Too good to be true? Roadie wheel content

I’m in the market for some new wheels for my road bike, a Cannondale CAAD8. It’s currently running the wheels that it came with – Maddux RS3.0’s which I understand are pretty basic although they seem to have stayed true with my 95kg of lard on it. They really really flex though, leaning the bike over through a corner will have the rims rubbing on the brake pads as does out of the saddle sprinting. I’m looking for something reliable and stiff for all year round general riding..

I got an email from CRC today which contained THESE – they seem like a complete bargain to me but I can’t help but wonder why they are so reduced and have no reviews.

Does anyone have any experience of these?

Cheers
Glenn

There tubeless so you will need tubeless tyres which are thin on the ground snd pricey if memory serves, seem like a real bargain and DT Swiss have a good reputation although my £120 DT Swiss winter training wheels are pants and given me over 1/2 dozen punctures this winter, never had a problem with my fulcrum racing 5’s and the DT Swiss are a pig to get tyres on and off the rim.

Why would you need tubeless tyres? You should still be able to get a tube in regardless. If you do want to go tubeless then I think Hutchinson do some, as do Schwalbe.

They can be run with normal tyres and tubes. From the description:

Tire type: Tubeless, Clincher

If I didn’t have some 1400g C24s I’d be tempted. My only concern might be the stiffness/strength if you’re 95kg.

You can still run standard tyres with tubes on those (same as the Shimano Tubeless-ready wheels), but they’ll be tighter.

I think they’re pretty much the same as these : http://road.cc/content/review/16222-dt-swiss-tricon-1450-wheelset

Get them bought before they sell out.

Probably won’t take 11sp cassettes, which will soon make them hard to sell – I guess that’s why the reduction.

The rims are probably unfashionably narrow, too – unimportant other than that

You can run ordinary tyres on tubeless rims easily though – just an extra option.

Hi Gringo!
I was in your position last year, also riding a CAAD8 with the flimsy factory wheels.
I too was looking for a bargain but wanted something that was proven, I brought a set of Campagnolo Zonda wheels when they were on offer for around £245 I think. The change is outstanding, it is honestly like day and night, can’t recommend them highly enough.
The wheels you have posted look like a great deal but I have no experience of them, they are slightly lighter than the Zonda’s and are tubeless compatible if you fancied that in the future.
Hopefully somebody will pop along and give you some better info on the wheels but failing that consider the Zondas.

Probably won’t take 11sp cassettes, which will soon make them hard to sell – I guess that’s why the reduction.

They are high-end 2014 wheels, and listing says they have a spacer for 10 speed.

My only concern might be the stiffness/strength if you’re 95kg.

Yeah… that’s putting me off hitting the ‘Confirm Order’ button on these – I’m circa that weight.

Nice spot though, gringo!

Thanks everyone.

Scaredypants, what do you mean by unfashionably narrow? I will run 25c tyres max. Not too bothered by 11 speed if i’m honest. Should I be?

Look good to me get em.

My Bianchi came with those Maddux wheels( I think bianchi and cannondale come from the same factory) there pants some new wheels will make a world of difference.

Look at the questions… they are 8/9/10 speed only.

Review of tricons, slightly different though.
http://road.cc/content/review/16222-dt-swiss-tricon-1450-wheelset

Those tricon type wheels are a pain to get spares for. And they need special spike keys. Other than that they are pretty good (at least on the MTB side- OH has a set of xm1550s)

gringo – road rims are getting wider, supposedly to allow a better profile if you use bigger tyres. It’ll make f’all difference to your riding experience

chakaping – you suggesting that an 11sp cassette will fit a 9/10 sp wheel ? SUrely they’d describe it as 11sp hub if that’s what it could go to. Alternatively, if they’ve wrongly described it as 10sp, OP’s onto a major winnner

Dont think they can be 2014 if they’re nkt 11 speed hubs. AFAIK they’re 240 hubs though, so can be swapped, but it’s £70 or so.

I just couldn’t imagine why it’d need a 10 speed spacer if not 11 speed compatible, and a 2014 model – but it looks like CRC have confirmed that.

But yes, it might still take an 11sp cassette.

I’m in the market for some new wheels for my road bike, a Cannondale CAAD8. It’s currently running the wheels that it came with – Maddux RS3.0’s which I understand are pretty basic although they seem to have stayed true with my 95kg of lard on it. They really really flex though, leaning the bike over through a corner will have the rims rubbing on the brake pads as does out of the saddle sprinting. I’m looking for something reliable and stiff for all year round general riding..

I’ve downloaded the DT Swiss Tech Book and the RR1450 Tricon wheels have a ‘Recommended system weight max. [kg]’ of 100kg.

