rubiksoval

After going back and forth every day for the last couple of weeks, I finally made the most cheapass purchase I could make (and barely got the wife to give the okay).

Nashbar had a 25% off sale and they're cleaning out their inventory of the Easton EA90 SL since they've released a newer version, so picked up pair of those for $325 bucks and some Schwalbe Pro Ones for $76 from ProBikeKit.

So going to give the tubeless a try. Will use my current race wheels for training and these for race wheels. Will be nice not having to adjust brakes since they're both 22/23 mm wide. Really hoping this sorts me out for a while.

jsk

The Pro One's are nice tires. They test well for Crr and handle well in my experience. What I really like about them is the "tubeless easy" concept. They go on and off the rims more easily than just about any other tire I've tried (not just tubeless, but _any_ clincher).

Flatballer

What are people using for strong training wheels these days? If I get my wish I'm thinking I'll go to Vector pedals for power and ditch the ancient power tap rear I have. My front is a 32 spoke Ultegra/Open Pro, that I usually don't have any trouble with.

I'm thinking maybe a 36 spoke 3x Ultegra/Open Pro for the rear? Is there something better for bombproof training these days? I'm 220 lbs right now, but hopefully will get back down to a 180 race weight soon, we'll see.

furiousferret

I have FSA Energy's which are junk, broken spokes 3 times, and I've never broken a spoke on another wheel.

I'm going back to running my HED Jet 4's for training wheels; deep aero with an alloy braking surface is a pretty solid training wheel, and you can find a set used for $500 - $700. I also got used FLO 60's for my TT training / race wheels.

Really, the HED's multi-purpose. I swap out the tires on race day; I'm just not at that level where I can justify $2600 wheels set aside just to race.

caloso

For the last 3 years my main training/commuting wheels were Weinmann SEC 16 rims on Tiagra hubs, 32 spoke front and back. Heavy as hell, but bombproof. They're actually listed on the Weinmann website as trekking/touring rims.

Fulcrum 4s on the new bike (which I guess is an OEM wheelset made for Specialized). Much lighter than the Weinmanns but I just have a few hundred miles on them so no comment on reliability or longevity.

PepeM

Is there really an advantage to wider wheels? Is the handling much improved?

Wylde06

Biggest thing I notice is comfort. Switching back to my narrow wheels sucks

rubiksoval

Agreed. My narrow rims feel like I'm riding on rocks. And they're much more jittery in turns, I feel (due to tire pressure being higher, I assume).

PepeM

Thanks.

tetonrider

do you remember what pressures you were running for narrow and wide rims/tires when you made these observations?

revchuck 

[thread drift]
I've been using the same pressure I settled on with 700x25 Michelin Pro4 Endurance tires on Open Pro rims (measured tire width 27+mm) with 700x24 S-Works Tubeless tires on HED Ardennes Plus rims (measured tire width right at 27mm). Might this need to be revisited?
[/thread drift]

topflightpro

I had a PowerTap wheelset for many years. When my wife got a new bike, I grabbed her wheelset, which was CK R45 hubs laced to Kinlin 27 rims. When I got hit by a car last summer, the rear wheel was trashed. So I had the wheels rebuilt with Kinlin XR22T rims. They are 25mm wide and tubeless. I haven't set them up as tubeless yet, but I like the width, even with regular 23s on there.

We recently bought a set of Ultegra wheels for about $350 from Performance - got them on a triple points weekend - to go on my wife's second bike. They seemed pretty nice. I would definitely encourage you taking a look at them. The rims, IIRC, are 23mm wide.

Also, based on my past experience, don't cheap out on your power option. Buy something that works well for you and has a history of being reliable. Based on the MSRP of Vectors, you could probably find a lightly used SRM or go with a brand new Power2Max.

Flatballer

I mainly want pedal power meters because I race track too. So that basically locks me in to either having two different power meters (not really affordable), no power on the track bike (not the worst thing in the world), or pedal or wheel based power. Crankarm, spider, bottom bracket are all track specific.

I don't know that wide wheels matter much to me since I can barely fit 23mm tires on my Ridley. I don't think 25mm would work very well, especially in the rear, although the 23mm GP4k measure more like 25mm, so maybe they'd pair well with a 25mm wheel and I wouldn't actually have any more issues than I do now.

Clipped_in

The HED C2's come in a tubular and are probably really nice. I love the C2 clinchers.

tetonrider

well, i think you're really dealing with volume of tire A vs volume of tire B. a given tire might have a different profile on one rim or another, but it should have the same total volume. in other words, it might be wider but it would be flatter on a wider rim than a narrow one.

nominal manufacturer measurements vary, but assuming they are correct i'd expect you to run slightly lower pressure for a 700x25 tire vs a 700x24.

furiousferret

I got my Flo 60's in and they are like new, but a tad bit on the heavy side. First thing I did was remove the stickers, to get that solid black carbon look. Additionally the off chance I get super powers, the last thing you want Wonder Woman asking you is 'are you Flo Man?'