Road Cycling - Another wheel question..

Since there has been some discussion on wheels lately, I have a question. I am about seven months new to road biking being a recent convert from the mountains. After shopping for a while doing my own research (with limited knowledge of road bikes) I decided on a 2001 Bianchi SL Daytona. I am very happy with the bike, but here's the question. It came with a wheelset made by Bianchi called Levitation XL. They have carbon fiber in the hubs and 18 spokes and an aero profile. These seemed to me to be a pretty good set of wheels, but I have seen people say things like lower profile wheels are better and more spokes would be better as well. I weigh 175 and they seem stiff enough to me. I haven't been able to find much about these wheels and any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I think you should use your current wheels some more. Determine what type of riding you really want to do (flats, mountains, both?) then choose a wheel based on that. Keep your weight in mind because some wheels can only accept lightweights..however, I think 170 lbs is still light. I do a lot of flats and fast climbing, so I got a 30mm rim wheelset...can't affor the nice Zipps!

Actually, I'm not really interested in getting new wheels, I was just wondering why an aero profile wouldn't be desirable, or is it, or that sort of thing. There just seems to be so many oppinions on these sort of things I was interested in the forums input. Thanks

Aero profile wheels can be desireable if you can ride fast enough to use their advantages. A disadvantage is they can catch cross-winds which will try to steer your bike. Aero rims, being deeper are also heavier and more rigid. Threre are trade-offs on any wheelset. If you are a casual/recreational rider, your main criteria for wheels will be reliability first, cool factor second. Everything else comes in third.

I am not familiar enough with that particular wheelset to know if they are considered serious racing wheels. Maybe what you have seen others write is that for daily training a less expensive, more standard wheelset would hold up better, saving the low spoke count carbon fiber wheels for racing or weekend group rides. If I had an expensive racing wheelset I certainly wouldn't wear it out on daily training rides.
FWIW,
Raymond

Aero rims are generally found on time trials or triathelon bikes where shaving mere seconds off your time is crutial.

They are found more and more on common bikes and are fine for general use.

They tend to give a more harsh ride as the deeper cross section is less forgiving when bumps are encountered just as a deeper beam can structurally resist more load.

I'm sure your wheels are fine.

Thanks all of you for the info. This forum never fails to come through!