I’ve just hit the button on some Zonda’s at £254. Had my eye on them for a while. Seem to get stonking reviews. A review I read on the more expensive version of that DT Swiss wheel said it wasn’t very robust and went out of true very quickly, so probably not suited to people of a more robust stature.

But yes, it might still take an 11sp cassette.

It won’t

11 speed dt freehubs are different – I just had to replace a 240s one – 54 quid from Sigma

It’ll make f’all difference to your riding experience

Did for me, I’ll be running wide rims from now on after using some wide Easton’s for a year on the road.

Are you going to go for them househusband?

Are you going to go for them househusband?

Nope, not since reading the DT Swiss tech stuff I found! I’m surmising that they won’t be very stiff for my weight, they aren’t future-proof, they won’t make me the cycling God I’d like to be… and I just need to ride what I have – more!

(And I’m building some lighter wheels for my CX anyways.)

FWIW, there’s a thread on bikeradar about these.
A wheel builder posted this :
“The price is good, however:

1) Tricon is the most stupid spoke assembly I have ever come across, which involves sacrificial plastic cones that need to be hammered and smashed to fit a spoke holding device inside the rim. Not sure what the benefit of such idiotic system is. The toolset to maintain these wheels is endless and virtually no shop on the planet have them.

2) The wheels are under built and suitable to someone well under 70 Kg. They lack stiffness completely, due to the hub design and spoke choice

3) The rims wear very rapidly as they have an almost inexistent brake track

4) Spoke breakages are fairly frequent and common even for light riders

On the up side, the DT Hugi ratchet type free hub is excellent and the bearings are very good.

On balance, yes, but only if you are very very light”

There tubeless so you will need tubeless tyres which are thin on the ground

All my road bike tyres are thin on the ground.

Buy Cheap Buy twice, just get hand built on dt or hope hubs and you can spec what rim you like , pacenti are popular at the moment but a bit of a fiddle getting tyres on so maybe the new dt 460 rim

http://www.dtswiss.com/Components/Rims-Road/R-460

Great wheel, especially the 240s hub which can be converted to 11 speed easily, no tools needed just a drift.
Individual spokes are costly.

As njee20 says, 2014 sounds unlikely. My 240s 2012 hubs were 10 speed and apparently 2013 were 11 speed ready

So for 250 quid you’d have a set of lightweight 11 speed wheels (wheels plus freehub) and they would be just shy of 800 quid normally.

Ultegra 6800 wheels?

I’ve been offered a deal on Mavic Cosmic carbone sls wheels. Does anybody have any experience of them?

Cheers for your input everyone, going to give these a miss and keep an eye out for something more suitable. Any other suggestions would be great?

I nearly went for these. A friend has got a set and they are super light.. great for climbing and descending.

S2.0

http://www.flocycling.com/wheels_front_flo_30.php

Google the back to back wheel shootout on these.

All year general riding. Get yourself a set of handbuilts,105 hubs,h plus sons archetype rims,32 holes.
Sensible,comfy and won’t leave the wheel too buckled to be able to ride if you break a spoke unlike the daft low spoke count will.

You’d pay that much for a 240 rear hub alone! Even if the wheelset ends up being a bit rubbish you could rebuild the hubs into something more appropriate in the longer term.

gringo, I would avoid these at your weight. I have a set of RR1450s, which are the old version which has regular nipples and j-bend spokes. They are pretty noodley tbh. The DT hubs are very reliable, but have quite narrow and low flanges, the ds especially has practically no bracing angle. Also the 415 rim is light, and not very stiff. All these things together add up to a wheel that’s only really suitable for a 65-70kg rider tops.

I would recommend that at your weight, you go for some custom wheels. Something like Kinlin XC-279 or Archetype rims and White Industries T11 hubs. 24/28 would be fine unless you’re really hard on wheels.

If you have to go for factory built wheels something like Shimano or Campag 35mm offerings should be better suited to your requirements.

Thanks matts, any recommendations for wheelbuilders?

http://www.justridingalong.com/wheels/custom-builds.html

I had some Ambrosio Excellights built by JRA and they’ve been excellent (85kg here)

If you know someone who would build for some beer, then sourcing parts can work out cheaper.

Sapim Lasers front and rear non drive side, with D-lights or Race on the drive side would be ok. CX-Rays are expensive.

I think David Hunt, dcrwheels.co.uk stocks WI and Kinlin. Strada have WI hubs and Archy rims. JRA have WI and Archy. All of them also have Pacenti SL23 rims which are lighter, but more expensive.

BTW, I suggest the WI hubs as they have big bearings with high load capacity, decent flanges, and the freehub body is TI. All of which are good for a heavier rider.