Slighty roadie question re wheels

Folk always say wheels are worth investing in. So, if thats the case, is it due to less rolling weight etc? If so, are good rims really what should be splashed out on?

Reason I ask – on my road bike, I run Sora hubs on Mavic Open Pro rims with stainless BB spokes. Now, obviously the hubs are less than racey, but are the good rims worth something? I’ve certainly not had to do much to them in 2000 miles.

Should I be listening to the hype and upgrading?

Nowt wrong with Open Pros

agreed. I use them on off road bikes and they’re great.

Sora hubs though…. horrible things. I think mine lasted a whole 500 miles in dry weather.

I’m not sure I understand the question. To what would you upgrade and for what purpose?

My own perspective is that the ‘best’ road wheels are a pair of open pro rims laced to the best hubs you can afford.

Certainly if your hubs are knackered than I’d suggest that the way forward is to have the rims re-built onto a different pair of hubs…but this would save on overall weight rather than rotating weight.

always looking to save overall weight (and yes, I’ve dropped nearly a stone since road biking).

The hubs are now needing a bit more attention (prob due to terrible sealing)

I suppose, would it be worth investing in a pair of Shimano Rs20 wheels, for instance?

And also, the bike runs tiagra throughout, but old sora shifters (so 8 speed). Not that I’ve found this an issue (my TT times don’t suggest that against flashier bikes), but would new wheels be a better upgrade over going to 9/10 speed etc?

I’d have to ask again…why would you? You’d get a heavier rim (due to less drillings for the spokes), fewer spokes which makes for a more difficult wheel to repair if and when that time comes. Also the fewer spokes mean that the wheel is likely to flex more.

If it were my bike and I were looking to save weight I’d look very seriously at the kind of bike it is. If it came with a Sora groupset then is it really worth spending alot of money on upgrading the ‘bits’?

Without good wheels a bike is just a gate.

Oh….it’s Time Trialling you’re about? Ok…

The front of the bike is where you’ll make aerodynamic advantages so a deep section (25mm+) rim would be a worthy investment. Similarly bladed forks would be a good move. Beyond that a pair of clip-on Tri Bars would be a sound investment, as would an aero lid, skin suit and a bit of time spent playing around in a mirror finding a properly aerodynamic position.

I know we’ve gotten away from weight a bit there but in time trialling I’d suggest making aerodynamic advances would produce more quantifiable results than a save in weight of a handful of gramms.

Nope, not a TT bike specifically – no way I can afford one of those aswell! Just as an example that I’m certainly not the slowest in the club given the bike I ride.

The groupset is Tiagra, with Sora shifters, and a Ribble Alu frame (bog standard one).

Now you have all the info, is anything worth upgrading? Or should I sell the contents of my house to get a Cannondale CAAD 10 105?

Depends. Are you going to do that Ironman you’re talking about in your other thread?

possibly…

Or should I just pilfer all the gear off my missus’ Boardman comp bike she’s now not riding due to being rather pregnant?!?!

If you’re going to do the ironman I’d suggest that you keep your ribble at around the Sora/Tiagra level and save your pennies for a specific Tri/TT bike.

I know that’s a bit of a weird answer in that it involves spending as little money as possible in the short term but rather alot of money in the long term but given your aspirations it strikes me that it’s the direction to go in.

Hope all that was helpful somwehow…

I agree with this ^ 100%

I disagree with this 100% ! If you’re doing an ironman do you really want to be in a TT position for 5 hours plus? I’d say not tbh, unless you’re doing all you training on the tt bike, which you won’t be as you haven’t bought it yet! the last thing you want starting your run is a sore lower back.

In terms of wheels, ultegra hubs on open pros make a great wheel, you can get a pair of ultegra hubs for 100 quid

Your hubs are a bit heavy and nowt so well sealed. Your rims are good (I run open pros and CBA upgrading as you need to spend a lot to make it worthwhile).

It’s worth investing in good wheels for a couple of reasons:

1. saving weight at the rim has a disproportionate effect on making the bike feel light (albeit losing weight doesn’t make you much faster).

2. a compromise in one area (hub or rim) can lead to a real PITA and is expensive to sort out.

Best value appears to be Planet X model B, as light as £300 wheels IIRC for £100 odd. But there may well be other areas where you might be better upgrading.

EDIT and I’d add if you go for new hubs or new wheels with open pros and better hubs you will not notice a difference when riding, it will only be a little static weight and more durability.

EDIT 2 if it’s for time trialling then aero rims are apparently faster but will be less comfy. No reason you can’t do the Ironman on your Ribble, just get it set up comfy, if you are taking it seriously then you will want an aero position.

The weak point in the wheels is defintiely the hubs.
Factory wheels tend to be harder to repair so if its going to be your only set and you want to upgrade then I’d go hand made – you can get some very nice and light deep section handbuilts that will way less than the factory built equivalent for about the same money – have a look at the IRD wheel builds that wheelsmith.co.uk do also Pete Mathews would be worth a shout as he makes his own rims.
As said above its the weight of the rime that makesw the difference so upgraping to a shinier set of wheels with either Open Pro or the equivalent Ambrosio rim will not seem like much of a change at first.
I’d keep some change back though as the two things I think you’ll probably notice most is upgrading the shifters and the brake calipers.
I’m not sure but you might be able to run 10 speed shifters as 9 speed with Tiagra. Brakes will make a huige difference particularly when you are knackered at the end of an ironman bike leg.

There’s also lots of talk about being “aero” regarding position. Be careful with this – al;ways be efficient (which means comfortable a lot of the time) and aero second otherwise you won’t make the distance

I just got some new wheels over my 4 year old Mavic Ksyriums – I have worn through the rims and thus shell out for new rims or just get new wheels – I went for the latter but I wouldn’t upgrade unless you really want to or need to – don’t give into pressure – it won’t make you much faster!

If the hubs are running smooth then I’d keep what you have and when the weather gets better, get some nice tyres for them and maybe some latex tubes also.

This make what you have feel and roll a lot quicker. buying new wheels will, unless you spend quite a bit, achieve nothing in terms of speed and only a bit in terms of weight (but only static weight as the hubs are in the centre of the wheel anyway) A nice pair of tyres and tubes will probably save as much weight as a hub swap anyway if you have cheap tyres on at present.

RE: Warton. I agree with your point ref a change in position between bikes. The only point I’d make is that there doesn’t necessarily have to be a change in position, if the ribble can be set up to the same dimensions as the race bike (or vice versa) then that problem goes away.

Oh, and top marks to Duc for the ‘efficient’ vs ‘Aero’ comment.

I like my Planet X Model Bs. Cheap, pretty light and well reviewed