OT – Dark Side "Race" Wheel upgrade

Know what you mean, my race bike Shimano but these seem to have a simple goodness to them if you know what I mean. And I'm sure the earlier ones didn't have so much lettering on the rims. In fact I'm not sure I like any lettering on road rims, sorta looks cheap.

interesting tragically – been doing ALOT of reading on aero regards deep rims and disks ….

they reckon you can run a 50 in any weather on the front if your over 70kg – and in all on the rear – and im talking with respect to 100m and 12 hr TTs as my question to them was should i bother with a disk for a 24 hr – the answer was a resounding yes unless its blowing a complete hoolie

i certainly ride with 30s in all weather at the moment f +r, have ridden borrowed 50s in pretty bad weather and have seen disks ridden in weather id think twice about doing it in by fly weights.

Im not dissing – just provide another view so i dont go and spunk money on a disk (or most likely a cover for some zipp 404s )

njee – now you really got me thinking. Might be handbuilts as my only option then 🙄

druidh – didnt Rolf go bankrupt? I used to lust over their mtb wheels. Those do look awesome though.

Are aero rims actually of significat benefits, worth the weight & comfort disadvantage, for anything other than time trials?

rolf = part of trek these days

Trail rat – you are killing me. Had just written the aero's off. How hard is it to spend £500. And how little work amd I doing this afternoon 😀

The shimano 7850-CL were claimed at 1390, come out at 1410 on weight weenies, still very close?

And how can you call these ugly, look simple/classic to me.

apologies, google threw up some older campag wheels with the three spoke pattern, that rear hub still looks too big/ugly IMO though.

trail_rat – Member
rolf = part of trek these days

Not to be confused with Rolf Prima

What about the new SRAM wheels – S30 Sprint. 1430g claimed and £500. Reckon they look pretty nice.

The new Rolf wheels are nice too. Chocolate Distribution (Jez Crook) just started bringing them into the UK.

aint a fair few of the big guns running aero – probably fashion led if they are ….

sure i say bskyb guys displaying aero duraace in the press release

youll get more "comfort" /"discomfort" in your choice of tire and pressure imo ….

ah is there a new rolf on the market then ?

Trail-rat

A TT setup is a slightly different matter though really isnt it, not one we are talking about here…..

The OP was talking about racing and sportives, anything over 50mm in an amateur bunch in windy conditions would be asking for a crash, i wouldnt use a deep secition in these circumstances myself.

That's got to depend where and what your racing on. TBH my old Aksiums are staying on until the roads are fixed anyway 😕
Not being a racer that has to search for the extra speed by spending i.e middle to back runner I've never looked that deeply into it. I can't see aero being of much use to me as I'm nearly always in a bunch?

Edit; perhaps a pair of 1k aeros will make me a breakaway God

fair enough – i hadnt considered the tendancy for amatuers to weave. having never done a sportive – refuse to spend that cash when i can do audaxing for 3/5/8 quid

was just considering the distance covered to be the same !

do you consider there to be any truth in the above regards TTing ?

Those S30 Sprints could be an option. Any idea how good they are? Rebadged Zipp?

I actually noticed a hell of a lot of side wind on my Ultegras whilst traing on the French coast.

Agreed 50mm+ in a windy crit could be hard work. Would depend on the weight of the rider though. Something like a 43/46mm (Zipp 303 or equivalent) would be ideal – especially at somewhere like Hillingdon where there always seems to be a head wind – from every direction 😉

Prima Rolf have been around in the US for a good while. New to these shores. Nice looking wheels if you like low spoke counts 🙂

I've used campag electron for over 10 years with no problems, eurus for over 4 years including riding la Marmotte and will be riding Tour of Flanders on neutron on Saturday (with Pave tyres).
Anyway once you're riding you can't see the writing.

If you read any of the insanely detailed threads on roadbikereview regarding wheel weights and rotating weight in general, the well argued consensus there appears to be that weight is weight and rotating weight means nothing special unless you are doing lots of hard acceleration. As far as aero goes, the science seems to suggest that aero is far more important than weight in terms of wheels, even when climbing.
Don't forget too, that climbing is usually associated with descending…

My view is that weight or the lack of it is seriously oversold in the bike world, and that aero wins everytime.

