DrPete 

Recommending a power meter and all the time/effort it takes to use it properly is hardly good advice for someone who's asking if you need to use levers to change a tire.

OP, if your wheels are working for you there's no real reason to upgrade given your type and style of riding. If you really want a cool set of wheels, pick a manufacturer like American Classic, Mavic, Fulcrum, SRAM, or Reynolds, and buy what fits your budget. A good pair of tires is always a nice upgrade- the higher end stuff from Michelin, Continental, and Vittoria are all good. And with the money you saved by not buying wheels you can try them all.

mattkime

I agree with others who have said that your purchase should reach toward your goals. If you're happy, why change anything? Then again, maybe you deserve a reward for dropping 15 pounds or maybe you want to save it for hitting 200.

The best money i spent on my bike was getting a high end professional fit. It was definitely the best "upgrade" I could have made for my bike.

As for wheels, it would seem a bit silly to put a terribly nice set of wheels on that but BUT they would be transferable to any future bike. I bought a lightly used wheel set for a fraction of retail and I've been very happy with that purchase.

there's ways plenty of other stuff to look at upgrading, clothes, shoes, pedals, cyclocomputers....

revchuck 

Best answer so far.

I'd go for the following:
- Bike fit (before anything else)
- Wheel truing and tensioning. Ask around among the local cyclists and find who's the best wheel guy/gal in the area, and have that person go over your wheels. Machine-built wheels can be uneven, and you're not a light guy.
- Good computer. I'd go with a Garmin 500 with cadence/wheel sensor. If you want to get better on the bike, you can do it more quickly following a training plan, and you'll need heart rate and other data to quantify what you're doing.
- More cycling clothes, so you can ride in other-than-perfect weather.

Drew Eckhardt 

It's the only wheel change which may (there's also that whole following a training plan thing) make a significant performance difference.

I'm partial to stock rims likely to be available indefinitely because when you bend one or wear out the brake track you can be back in business within days for the price of the rim ($40-$70) given basic wheel building skills.

alpha_bravo

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a two or three day cycling trip somewhere and enjoy a change in scenery.

As others have said, if it's not broken, don't fix it...

2ndGen

Hey Trob.

That was exactly my OEM wheelset and exactly my budget.
I lost 520g (1.14lbs) from my bike by going with a set of
2011 Mavic Ksyrium Elites. Much, much stiffer and smoother.
To go even lighter, my next choice would be Soul S2.0's
at 1330g for a 770g (1.69lbs). They get a lot of love here.

I went with the Mavics for local service and for their reputation.
(not to mention the fact that they are sexy as hell)

I personally think $600. is the threshold.
You can spend more than that, but you won't get much more in terms of quality or weight savings.
To make a real difference after $600., you'd have to spend about double that.

Good luck with your choices.

BTW...CXP22's are a great back-up set. Just today I took off my Ksyriums
and mounted my trainer tire on the rear CXP22 and mounted my front CXP22
on the front to not damage my good tires on the riser block of my trainer.
I put well over 1,000 miles on the CXP22's and their still true.
Mavic makes great wheels, even in their entry-level line.



He speaks the truth. That's my combo...Elites with Continental Grand Prix 4000s.
I'm on 23's now, but will be going to 25's next with all the raving about them.



3 years on entry-level wheels? Trob, UNLEASH THE KRAKEN!

Once you have a good set of stiff wheels on your bike, it'll up your game big time.
Get the wheels, then throw them on the Pinarello in 3 years anyway!

Here's some "sage advice"...No one has ever regretted upgrading.



A20 is firing on all cylinders today!
Agreed and approved!



In conclusion Trob...

TnDiamondback

Again NEUVATION anybody? A set of M28 AERO3s made a big difference on my F90 over the stock ALEX somethings, the stiffness was worth it, lighter and roll better was abonus, I go 215lbs and the 16 / 20 spoke count hasn't been a problem. \ Seems like they were $250.00 ?

DrPete 

That's true.

Nothing wrong with stock wheels but if you're not looking for added performance then aftermarket bling is the way to go.

