Road Cycling - Comparing wheelsets

My wife bought me a set of Mavic Open Pro's on Dura Ace hubs. I weigh between 175-195, depending on the season. Currently I ride a set of Mavic CXP 23s on Ultegra hubs. I notice they seem to flex on hard turns and accelerations.

The OP's seem to weigh about the same as the CXPs, but feel much more solid, although I haven't mounted them on the bike because I want to reserve the option to return them to Colorado Cyclist.


My ideal wheelset would not flex under hard turns and accelerations, and would be as quick and responsive as possible in the $300 price range.

I am also interested in the R540's, but this may just be because they look cool. I've heard they are a bit on the heavy side. The Rolf Vectors are also sharp, but they seem to be out of my price range. I am open to any suggestions.

Can anyone recommend which wheelset would suit me best?

Thanks!

Matt

check this out...

Cane Creek Aerohead SG (http://www.supergo.com/itemlist.asp?id=7559&subid=7569&company=~ALL~)

They are on sale...

I ride the Mavic CXP33 and weigh about 200lbs and haven't felt any flex at all yet. Of course they should be laced with 32 spokes and to Campy hubs :) but Colorado cyclist should know that.

Just out of curiosity Timmy, how can you tell if your wheels are flexing. I know how to tell when a frame flexes sometimes, but I wouldnt have a clue with a wheel.BTW I ride on open pros and love them, but I am only 163 lbs.

I spent several years on 36 spoke Open Pros on Chorus hubs (are a bit more rugged than then Record hubs) and weighed over 200. They were great wheels and I never had a problem with them. I also bought them from CC. Would still be riding them if I hadn't decided to lose weight and treat myself to a pair of Ksyrium Elites as a reward. But like above, I am not sure I would know that the wheels were flexing unless they were extremely wobbly.

if the wheels are flexing the rim will rub against the brake pads during cornering

How would you compare the R540's to the Mavic Open Pros? Weight, performance, etc?

R540's are a great buy. They're a bit heavy, but they're quick because they are pretty aero. They stay in true pretty well-we've got a lot of customers riding 'em and rarely see them in for truing. They can be a bit of a pain to true if you do knock them out of whack.

Originally posted by dexmax
check this out...

Cane Creek Aerohead SG (http://www.supergo.com/itemlist.asp?id=7559&subid=7569&company=~ALL~)

They are on sale...

I second the vote for the Cane Creeks. The straight-pull, radial lacing means high spoke tension, which means high lateral stiffness, which means less lateral flex.

Also these wheels have low rotating mass because of the spoke nipples being located at the hub instead of at the rim.

I would reccomend the Cane Creek Titanium, but they are a bit more flexy due to the ti spokes, and also are probably a bit out of your price range.

Don't forget also that with low spoke counts (R540 for example) the wheels will be more prone to lateral flexing. They sure look cool though :).

http://www.canecreek.com/site/product/wheels/info/proof/lat_stiff/graph.html

here's a graph comparing lateral stiffness of a couple popular wheelsets

I weigh 150 and I can see the lateral flex in Shimano wheels. The cxp is a semi-aero rim (?) -which is stiffer than open pros.

The problem might be that the spoke tension is too loose on your current wheelset.

Check out the Campy Zonda, Proton, and Scirroco wheels. I've heard excellent comments on all three from people who actually hae them. The Zonda is particularly well talked about and I'm probably going to get a set myself.

The open pro is a great all around rim, Cxp 33 is a bit stiffer due to the deep areo section, The Cxp 23 is an OEM rim and not as stiff as the open. Compared to Dura/Ace-open pro the Rs540 is way heavy. But they are tough. We have a 240 pound guy that has broken many a frame and he has barely even knocked these out of true in more than a year of riding.
A lot of a wheels strength also has to do with how it was built and how much tension it has.

I wiegh 245 and am running OP's on Record hubs. No problems at all, I love the wheels. I built them mysleft, 32 spoke 3 cross.

My experience with the Shimano R535's has been mixed. They are strong, have never needed truing, are a good price, and they do look cool. However, they do flex when standing and are un-rideable if a spoke breaks. I weigh 65kg/143lbs.

CHEERS.

Mark

Thanks for everyones thoughts so far. I really do like the look of low spoke count wheels, but durability is still important. How do the Rolf Vector Comps stack up? It seems I could pick up a pair of these for around $300 on Ebay.