Buzzard – they share some similarities with the Zipp 101 but are not the same wheel. The Zipps are also a lot more expensive. Perhaps too new to get a long term test on them but if they are using Zipp technology they could be a good bet for £500. Here's a link to WW on exactlt this subject

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=62491

Sram and PrimaRolf suffer from low spoke counts and lets be honest at 85kg I'm not the next Pantani – could be an issue for me.

aP – good luck for the weekend – its a dream to ride Flanders and Roubaix – maybe next year

Is this thread suddenly going to end at 5.00pm per chance?

trail_rat – Member
youll get more "comfort" /"discomfort" in your choice of tire and pressure imo ….

Not IME, within reasonable limits of tyre & pressure choice.

Oldgit – That might very well be the case. Hopefully by Tuesday, I will have ordered my new wheels to share with the world – or at least you lot

Rim depth makes a big difference to wheel stiffness and strength – shorter spokes, stiffer wheel. With a deeper section wheel you can go to a lower spoke count without ending up with a noodly wheel.

cynic al – maybe im just young;) i can tell the difference between 140psi and 90psi no bother but not between cosmic carbones and cxp33s

Buzzard
Why don't you ride the unofficial homage to the Paris-Roubaix next week, starts from London. And has 20 'sectors' that mimmick the pavé. Free beer and Frites at the end.

Edit; Preferably before you get your new wheels 😐

oldgit – now that sounds like my kind of ride. Details please. Although next weekend is due date for my first son and Ive already committed to racing the muc-off 8hr. I'm sure the wife will be fine – doesnt the first time take like 12hrs??

Tell her to cross her legs and I'll mail you some details.

Edit; Mail me at pace@fsmail.net no addy for you in profile.

well argued consensus

How is that relevant? What about some numbers?

i can tell the difference between 140psi and 90psi no bother but not between cosmic carbones and cxp33s

My point was more about Open pros vs. CXP30s.

I know what i'd buy for that money:

http://www.poshbikes.com/product.php?id=141

Finbar – I like the sound of those.

Recap –
1. Handbuilts as per Finbar or hubs of choice with Ambrosio rims
2. Sram 30 Sprint
3. Neutrons
4. Dura Ace CL Clinchers.

From what I can tell all similar weights (150grams diff). So it comes down to performance and cost (perhaps serviceability and longevity)

I've got the neutron ultras on my omega and I really like them. Admittedly I bought them second hand so didn't pay full price. They definately feel an upgrade from the ksyrium elites they replaced.

I'd still go shimano, put 000's of miles into a set of r-550's one summer on potholed b/un-classified/un-made roads and they didn't even develop a wobble, did have to put 1/4 turn on the DS rear spokes though to keep them stiff under power. They weren't the stiffest, but never rubbed on the brake pads so must have been stiff enough, and the low spoke count and normal-ish rim kept them comfortable which makes more of a difference after 100miles.

Really the only way to go is handbuilt, find a good wheelbuilder, someone like Paul Hewitt or Derek at wheelsmith loads of others too, tell him what you want ( he will have far more knowledge about " race" wheels than many of the posters on here) and you will get a set of wheels that will be lighter, easier to service and last longer than many of the suggestions given.
Oh and don't go talking about the darkside as they will just think you are a complete T1T.

when was the last time a "race" was won on "hand built" wheels?

As someone wayyyyyy up there —–^ points out, high end wheels are built by hand, by guys who are just as talented at building a wheel as any one man band in a shed eating hob-nobs and drinking Yorkshire tea.

And when we're talking about spending £500+ on wheels, £15 for a spoke that may never need replacing pales into insignificance. There (by the sounds of it) his Sunday wheels, handbuilts (custom built might be a better term anyway?) have their place, but I'd never think of them for racing?

when was the last time a "race" was won on "hand built" wheels?

😯 erm all the time.
£500 isn't high end
And it's not the just cost of the spoke its the time you have to wait for your lbs to order it.

Boonen on some nice handbuilts and I wouldn't be suprised if Ballan's were too just re stickered to keep the sponsors happy.

Can't decide if to go for Handbuilts or the DA 7850 Clincher carbon laminate non UST at 1392g

Question, as I've mentioned above I'm a mid to rear pack racer. I actually race on bog standard Aksiums, do you think in all honesty a £500 pair of wheels will help at all?
One thing that bothers me is the amount of potholes I've crashed through and debris I've encountered on circuits, would something sub 1500g be up to the job.