GP

1000 miles? That's a month or two. I've got a pair of 32-spoke handbuilts with about 30K on them. I had the rear trued a couple years ago after a car hit me.

Drew Eckhardt 

By stock rim I mean Velocity or Kinlin (Mavic would like to get out of the parts business, while high quality DT doesn't have many offerings, and although the HED C2 is nice the 23mm width is a market response to current trends and I wouldn't bet on it being around for another decade) rims available through your choice of local and online retailers (at most two days away with cheap shipping) as opposed to whatever Mavic/Shimano/Campagnolo/whoever is using on this year's model and might not be stocking in a few years.

With the rainbow color choices (black, silver, white, electric red, yellow, electric blue, purple, gold, orange, lime greey, ti grey, pink, celeste, bright blue.....) you can have more personal bling than with boutique wheels and when you crash it you needn't spend a couple weeks and/or few hundred dollars waiting on repairs (while you can buy crash replacement plans they only help you in the first couple years and can cost as much as a replacement rim).

Drew Eckhardt 

Properly built wheels don't go out of true until you bend the rims.

I got 12-13 years out of my last Mavic Reflex clincher front without truing it after growing past 200 pounds and bending it. OTOH, the brake track was visibly a bit concave and it was close to the end of its life.

2ndGen

You obviously haven't ridden NYC streets.

alpha_bravo

Please elaborate on this little jewel. I'm really interested in hearing your reasoning. Everything I've heard is that wider wheels have so many advantages both with aerodynamics and comfort I couldn't imagine them going away. However, I always turn a skeptical eye to marketing lingo. These companies aren't going to stay in business without convincing customers they need things they really don't.

misterha

Its important to think about the Return of Investment you get from spending $600. Will $600 wheels worth the investment to make you ride faster, harder, and stronger? Or will saving the $600 and not having to worry about a budget keep you focus on training. The $600 can go towards maintenance, replacement parts such as new chain, tires, and tubes or nutrition such as gels, snacks, drinks, etc which will keep you ready to ride whenever. Carefully weighing the benefit of what you spend go a long way.

I try to keep this in mind to prevent myself from buying new wheels as well, fighting that temptation...

bikerjp

I use the GP4000s and they go on quite easily. I have kinlin rims. I'm sure some are easier than others.

Drew Eckhardt 

Sure wider rims are better but they're still a trend.

HED sells exactly one rim shape matching the current trend (although you get your choice of tubular or clincher and four drillings in each) which is also used in their boutique wheels.

Toroidal rims are better than vaguely vee shaped. Maybe next year people figure out how to make one in aluminum and HED switches their wheels to match the new trend. After warranty periods run out they discontinue the C2 and when you bend yours you need to track down an expensive NOS part or buy new spokes (at $2.50+ a pop for aerospokes) to go with the revised ERD.

Or maybe they decide 24mm isn't deep enough (30mm alloy rims are common and a couple companies have made forays into the 40mm territory) and next year's model is 23 x 30 not 23 x 24mm.

Velocity and Kinlin have been selling ever increasing line-ups for years and it's a primary business instead of a limited supplement to their boutique wheels. Future model lines including all this year's options (there's the A23 at 23x19.5 and Chukker at 24x32 although the later is not for gram counters) should be more likely than with HED.

2ndGen

They went easy on my CXP22's, but the Ksyriums give me the fits.
The Conti Hometrainer tire? It's like wrestling with an Anaconda.

Out-The-Back

If I had $600 to spend on a set of wheels, rode where you do, and was just going to get a set of wheels to improve my ride/upgrade....I'd get a set of Dura Ace 7801s or 7850s (in that order) and tires for that kind of money.....on Ebay of course. At a local bike shop, you may be able to get the wheels but not the tires. This would be an upgrade in the ride and not just bling and would still net you a deeper rim, a much better hub, and running them tubeless you'll be able to run them at lower pressures, the ride will be better, and you're much less likely to flat. Buying a set of carbon wheels for that price will get you about the same quality wheel and will net you virtually nothing other than looks. The arguement could also be made, if it makes you that much more likely to ride your bike because you're stoked about the looks...that too will make you faster.

znomit

600$ to make you go more fasterer?

