Originally Posted by askrom
My questions are, could I get better wheels (lighter, just as strong, less noisy hubs) for the same amount of money? Is the weight thing no big deal? If I wanted something lighter, would I be sacrificing strength (which is important to me)? Would I need to pay a lot more?
Were MA-40 + Suntour Sprint wheels considered really amazingly light wheels back in 1988? Or have wheels not really gotten ligher in 17 years?
Thanks!
I also went with a couple of newer wheelsets to use on my 'new to me' Titan. Which brings up a recent caveat. The 1st set I bought, Shimano WH500s, worked out weel, rode nicely but not astonishingly so - but no problems in 'integrating' into the newer setup of the bike.
The 2nd set, Supergo Korsos bought on the recommendation of BF listers in a thread on these wheels, brough up a problem. That problem being that using this wheelset in horizontal dropouts was/is not doeable at this point. Regardless of how extrememly tight I crank the skewer, the rear wheel shifts in the dropout and rubs the chainstay as soon as I get up and out of the saddle. Nothing keeps the right side from shifting. Not sure why this wheel does this; but I haven't had a chance to mic out the axle end relative to dropout width and see if the problem exists there.
That aside, the Korsos are quiet gliders - I hope I can remedy the situation, they seem like a nice wheelset.
Old V new
Without using some strain gauge technology, it would be hard to say if newer wheels are 'stiffer' and transmit more energy to the ground. I run all my wheels with about 2mm of clearance from rim to brakepad, and never feel any rubbage. So how much flex can there be, new or old? I think a lot of what we attribute to wheels is really the performance of the tires.
Rollling resistence - on downhill rollouts, no pedaling, no drafting - on my 30 yr old Campy Tipos and plain-jane Super Champ clincher 36 rims, I've yet to be beaten by anyone with expensive, newest, hottest wheels.
Purely on my subjective belief; if you have a good hub with open or sealed bearing design, and its solidly built, the real performance difference we feel are the tires. Like the old days when top line cotton or silk tubulars were by far the best, today's tires will also make or break performance.
This is all without consideration for Time Trialing. There's no question that top aero wheelsets make a significant difference in races against the clock. But I;m not convinced that they do anything of note in a massed start race or group ride.
Since I loath Time Trialing (as an activity for me to do), buying the new wheelsets is prolly more 'poseur' value for me than realized improvement in my performance.
...groovy 'bling' wheels - I guess I'm as succeptable as anyone... maybe more... okay, call me poseur
...realizing there really isn't much that'll make the legs be more than they really are...
c'est le guerre