Wkend_Warrior

I recently brought a set of Reynolds Assaullt clincher wheelset hoping I will "feel" a significant improvement on holding on rolling speed, weight wennies, and of course for the bling bling factor.

So far, the bling factor is there, but the other two wishes came short for me.
This purchased is coming from a set of Shimano RS 80 which I had its for less than a year. Unless my scale is off the actual difference between the two wheelset is only 10g ( I have Assualts weight in at 1558 vs RS80 1568g without skewers) far from what Reynolds officials description.
AFA rolling and holding its speed, I found the Assaults does better job over the RS80 but not as well as I would have expecting with a deeper rims. In fact, rented a ENve 45 (DT Swiss 240 hubs) wheelsets prior to my purchased and felt it was a big improvement over my Al + carbon (RS80) wheels. I was also comfortable with the breaking powers which gave me the confident for purchasing a carbon wheelset for daily uses.

So why I didn't buy Enve instead? Cost..I got a great deal from an authorized dealer (able to purchase RAP warranty program) for under $1000. And Thought Reynolds shouldn't be that far off from Evne.

Now, If I can forget about the weight issue, but concern about the rolling speed. Will it get better over time for the hubs to have a better feel or smoothness as I put more mileage on its?
Btw, from my experience with the Evne's I can feel the difference even at 18-25mi

Suggestions are greatly appreciate.

StanSeven

I doubt there's any noticeable improvement of hubs in break-in. You also won't notice a difference between those wheels by just riding. The new Reynolds versus your old Shimano might make a minute or two over an hour ride. A far as weight, wheel manufacturers often over-inflate weight claims and Reynolds is one of the worse. If you want accurate weights before buying, check some of the reviews like Velonews or Competitive Cyclists that weigh as part of their tests.

But enjoy your new wheels. Ride and know they are faster; it's just you can tell by feel. You need to do some comparison testing many times to verify the differences yourself.

EventServices

Doubtful. Unappreciable.

As far as I know, the freewheel/chain, saddle, and cables are about the only things on a bike that will soften/mesh as time goes by.

Some things get better: saddle.
Some require re-adjustments: cables

tagaproject6

Ride more. Worry less about the wheels.

Homebrew01

Are you using the exact same tires at the exact same psi for comparison ?
So many variables, and no way to control for them in normal conditions that "feel" is not very accurate.
Ride your bike.

pdedes

you purchased a wheelset that will give virtually no measureable difference to your riding unless you are at your limit in a tt effort. Even then, any difference may be due to noisy data. Buyer's remorse?

Wkend_Warrior

Thanks for all the comments. I don't have buyer remorse or over concern about weight wennies syndrome. It just my impression from Evne leads me to a different expectation than the Reynolds. Perhaps it just in my head or perhaps based on reading all other postings regard to the quality of hubs and spokes can make a "big" difference. That's my question: the money that I save fore shorten my expectation on the wheels that I'm trying to compare. Another word, you get what you pay for between the Evne vs. Reynolds. Yeah?

GlennR

I just got a set of Easton EC90SL and noticed an improvement immediately, no break in needed.

But my comparison is against the original wheels that come with the bike, Bontrager Race alloys.

wphamilton

If you're disappointed in the improvements from your expensive wheel set, buying an even more expensive wheel set would logically be even more disappointing, wouldn't it?

milkbaby

Thanks for drinking the Kool-Aid and your continued support of the cycling industry!

Nick Bain

If I were to get anal and I will, if anything the bearing races may break in a tad, but we are talking millionths.

GlennR

I'm a bit perplexed. I understand than many buy expensive wheels for the "bling". But CF wheels can be an improvement over alloy wheels. It's just getting the right wheel for your specific needs.

I just purchased a set of Easton EC90SLs. Here's how I came around to the purchase.

I have a Madone 4.6c with Bontrager Race wheels. They weigh over 2000 grams. I borrowed a set of Bontrager Race X Light (RXL) and noticed a immediate improvement over the stock wheels. It accelerated quicker, I was able to climb better and the bike just rolled longer. I looked at carbon fiber wheels but they were just too expensive for good ones and the cheap ones are just... cheap.

Then I had an opportunity to get the Eastons for the same price as the RXLs. The EC90SLs are 38mm deep so they are prefect for my needs since I don't race. Deeper wheels for normal riding is foolish because of the additional weight and stability issues with cross winds. Also since I don't ride over 20mph I wouldn't be able to see any "aero" advantage.

