I picked up a 2015 sora equipped Diverge A1 for a silly cheap price.

I have bought a 5800 105 11spd groupset and am looking to upgrade the wheels.

Most people have gone for Kenesis CX V3

Is there anything else I should consider?

Budget is around 300

Cheers

James

Think they may be over budget but Hunt wheels seem to get reviews?

Novatec CXD (review here). A little bit more cash than the Kinesis but lighter.

Kinesis CX disc v3’s on my Diverge – followed the crowd, got a good price……

No complaints after 9 months.

A

Andy,

What diverge did you upgrade the wheels on?

I got a basic Diverge A1 (the black/blue one) with Claris (for a great price from my LBS) Picked up a cheap 5800 group set, then sold the STIs and spyres as new on eBay to fund a set of RS685 hydros from Germany…..

Total bike after buying and selling kit (including old wheels and Claris group set) came to about £800 all in – well happy!!

A

Same as me except I started with the Sora spec one.

I’ve got the Sora Diverge and the first thing I did was upgrade the wheels to the Kinesis CX Disc’s.
They’re doing well so far after quite a bit of use, still running straight and smooth. From memory they were about 1kg lighter than the OE wheels.

I’ve upgraded mine to Ultegra 11 speed after making the most of a special the Merlin were running.

Anymore ideas?

Looks like it’s going to be the CX V3s

Thanks for all your replies

I “nearly” went for Hope Pro 2’s on stan’s grails, but decided to go with the kinesis wheels due to cost.

I’ve managed to get them to work tubeless with stan’s tape and valves and Schwalbe ones.

Looks like the v4s are even better – thru axle compatible, XD driver and tubeless ready. Looks like a good future-proof option!

A

Quite a chunk more expensive and centre lock not 6 bolt.

I did fancy some nice noisy Hope hubs though.

I just upgraded my GT grade wheels to Kinesis and again with some Michelin Pro4 25mm, ti skewers and lighter discs saved 1kg. Only ridden round the block but it felt like a different bike. The rear end felt like an anchor with the OEM wheels in.

My only worry is that it took me ages to get the tyres on and wouldn’t fancy fixing a puncture at the roadside. What 28mm road tyres are folk running 25mm seems to defeat the object of having a gravel bike.

The kinesis hubs are pretty noisy not Pro 2 noisy but loud enough

Just being very cheeky but I’ll soon be selling a pair of Stan’s Grail rims (32 hole). Only been used for a few very short rides.

One careful lady owner…..

😉

As an aside, for those of us on the crabon fribe Diverge, Hope have a SCS hub due for release imminently. I’ll update when I have any more info!

Absolutely! They’ve been used with Hope hubs. 🙂

I may splash out for some new nice skewers too.

Cinnamon Girl? Selling full wheels or just rims?

CFH – What tyres are on your diverge?

I too have the SWorks CGR Post. Makes a real difference

jmatlock – rims only.

At the moment, Challenge Strada Bianca in the “Open Tubular” version.

Not 100% they’re staying on over the winter. They’re very, very lovely feeling tyres, but not sure they’re tough enough for a winter of Hampshire/Wiltshire lanes and flints!

Fancy finding something like a Conti 4Seasons in a 30-32 width.

They look the part. I love how your diverge looks.

Mine started life as a cheap winter runabout.

I have since retired my CAAD8 and have fallen for the Diverge.

It just eats up the miles. So comfortable .

They look the part. I love how your diverge looks.

Thanks! I’m more in love with the way it rides, though! 🙂 Oh, apart from the skinwalls, which not only ride brilliantly, but also look all of teh orsumz!

Yeah, it’s a lovey bike to ride. Doesn’t hurt that yours is so easy on the eye.

I prefer the 2015 colour-ways to the new 2016 Models.

Of the 2016 ones, just imagine this with my tyres on it….

(Black saddle and tape, though. Obviously.)

Yeah, that’s the ticket that one.

So, Kinesis wheel owners, what QR skewers did you go for?

What size do I need? Road or mtb?

Stainypanys – What skewers did you go for?

For skewers – staple and reliable choice:

Shimano XT

A

So, a few site suggest the Kenesis wheels are not designed to run 100psi on 30mm tires.

Any advice?

Or, any ideas about an alternative set for around £300-350

I am very confused now

Hmmm, I didn’t see that advice when I got mine.

I ran 100psi (sometimes over) on 30mm and 28mm tyres with no ill effects……

A

So, a few site suggest the Kenesis wheels are not designed to run 100psi on 30mm tires.

I can’t say that I’ve ever needed to run 100psi on 30mm tyres with the Diverge. I currently run the Roubaix Pro 30/32c tyres and they’re spot on at 80psi for the road or dropped to about 60psi off road.

For skewers, I just used the skewers that were supplied with the wheels.

Anyone stuck any wide tyres on ? I want to run mine on some medium off-road, thinking of Cross Boss or even wider…

There definitely looks like there is room for a 35mm tire.

I hope someone can confirm for you.

I’d say 35mm as well, which is what Spesh themselves have said, but as ever, dependent on the profile of your knobs. Hur. Hur. Hur.

Am going to try something like a Challenge Grifo or a Spesh Terra Pro at some point over the winter. Latter is tubless ready, which appeals, but the former is skinwall. Which is betterer! 🙂

I ordered the CX V3s the other day so thank you for all your advice. I also dropped pressures from 100 down to 70 and haven’t noticed any extra rolling resistance or drop in speed.

I wonder how low I could go before I did notice a negative effect on Tarmac.

I find that they start to feel a bit draggy below about 65psi running the Roubaix Pro’s.

I’ve read on other forums that people have managed to run Specialized Trigger and Tracer tyres on the carbon Diverge which I think are 33c but not sure about anything bigger than that.
I tried a set of 35c Clement X’Plor USH but they only had 1 or 2mm of clearance with the frame so I never actually took the bike anywhere with them fitted.

I’ve been looking for some 33c tyres to try on bridleways and the likes once it gets a bit wetter but not really found anything other than the Specialized tyres.

Oooh, very interesting. Which frame was that, and where was it tightest ?
On the carbon, my calipers show 45mm on the rear fork, I’d be happy with just a couple of mm clearance (heli-taped, of course). I was thinking of getting a WTB nano to try…

That was with the alloy frame, not the Smartweld one. The tightest point was between the seat stays.

I was a bit disappointed when I found this as I was hoping that it would actually take a 35c tyre like Specialized suggest on their website. The tight clearance makes tyre choice a bit more awkward and If I’d have known beforehand I’d probably have went for a GT Grade instead.

Width, not height. How interesting. On the carbon, it looks like height might be the limiter…

I can’t recommend the Hunt disc wheels enough. They’re light and although i’ve only done a couple of hundred km on them, I can’t complain so far