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Old 01-02-12, 09:00 AM
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wphamilton
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Ah I see what's happened - you don't pay much attention to the lower end which is perfectly fine. I'll elaborate with my two cents about that in general then, and anyone feel free to correct me. I'm talking about road bikes.

The question is whether tires or wheelset upgrade can give you more bang for the buck. Weight, performance, durability.

The Strada's (Performance brand inexpensive tires) are dinged for being heavy and slow. The strada kevlar is 10 grams heavier, presumably slower, with good puncture resistance. They do not have a particular bad reputation for flats or durability (sorry Burton), although surely not at the same standard as Shwalbe marathons. They're 116 grams heavier than the marathons.

Low end wheelsets (as opposed to crap wheelsets) are heavy - we're talking about a difference of pounds not grams. On the up side, they cost less than the tires you're recommending - mid range costs more of course - which more or less moots the durability consideration. You're not much concerned about stiffness, "feel", or staying precisely true at that level.

A pound is a pound, regardless of your setup or objectives. I'm gonna guess that in the majority of cases, the majority of bikes being ridden, upgrading the wheels and buying good inexpensive tires is going to be the most effective, cheapest way to improve weight and durability.
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