Fulcrum 5s
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-raci...cher-wheelset/

Edge 500
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-edge-...e-and-cadence/

Friel:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/velopress-cy...raining-bible/

corybb

TALK TO THIS GUY!!!!


www.psimet.com

he's on here often username: Psimet2001

He'll talk to you about a custom set that fits your needs and style.
He is crazy busy but the wheels are worth the wait!

Hiro11

My views on wheels:

If you weigh 200+, live in the flatlands and all you do is ride alone or on club rides, you're not going to beat 32 spoke Open Pros laced to Ultegra hubs. They're cheap, easy to find, nothing is going to break, easy to adjust and fix if anything ever does and will rarely go out of true. Shimano freehubs are still the best in the industry, IMO. To me, wheel weight (as long as it's reasonable) matters little on flat rides. Also, at 200lbs I'd be more concerned with durability of the wheels anyway (no offense). Nothing is more annoying than a wheel that wont stay true.

Other contrarian views I hold:
- Tubulars are silly, obsolete technology that don't work as well as standard clinchers and are a total pain in the ass to deal with. The vaunted "tubular ride quality" is a myth. It was true 20 years ago but isn't true today. Today's best clichers are superb.

- Carbon rims are almost always a bad idea. Carbon clinchers are likely downright dangerous. This is especially for true anyone who weighs more than Andy Schleck. When disc brakes are common on the road I'll buy carbon clichers, not before.

- Deep-section 50MM+ "aero" rim designs are largely marketing/style driven and offer no noticable real-world improvement for your average rider. Even the most optimistic tested watt advantages are minescule and lost when confronted with wind at a yaw angle (almost always the case in the real world). They're also heavier. Body position is infinitely more important from an aerodynamics perspective.

- Low spoke count (sub 28) for training wheels is silly if you weigh more than about 175lbs.

I weigh 145 and I train on a set of 16/20 Shimano WH-6700s on the beat up snowbelt roads around here. The Shimanos are the same price as the Ksyrium Elites but have feature I prefer (adjustable loose bearing cone hubs, sealed freehub, better quick releases etc). Also, to pile on, the GP4000s is the best clincher on the planet.

revchuck 

Though I advised against going with new wheels at this point in the OP's cycling, if you're going to get new wheels anyway, these are the ones. I've got a set of these on my 2011 Allez, and another set built with DT Swiss RR465 rims on my Look 585. The ride is much better than with lower spoke count wheels at our weight (I weigh 195). I had a set of Kysrium Elites and got rid of them after 105 miles of riding - they were great on smooth tarmac; considerably less so on bad chip seal. At 60, I've been beat up enough.

There's a reverse-bling factor here, too. Experienced cyclists will see them and note that you're more about substance than shine.

Price for a set of these, hand-built, will run ~$400.

cuda2k

If you want new wheels, something like this would be my vote. My new White Industries / HED Belgium C2 wheels ship from PSIMET tomorrow. I do notice some difference when I move my heavier wheels vs lighter wheels between bikes, but not a lot. But if the purchase is something that makes you want to keep riding and ride more, and enjoy your rides more, then it's worth the $$$ in my opinion.

bikerjp

I'm surprised at the number of cyclists advising against new wheels when it seems half the conversations here are about new wheels. While new wheels won't magically make anyone a better rider, it seems something of a right of passage. Stock wheels will get you from point A to B but a nice set of wheels (and tires) can make for a more fun and comfortable ride. Seems plenty of people here are happy with Soul, Psimet and a few other ones I can't recall at the moment and can be had for less than $600.

I rode my stock wheels for about 4 months and then bought some Psimets. I like them. They stay true and ride just a bit better. I got 24/28 spokes and am always hovering around 200 lbs.

canam73

My advice against was based on the idea that he doesn't have a problem with his existing wheels. Some other cyclists do. Since he is already eyeing a new bike that will probably have wheels nicer than he has now, it seems smart to me to save his money for that purchase.