As title, looking at buying some race road bike Wheels for my Giant Defy 1. Looking to spend around £500max (prefer a bit lower cost). I am cosidering Mavic Ksyrium Elite. Looking at using these wheels as a set for 150-200k sportives.

The question is, will i really notice much difference in real world performance over the standard Gaint S-R 2 DW aluminium wheels? I use Ultremo ZX’s for rubber. My thinking is to keep the standard rims for training and winter use and the Mavic’s for events.

I am a fairly fit/fast rider, and tend to beat guys on bikes costing £££’s more over mine. I am not looking to buy a bike costing 4G’s+, I am just looking do to a few choice upgrades to what is already a good bike/package.

Ta for any advice

i could throw you a build together? bruce@4crosswheels.com sorry to seem capitalistic but i can at least give you options as good as elites are,hope this helps
bruce
Ps. i run a wheel building company 🙂

I’ve got some Ksyrium Es, i wouldn’t say they feel any different to wheels half the price.

So get some £250 wheels and spend £250 on other bling 😉

I would spend the money on a good quality pair of handbuilts they will probably last longer be easier to repair and built exactly for you.Try wheelsmith.co.uk.

Got a pair of Ksyrium Elites from Merlin the other week. Lovely wheels. Had a pair of RS80s on another bike, they’re worth a look too.

If they’re the same as comes on the tcx2 (32 spoke, 2200/formula hubs) then yes you’ll notice a fair difference. I dropped 410g by swapping to 32 spoke Hope Hoops. RS80s very light but rear a little flexy, Hope Hoops worth looking at for the same reasons as their mtb wheels, or handbuilts (search for recommendations).

Ksyrium elites are very good. Mine are 8 years old and still going strong. They’ve done plenty of road races, cyclo cross (incl 3 peaks) helvellyn triathlon and lots of general riding.
ps I haven’t ever serviced them.

When they wear out i’ll either buy another set or get some hope mono 3’s on mavic open pro cd

I’d be getting some 50mm Carbon tubs for that sort of Money. I’m sure you can buy some from Planet-X for that, or Feurto Bici if you don’t want to run the China-direct route (which would only cost around 300 delivered)

I’m selling some 2010 Ksyrium elites on ebay, you’ll find them if you do a search. Too early to post the link here. They’re in excellent nick. Let me know if you would be interested at andrew dot atkinson47 at ntlworld dot com . In answer to the question I’d say that you would notice the difference upgrading to a good set of wheels. I’ve used both ksyrium elites and campag neutron ultras on my road bike and they are a definite improvement over the Planet X Bs I use in winter.

I’ve got a pair of as new Shimano 7850 CL24’s for sale if any interest. Carbon laminated rims, tubeless ready. £425 posted. only done 500 miles from new and mint cond. dc30online AT fsmail.net

Pro Lite Bracciano’s are great value, they weigh around 1500 grams for the pair, have excellent bearings and are pretty strong and stiff. If you can find them in stock anywhere you can usually get them for under £300, they out perform lots of much more expensive wheelsets.