wasn’t ideal…it will flow round.

OK. Given the pedigree of the cyclist in the experiment – he was producing about 275 watts for each climb. The average club cyclist won’t be able to attain this. Which means differences in time for the club cyclist will be more pronounced.
+900g rotational weight per wheel adds about 30 seconds.
An additional 1.8kg in weight is about 2 minutes.
If we were to use a lower wattage (more akin to a club cyclist) ~ I think the timings would open up a lot more.

To me – however small the timing differences – it shows weight does matter.

If you’re not worried about minutes (let’s face it – that’s all they will be) then maybe go with aero. I’m not sure how aero’s would fare on a windy descent though. I’ve heard some of those Alp descents are pretty hairy and the last thing I would want is to be fighting my bike in a cross wind.

Water in the tyres is not going to make much difference compared to static weight simply because I struggle to see how the water in the tyre is accelerating and decelerating with the rim and tyre. It’s just moving with the bike as a whole, not going round with the rim and wheel. It will a little from the small amount of friction between tyre and water.

Mud how will a less powerful cyclist experience greater differences?

I understand other tests show aero is faster, for fast riders, until you get to a steep climb.

Mud how will a less powerful cyclist experience greater differences?

timewise, a less powerful cyclist will take longer to make the same ascent.

😳 got things wrong way round in my wee head…