I've put 100 miles in the 3 days since I got them. They do everything I expected of them and just finished a 20 mile rise with a 10mpg crosswind and had no problems.

So the Kool-Aid comment is not a blanket statement as far as i'm concerned. But putting Zipp 808/404 on a $3000 bike that is not races is foolish... IMHO.

As for the "Bling", I wish they had fewer logos or less noticeable, like tone on tone. I wouldn't mind if Trek also put fewer logos on their bikes.

gregf83 

Never underestimate the power of placebo! It will always make hill climbing easier.

alexaschwanden

Don't worry about the break in, just ride it and have fun.

GlennR

Time will tell.

But dropping over 1.5lbs from the wheels has to have a noticeable change.

soma5

Sometimes (as I experienced with a set of White Industries hubs) the seals can have a significant amount of drag at first. My first reaction to the wheels was "these are crazy slow." After a few hundred miles they roll as smooth and fast as anything. I actually got dropped from group rides where I'm usually at the front, and got leg cramps when I usually never have them. The wheels started rolling better after a couple of hundred miles and now they are very fast. Just because you can't imagine that there can be any kind of "wearing in" doesn't mean that it can't occur. You would have to look at the construction of the hubs, etc. to make that kind of statement. I never experienced it before, but I've been enlightened, so to speak.

jsutkeepspining

note to self: dont buy white industries hubs!

rydaddy

Chris King hubs are the same...

jsutkeepspining

note to self: use my nice little cheap fulcrum racing 5's hubs. they're nice

GlennR

I don't get it.... I work on vintage cars as a hobby and wheel bearings are the same for cars and bikes in principal. If you set the preload correctly, there should be no "breakin" needed. Breakin means it's too tight and news some wear to loosen up.

You should be able to take a new wheel out of the box and spin it in your hands. It should have no drag.

JaceK

Yea, wheel bearings need at least 4000 to 5000 miles to break in, you should not go over 10 MPH the first 1000 miles. Oh btw... tires take about 500 miles to properly bed in before they work safely. You can get tires to "bed in" quicker running Nitrogen in them, and if you use sewing machine oil instead of wheel bearing grease your wheels will run cooler.

Wkend_Warrior

Thank you to you all. Really some of you mean well and some just being yourself. If we metrically calibrate everything we say and do than we wouldn't have same kind of fun while we poking at each other vanity.

I probably would not raise an issue about the Reynolds if I didn't have a different experience with Evne's wheels. Also I will not be so disappointed with the inaccurancy of the weight - different of over 100g.

Oh well, like some of you have said, I'll ride them 'til my engine is worthy to its preception.

EdIsMe

Switching from my aluminum wheels (Neuvation M28's, ~1700gr with GP4000 tires, ~2500gr total) to my carbon wheels (Real Design tubular 60mm with Vittoria Corsa Evo EX, ~1800gr total) I can tell a noticeable difference in ride quality, stiffness, and acceleration (the carbon wheels ride smoother, flex less, and accelerate more quickly) but as far as whether or not they are "faster" I have no idea.

I did, however, record my all-time-high top speed on flat while using my carbons... but only beating my previous by .3 mph. I don't really ride them enough to do a real comparative analysis but having "race" wheels on race day is a bit of a confidence booster and worth it for what I paid.

milkbaby

^This... If the difference between wheels is say 45 seconds over a 25 mile ride (a typical range of claimed advantage, which is also probably highly dubious!) -- so you finish in 59 minutes 15 seconds instead of 60 minutes -- do you really think you can feel the difference in those two speeds, 25 mph versus 25.3 mph? I don't think most of us could tell the difference until we looked down at the computer.

Also, legs beat wheels every day of the week. The variability in our day-to-day physical condition would tend to swamp out the result, i.e. one day we'd feel good and finish the ride in 58 minutes but on a bad day it would be 62 minutes.

In the end, is it nice to own nice equipment, most people would say yes. It is nice to look at and a psychological boost. But you can't buy legs...

GlennR

^^^^^^^
I agree that wheels won't make you faster, but they will make you quicker.

I doubt i'll finish a 40 mile ride in less time, but I do find climbing hills, bursts of acceleration stretchs of flat roads I can hold a higher speed for longer.

Was I "jacked" for the 1st ride... sure. I went father and on more hills than I usually do.

It's true that you "can't buy legs", but if the placebo effect gets you riding more and feeling good about it, then you'll build strength and get stronger.

Bottom line is, if it makes you enjoy riding more then "it's all good".