[umd]

Are Ksyrium ESs reasonable wheels to use on a cyclocross bike? Lets assume not racing and the bike would mostly be used on fire roads/unpaved roads/gravel. I already have the wheels lying around and am trying to figure out if I should just get a frameset and build it up with spare parts I have lying around or get a whole bike...

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[Duane]

Are Ksyrium ESs reasonable wheels to use on a cyclocross bike?

There are plenty of folks out there racing on the ES's......but like road race wheels do you want to run them every day? I think they would be fine assuming reasonable use and that you aren't a clydesdale. Assuming the wheels are truly just lying around and you aren't going to be racing I'd probably sell them and go with something a little less pricey and a little more robust. But if you think you might be racing in the future I'd just go ahead and ride them.

Myself, I use Bontrager Race-X-Lites as my race wheels and the stock wheels that came with the bike for training use (and as my pit wheels).

So for the short version, they will probably be fine, but if you do break them it's an expensive lesson.

Duane

[umd]

There are plenty of folks out there racing on the ES's......but like road race wheels do you want to run them every day? I think they would be fine assuming reasonable use and that you aren't a clydesdale. Assuming the wheels are truly just lying around and you aren't going to be racing I'd probably sell them and go with something a little less pricey and a little more robust. But if you think you might be racing in the future I'd just go ahead and ride them.

Myself, I use Bontrager Race-X-Lites as my race wheels and the stock wheels that came with the bike for training use (and as my pit wheels).

So for the short version, they will probably be fine, but if you do break them it's an expensive lesson.

Duane

Yes, expensive lesson. I've already damaged them in a car accident and had them rebuilt. I have a set of SLs, ESs, and the new R-SYS for my road bike. The SLs are on my wife's bike and the R-SYS are my daily ride/road race wheel. The ESs are my backups, so I don't plan on selling them. The idea is to use the cyclocross bike for riding on some less improved (fire) roads up in the mountains that are usually the end of my journey on a road bike. I race road but really have no intention of racing cyclocross, but a lot of my teammates do. I'm mainly just interested in whether or not it is considered a strong enough wheel to take the abuses of cyclocross, or if you use special wheels. Thanks,